“I’m shocked, I can’t believe that Abhay would make such statements! He’s a well brought-up boy and I’m really fond of him. We spoke when he was in Spain recently and he seemed so normal,” says Sonam Kapoor, reacting to Deol’s comment that too much energy was wasted on styling and he wouldn’t take chances with films like Aisha again.

She insists that her production’s ‘rich’ look was spun out of a moderate budget and it was an A-plus film with high DVD sales. “Little girls still call me Aisha, but it didn’t find many fans among the critics,” she sighs. “Our next production that my sister Rhea will be helming, will start in March 2011.” Will she feature in it? “If I fit the role, yes. But we don’t make films for the family,” she quips. And Deol? “If he fits the role and wants to do it.”

Kapoor is presently in Goa for Players, the desi The Italian Job. She’s Stella, a part played by Charlize Theron in the 2003 Hollywood film. “I’ve seen the movie, it’s an entertaining potboiler. Ours too is a sure-shot winner. We’ve officially bought the rights, so there won’t be any copyright charges. But we will be making a few changes,” she informs, delighted to have reunited with her Delhi 6 co-star Abhishek Bachchan.

Next year, she has three releases, Abbas-Mustan’s Players with Bachchan and Neil Nitin Mukesh, Pankaj Kapur’s directorial debut Mausam opposite Shahid Kapoor and Anees Bazmi’s Thank You with Akshay Kumar. “One is a thriller, the second a love story and the third a comedy,” she says.

Apparently, her character in Thank You is modelled on tennis ace Sania Mirza? “It’s not, but I hope she’s as glam as Sania,” laughs Kapoor, admitting that she’d only played squash before and tennis is an entirely different racquet game.
Did her illness throw the schedule off-track? “It’s not my fault that I got typhoid,” she protests. “But we’ve wrapped up the film on time, thanks to the organised production house.”

Seems she irked Pankaj Kapur by turning up late for Mausam shoots and signing on Players? “Untrue!” she snaps. “I’m almost a part of his family. And whether it’s a film or a photo shoot, I always turn up 20 minutes before time. I’m my father’s daughter.”

Talking about her father, Anil Kapoor, she’s kicked about him doing Mission Impossible IV with Tom Cruise: “Tom is one consistent actor, so is dad.”

What’s happening to her Hollywood dreams? “I am open to any film with a good script and character, irrespective of whether it’s in China, Spain or Hollywood. But till then, I’m happy in Bollywood,” she asserts.

This Sunday, she is on Karan Johar’s Koffee With Karan, with Deepika Padukone. Apparently, she didn’t get along with Padukone when she was dating Ranbir Kapoor, but on the chat show, the vibes were electric, as they made cracks about Ranbir Kapoor. “It would be giving too much credit to Ranbir to say that Deepika and I didn’t get along because of him. We’re not in high school!” she says.

“Deepika is an intelligent, gracious and sweet girl. The absolute opposite of me, which is, perhaps why our chemistry has always been crackling. And all I said was Ranbir is a great friend and I wouldn’t know much else since he was never my boyfriend.”