She said no to Nagesh Kukunoor, the guy who gave her career's best film, Dor. "I just couldn't do the kissing scene in Aashayein. We tried to find a way out. But it didn't work out for me. Fortunately for me, Nagesh is a dear friend. He didn't hold my 'No' against me. We completed Tasveer with Akshay Kumar in Canada. And there was nothing there to made me uncomfortable."

Ayesha is aware that her more uninhibited colleagues are making hey-hey-hey while she refuses to get bold on camera. "But I don't mind losing out on roles. At least ten years from now I don't want to look back and cringe at anything. I've a family and a boyfriend. And I don't want to embarrass anyone."

Ayesha has an exciting year ahead with films with big-league heroes. "After Sunday with Ajay Devgan, I'm working with Akshay Kumar in Nagesh Kukunoor's supernatural-psychological thriller Tasveer. We shot it in one stretch in Canada. Then, I've Prabhu Deva's Wanted, an action film with Salman Khan. Here I don't have much to do. I hang around doing whatever leading ladies do …sing, dance and purse my lips when the hero fights," she says with disarming honesty.

Candid in her self-assessment, she sees a boyfriend as no impediment to her career. "In fact, I'm so glad Farhan is not a part of the industry. And that he's a self- made man who loves me for whom I am. I don't think having a boyfriend is any problem for a career. The only annoying part of having a boyfriend is that every time I've a release I'm informed by the press that I'm getting married in two months. It irritates me. When I get married I'll announce it from rooftops. I'm proud of my boyfriend."

Boyfriend is no problem. But her self censorship code does hamper her onward progression. "There're things that I wouldn't do, like kiss and wear certain kinds of clothes. And yes that does put me at a disadvantage. But I'm very happy with the work that I'm getting. After Dor, I'm being taken seriously as an actress. "

Last year she had a patch of rough whether when Salaam-e-Ishq and No Smoking bombed. "Everyone kept asking why I reappeared in No Smoking in a double role. I'd like all questions about that film to be directed to the director Anurag Kashyap please. I've no clue. It was small role, just ten days' work. I'd do another film for Anurag anytime. He's a friend."