Bollywood was not a viable option for Ayesha Dharker, 26, as she did not think it to have real characters and stories.

Yet, in the musical extravaganza Bombay Dreams, she plays a flashy Bollywood actress. And in an interview to sulekha.com, she says that she enjoys singing, dancing, and wearing provocative costumes for the show.

The Andrew Webber Lloyd and A R Rahman musical started two years ago in London, where it ran to full houses and became very successful. April 29 will mark the debut of Bombay Dreams on Broadway.

The only daughter of noted journalist Anil Dharker and his painter wife Imtiaz, Ayesha is the only cast member to be retained in the Broadway version of the show. Earlier starring Preeya Kalidas and Raza Jaffrey, it now stars Manu Narayan and Anisha Nagarajan.

Ayesha made her film debut as a child in 1989 in the French film, Manika, Une Vie Plus Tard. But it was Santosh Sivan's The Terrorist that won her recognition.

In fact, her brilliant performance in the film was noticed by Samuel L Jackson who recommended her for Star Wars: Attack Of The Clones. Ayesha played Queen Jamila in the latest version of the Star Wars series.

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