Ayesha Takia — Bubbly actress who briefly flirted with Hindi films

Ayesha Takia made a quiet entry to Hindi cinema, and her exit was in the same vein. She briefly flirted with success, then faded away. No one lost sleep, perhaps not even Takia. She might still rediscover herself in a new avatar, but the bubbly Takia is unlikely to rediscover the fountain of youth.

Takia first faced the camera as a child artiste in a popular energy drink’s TV commercial from the 1990s. "I'm a Complan girl," young Ayesha proclaimed to the camera. while Shahid Kapoor was the 'Complan boy'.

A few years later, the cute Complan girl had become a gorgeous woman. Takia appeared in a couple of music videos — Falguni Pathak’s 'Meri Chunar Udd Udd Jaye' and, later, the remixed version of Kishore Kumar and Asha Bhosle’s 'Nahi Nahi Abhi Nahi'. The latter was a huge hit and got her attention from Hindi cinema.

Takia was signed for Imtiaz Ali’s directorial debut Socha Na Tha (2005). The film took time to be released, so Abbas-Mustan's fantasy drama Taarzan: The Wonder Car (2004) became her debut. The film had its audience and even though she didn’t have a path-breaking role in it, it was enough for her to win the Filmfare Best Debut award (Female).

A year later, Takia acted in her first Telugu film Super, for which she won a Filmfare Best Actress nomination.

She struggled for a while before finding her finest hour with Nagesh Kukunoor’s Dor (2006). Takia played Meera, a Rajasthani widow who befriends her husband's killer’s wife Zeenat (Gul Panag). The slice-of-life tale of mercy earned Takia widespread praise.

Takia later featured in the Salman Khan blockbuster Wanted (2009). But a series of flops saw her career going nowhere. She reunited with Kukunoor for Mod (2011) but could not arrest the downward spiral. She was last seen in the Jaya Bachchan-starrer Aap Ke Liye Hum (2013).

She married controversial Samajwadi Party politician Abu Asim Azmi’s restaurateur son Farhan Azmi in 2009. The couple has a son.