"My first film was not produced by him. This is not the done thing in Bollywood where producers launch their children but I guess the fact that Sanjay Leela Bhansali gave me the break stamped my career with legitimacy. My second film was not produced by my father, either. But for the Jane Austen project [the working title is Aisha] I could not but resist asking dad. I think this will be a funny and entertaining film, a very different kind of film compared to his last production, Gandhi My Father. When I read the script I was howling and laughing at the same time," she adds with a chuckle.

The novel Emma has had many film versions including Alicia Silverstone-starrer Clueless. Gwyneth Paltrow also played the mischievous young woman who sets up her single friends in Emma in 1996. In the film, Emma does not realise she is not very good at it and it comes as no surprise when she makes tangled mess of everyone's lives. And then Emma falls in love herself. The question is if she will be able to let everyone go from her hilarious and misguided attempts at matchmaking?

The project is written for the screen by Devika Bhagat [Manorama Six Feet Under] and would be directed by a relatively little known but promising director Rajshree Ojha [Chaurahen].

"Devika wrote the screenplay with me in my mind," Sonam reveals. "She had read in a magazine story about how much I adored Austen's work."

Sonam joined the 'girls' -- including sister Rhea -- in making a presentation to her father. Sonam has become a part of the production team.

"We need love and nurturing as filmmakers and artists," she says. "Dad would give us much more than nurturing and love."

In the picture: A still from Saawariya

"I listen to young people all the time," he says with a chuckle.

It is well known by now how much his children, particularly son Harshvardhan, were responsible for making him accept Slumdog Millionaire.

"Dad often gives us the scripts that are offered to him," Sonam continues. "He is always asking for our feedback. He wants us to be the filters. He recognises our intelligence and instinct for good scripts. But he did not give us the Slumdog Millionaire immediately. I think he was quite surprised that someone called Danny Boyle had sent over the script to him and for some time, he was puzzled over it. My brother, who is a big fan of Boyle and has a huge poster of Boyle's film Trainspotting in his room, not only insisted father acted in the film but also threatened to leave the house if he did not."

In the picture: Sonam poses with Abhishek Bachchan

"I told Dad that he should do the film even if Danny Boyle were not going to direct it," she says. "The script was utterly compelling."

"I also told him that not only did he have a complex role in the film but he is also the only one who is in it from the beginning to the end," she adds. "Besides, there was a cautionary element. Dev Patel plays the idealistic young man but who knows what success can do his character. He could become someone like, Prem [Anil Kapoor], who too came up from the slums but became a very different person when he became a millionaire and a celebrity."

Sonam was not able to see the Slumdog Millionaire shoot because while it was being shot, she was near Jaipur shooting for Delhi-6. The first time she saw the film was when it had the UK premiere at the London film festival.

"I have seen the exceptional work dad has done in such films as Mashal and Lamhe," she muses, "but in Slumdog, he soars much more."

In the picture: A still from Delhi 6

Cons:
She distracts big-name directors to the point of dementia. You can't blame a young girl for signing her first film with Sanjay Leela Bhansali and her second with Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, but the lesser said about those films the better.