Supriya Sharma for NDTV

Mumbai, Nov 7: Child stars, smiling, pouting, crying, and larger than life, are all around us these days. There are questions on whether as children they should be working and inhabiting such an adult world.

Everyone who had seen the blockbuster Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna sympathised with Shahrukh Khan's adorable son in the movie. But the little boy is actually a little girl.

Her mother lied even to filmmakers; scared the cute boy wouldn't get any roles otherwise.

Kulbir and her daughter are both professional actors. Kulbir works in TV serials.

But it is her daughter, seven-year-old Ahsaas who has made it big. She starred in Karan Johar's Kabhi Alvida Na kehna, playing the role of the Shahrukh and Preity's son.

A gender reversal, which had once spilled off screen. The makers of Ahsaas' first film Vasstu Shastra never knew that the child they worked with was a girl in real life, not a boy. Kulbir had lied to them.

"I was very excited that Ahsaas is doing a Ram Gopal Varma film. I feared that if the filmmakers came to know that she was a girl they might replace her, so I lied," said Kulbir, an actor herself and Ahsaas's mother.

Ambitious parent

When the truth emerged the media was quick to accuse Kulbir of being an ambitious parent. Now a year later, Kulbir wants to explain.

"The first ad film she worked for, she was required to go bald, so her debut was as a boy. It wasn't a planned move. In fact, all along, she was fully aware that she was a girl. When other girls keep their hair short, no one questions them, but if the child is a celebrity, everyone acquires the right to ask," said Kulbir.

Questions that Ahsaas tackles with great poise. On asked whether she was confused, Ahsaas said, "No I was never confused. I know I am a girl, even though I play the role of boys."

"Now whenever anyone calls for an assignment, I clarify at the outset that Ahsaas is a girl even though she plays the roles of boys," said her mother.

"People point and say she is in KANK, she is in Vasstu shastra, she is in Ads. Oh you worked with Shah Rukh, please get me his autograph. He is so nice. I like when people talk about me like that," said Ahsaas.

Is this the natural intelligence of a child or one that has come with facing the limelight? What is easier to observe is how effortlessly Ahsaas performs even in real life.