My break from acting was a conscious choice: Ayesha Jhulka

Ayesha Jhulka was recently seen in the web series ‘Happy Family Conditions Apply’. The actor made her comeback with Tanuja Chandra’s series ‘Hush Hush’ in 2022 after a gap of some years. In a new interview, Ayesha spoke about why she quit acting, calling it a ‘conscious choice’. She has acted in films such as the Aamir Khan-starrer ‘Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar (1992), ‘Himmatwala’ (1998) and many others.

Ayesha also opened up about her ‘glam girl’ image and said that being seen as glamorous is fine when you are a newcomer, but as you grow in the profession, ‘you also want to be known for your acting chops’. She spoke about her initial years in the Hindi film industry and said while the characters she was playing had different names, ‘they were almost similar’.

“It (her break from acting) was a conscious choice. I felt that if I associated myself with a project, I should be able to add value to it. But that can only happen if I am given a chance to perform. If that was not happening and I was being treated as a prop in a project, then it was not really worth my time. So, I had to put an end to those roles. Every actress wants an upgrade, wants to be known for her acting skills and not just as a glam girl. I wanted that too. When I joined the Hindi film industry, while the characters I played had different names, they were almost similar,” Ayesha told a leading media house.

She added, “I had nothing against what was being offered to me, but I felt I was doing the same kind of films.”