by Subhash K Jha

Nidhi Dutta is all of 17. And she gets to give instructions to Shabana Azmi Aishwarya Rai, Abhishek Bachchan, Suniel Shetty, Divya Dutta and all the other hot-shots currently shooting at the City Palace in Jaipur for the magical costume drama Umrao Jaan....

And it isn't just because she's movie moghul J.P. Dutta's daughter. This 17-year old means business.

Says Divya Dutta, "Nidhi is obviously a chip of the old block. She's right there on the sets fully alert and raring to go. She'll make a very fine director one day."

Nidhi who's the elder of JP's two daughters nursed a secret dream from her childhood to be part of her father's creative dream.

"Earlier she wanted to be an actress, like her mom, " says Nidhi's proud mom Bindiya. "But JP would have none of that. In any case that was just a passing thing during childhood. Now when Nidhi's mind is made up she's far more sure of what she wants, and how to get it.

When she told her dad about wanting to assist him he was at first disbelieving. But when he saw our baby was adamant he immediately asked her to hop on board for Umrao Jaan."

The proud father, tense with the task of completing his magnum opus on time, beams at the mention of his daughter. "I'm putty in my daughters' hands. They're the only women in the world who can make me do anything they want. Nidhi's wish was my command. Now when I see her pottering around the sets with the technical equipment, I feel so proud."

Adds Bindiya, "She has forbidden anyone from treating her like the director's daughter. She's just one of the crew on the Umrao sets. She wants to start from the scratch. For us to see our pampered child being so professional, that means a lot."

Other star-kids turned filmmakers.

Meghna Gulzar (Gulzar & Raakhee's daughter assisted Saeed Mirza before turning filmmaker with Filhaal)
Ranbir Kapoor(Rishi & Neetu Singh's son, assisted Sanjay Bhansali)
Hrithik Roshan(assisted dad Rakesh on Koyla)
Abhishek Bachchan(worked as assistant during AB Corp's Major Saab)