Six years ago this hazel-eyed beauty stormed her way in public imagination through the item song 'Khallas' in Ramgopal Verma's 'Company', a song which earned her the 'Khallas girl' tag in the industry as well as among cinegoers.

From playing the item girl in 'company' and Sanjay Gupta's 'Kaante' to being featured as the girlfriend of superstar Shahrukh Khan in this year's most-awaited release 'Don', Isha Koppikar has come of age.

She may have entered the big league in Bollywood with Farhan Akhtar's remake of the 70s hit 'Don' and the forthcoming 'Salaam-E-Ishq' and 'Shabri', but unlike many of her contemporaries who tend to play down their 'item girl' or 'sexy' image once they get famous, Isha takes pride in her 'Khallas Girl' image.

''I can never be tired of my 'Khallas girl' image. After all, it is because of the song 'Khallas' in Ramgopal Verma's 'Company' that I got noticed in the industry as well as among the general public.

For me to be associated with a tag, just as Hema Malini was identified as the 'Dream girl', is a matter of pride,''Isha told in an interview on the eve of release of the film this Friday.

She, however, admitted that given a choice she would definitely prefer doing a full fledged role rather than just play an item girl.

As far as getting full-fledged roles, things have never been better for Isha as they are now.

With Farhan Akhtar's 'Don' ready for release and with Nikhil Advani's 'Salaam-E-Ishaq, Ramgopal Verma's 'Shabri' and 'Darling' to follow in the coming months, 2006 could well be described as the "coming-of-age" year for Isha.

''2006 is definitely a turning point in my career. For, on one hand I am playing the girlfriend of Shahrukh Khan in 'Don', a character which is the most original one in the remake and meatier than the earlier 'Don', on the other hand I am playing the role of a female dacoit for the first time 'Shabri',''she said.

Talking about her role in 'Don', she said,''I play the character of Anita, Shahrukh Khan's girlfriend. Anita is a very mysterious woman. You don't know what she is up to in the film. Infact, Anita is one character that has been borne out of Farhan's interesting interpretation of the earlier 'Don'.