/> Her confidence level, both off and on screen, simply sweeps you off your feet.

Swini Khara who played Amitabh Bachchan's 7-year old terminally-ill neighbour and confidante in Balki's Cheeni Kum, is arguably the most accomplished female child performer we've seen in Hindi cinema after Ayesha Kapoor in Black and Darsheel Jaffrey in Taare Zameen Par.

The little bundle of joy, all of 9 going on 10 (birthday on 12 July), takes compliments with giggles of pleasure.

"I had great fun shooting in London with Amit Uncle. He was very helpful. Before every scene he'd take me aside for rehearsals.

For the sequence where I had to talk with Amit Uncle on the bench my teeth were chattering so much I couldn't put the icecream in my mouth," she giggles with a child's joy at the memory of the shoot.

She gives all the credit for her performance to her director Balki.

"He showed me everything. He told me how to look at Amit Uncle and how to speak my lines. Ialso shooting a tv serial Baa Bahu Aur Baby. But that was after school everyday at 4 pm."

Swini says she doesn't miss out on her studies or play. "I do play with dolls and do all the things little girls do. But when I get good marks in school, my parents get me books. I like books better than dolls. I don't like to bunk school for shooting."

Having to play a terminally ill girl couldn't be easy for an 8-year old. Does Swini know what death is? "Of course I do?" she shoots back.

"It's what happens to grownup people after a certain age, or to sick people. My character Sexy has to die young. So she asks Amit Uncle to get her all those adult DVDs which she won't be able to watch since she'll be gone before too long."

Some more giggles and then a conspiratorial whisper. "But I didn't really watch those adult DVDs. They were only stuff like Ghost and other films that a kid can watch. We were only pretending."

Surprisingly Tabu who co-stars with Sweeni isn't among her favourite actresses.

"I haven't seen any of Tabu Didi's films. My favourites are Rani Mukherjee and Sushmita Didi. And among the men actors my favourites are Amit Uncle and Hrithik Roshan.

But I used to spend a lot of time with Tabu Didi in London's vanity van. I didn't have too many scenes with her. She's very sweet.

" Swini who divides her time between school and shooting wasn't daunted by the British cold. "This wasn't my first visit to London. Earlier I shot a film called Harry Puttar in London. That time my father came. For Cheeni Kum my mama came with me to London."

Swini is her parents' only child. When I joke that I want to adopt her she protests with a laugh. "I won't leave my parents. But when I become grownup I want to continue in this profession. I've already so many ads, and two films. I love acting. "