Seven years after grabbing eyeballs as the youngest Jamal Malik in multiple Oscar-winning, Slumdog Millionaire, 15-year-old Ayush Mahesh Khedekar is back with a gripping drama, Jai GangaaJal.

Still remembered as the precocious eight-year-old from his acting debut, Ayush hopes his upcoming performance as village boy Nagesh in the Prakash Jha directorial will give him an image makeover. “Prakash uncle said he wanted to meet me but I wasn't told what it was for. When I shook his hand, he asked me to do it again, firmly this time, and to pull him. I was surprised but I obliged. Three days later he asked me to come down to Bhopal,“ Ayush says, recalling how he was cast in the Priyanka Chopra-starrer.

While he had a few shots with PeeCee, who plays tough cop Aabha Mathur, he never got a chance to speak with her. “When Priyanka ma'am is on the sets, she is so engrossed in her character that she doesn't speak to anyone,“ he says.

Ayush, who had flown to Los Angeles to walk down the Oscar red carpet holding the hand of his Slumdog director Danny Boyle, reveals that he's still in touch with him via e-mail. “I haven't kept in touch with the cast, but I am still close to a few crew members, and Danny uncle, whom I just received a Christmas email from,“ the teen says.

Meanwhile, he is awaiting the release of his second international film, Gandhi Of The Month, co-starring veteran Hollywood actor-producer Harvey Keitel, the star of acclaimed films like Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets and Taxi Driver. Directed by Kranti Kanade, the bilingual drama follows Keitel's secular expat schoolmaster who moves to India and struggles with anti-Christian sentiments that threaten his students, especially his favourite, played by Ayush. “It's currently under post-production. I've finished shooting for it in Mumbai,“ Ayush signs off.