Oh Boy! Shah Rukh Khan's son in KANK was a girl

Mumbai: In the busy world of Bollywood finding a place for themselves are child artists who get fame and fortune at an early age. For some of these artists however there is a price to pay for their fame: an identity crisis.

Seven-year-old Ahsaas Chanana's gender identity has been the subject of controversy in Bollywood for several months.

For more than three years now she's been passed off as a boy in films like Vaastushastra in which she played Sushmita Sen's son, and more recently in Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna where she played Shah Rukh Khan's little sissy boy.

According to the Bollywood grapevine, Ahsaas' mother has always concealed her child's real identity. This even prompted Ahsaas' father to file a case against his wife.

Filmmakers who've worked with Ahsaas in the past confirm that they were always led to believe that Ahsaas is a boy.

"Ahsaas Channa used to speak in masculine manner that led us to believe she’s a boy," said Director of Vaastushastra, Saurabh Narang.

Director Sanjay Gupta's White Feather Films announced its plan to produce a film on the controversy surrounding Ahsaas' identity. But all plans were dropped when the child's mother sent a legal notice to the filmmakers.

Ahsaas is now oblivious to all controversy and admits she's played a boy on screen many times, but has a perfectly logical explanation for that.

"Yes I'm a girl. I have short hair that is why I can do roles of boys,” she explains.

In the movie My Friend Ganesha Ahsaas is going to plays the role of a boy again, perhaps the last time.

In director Kunal Kohli's next, Ahsaas plays a girl named Priya and she is delighted about that.

A far cry from the little boy who insisted he wanted to grow up to be Bollywood's favourite heartthrob hero.

“When I asked her what would you do when you grow, Ahsaas said that she wanted to be like Hrithik Roshan," added Saurabh Narang.

Now Ahsaas has different ambitions and wants to be just like Preity Zinta.

"I want to be like her because she is well mannered, cute and a good actress,” she says

In the industry, ambitious parents should be overlooking the side effects of an identity-confusion, which may just have a deep impact on a delicate young mind.