Sania at her best in kids' court

HYDERABAD: Tennis sensation Sania Mirza, who is in the thick of a controversy for the past two days over her alleged remarks on pre-marital sex, had a different time on Saturday.

Amidst children who came here from all nooks and corners of the country for the 14th International Children's Film Festival, Sania spent about half an hour and replied patiently to their queries.

The star-struck children were eager to know all about their star-from her favourite dishes to opponents on the court, from her hobbies to her favourite Bollywood actors.

Sania was at Prasad's Imax to interact with the children as part of the ongoing children's film festival on Saturday.
Even as Sania's replies were cryptic, the children cheered. When a girl from the Andamans asked when she would visit the islands, Sania said: "Where were you when tsunami struck the island?" "I was safe in my house," the girl replied.

About her favourite film actor, Sania said she was a fan of Akshay Kumar since her childhood.

"I met him a few days back. I really die for him," she said. If Madhuri Dixit is her favourite actress, master blaster Sachin Tendulkar is her inspiration in sport.

Sania said she would like to hear songs rendered by Sonu Nigam and M&M and in tennis, she is a fan of Steffi Graf.

When came the question about her favourite god and religion, Sania said she believes god is one and religion should not be talked about as all are one. However, she said that Id (Ramzan) is her favourite festival. The tennis star, however, said that she did not have any goal set for herself to achieve but would decide on it during December this year.

Roger Federer and Lindsay Davenport are the best in tennis stars at present. But, she said that it's a secret whether she would be able to beat any one of them.

When a girl pointed out that critics were targeting her for the change in her appearance over the past few months, she shot back, "What do you think." The girl replied, "Perfect", sending the audience into peels of laughter.

Even as Sania was ready to reply to children, she kept herself away from the media. Media personnel tried their best to get her reaction on the furore over her recent comments.