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Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is slated to star opposite Tamil actor Rajinikanth in filmmaker Shankar’s science fiction project “Robot”.
"Yes, I have been offered the role and I'm very excited about it," the former Miss World said. "Working on the schedule has begun and they (filmmakers) are trying to make it happen."
Bachchan, who also featured in Shankar’s 1998 film “Jeans”, said she was excited to finally get to work with south Indian superstar Rajinikanth.
"There had been so many offers in the past that tried to bring us together but I hope this works out fine."
The 34-year-old actress said she has also been approached for international projects "Bhopal Movie", a film based on the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy, and Sir Ben Kingsley's "Shah Jahan".
“There’s lots of chemistry between Aishwarya and me, some of the most romantic scenes I’ve ever seen on celluloid but no, there’s no kiss,” Hrithik Roshan reveals. The superhero was referring to his next release, Jodhaa Akbar, which was expected to open this week but has now been put back to mid February.
One of the many reasons why fans are so excited about the historical romance is because it reunites the hot Dhoom 2 pair. Roshan and Rai ignited the screen with their unexpected and controversial smooch in the action blockbuster of 2006.
Set in the 16th century, the film tells of the love story between the great Moghul emperor Akbar, played by Roshan, and his Hindu Rajput princess bride Jodhaa (the lovely Aishwarya Rai).
What about rumours that the Roshan-Rai sweet vibes had gone sour? “Aishwarya is my most favourite co-star ever. She’s completely selfless and gives her all to a film. She gave us tremendous support and is so sensitive to the concerns of her co-stars,” Roshan diplomatically stated.
John Abraham is quite keen on working with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan for Sriram Raghavan’s next movie.
The movie was supposed to hit the floors on December last year; however, due to some unavoidable circumstances the shoot has been postponed.
Aishwarya has not yet given a green signal, as she still wants to read the script again before starting the shoot.
John and Aishwarya were also supposed to star in Gaurang Doshi’s Happy Birthday, which for some reasons did not take off.
While John seems to be waiting eagerly to start shooting, Ex- Miss World hasn’t yet given it a nod. Hope John’s dream of working with Ash comes true.
Director Ashutosh Gowarikar wanted the gorgeous Aishwarya Rai Bachchan to record a song in her own voice in Jodhaa Akbar .
Ash was supposed to sing the devotional track Mann Mohana. Composer A R Rahman confirmed saying "Ashutosh strongly felt that Aishwarya could record the song in her own voice, as a bonus for her fans."
However Ash was extremely busy and did not find time to record when Rahman was available. The song has now been recorded by Bela Shende.
Ash unlike many of colleagues in the film industry has not yet lent her voice as part of a song in any film.
Set in the sixteenth century, this epic romance begins as a marriage of alliance between two cultures and religions, for political gain, with Raja Bharmal of Amer (played by the veteran Kulbhushan Kharbanda ) giving his daughter's hand to Emperor Akbar.
Ash as Jodhaa, resents being reduced to a mere political pawn in this marriage of alliance, and Akbar's biggest challenge now did not merely lie in winning battles, but in winning the love of Jodhaa - a love hidden deep below resentment and extreme prejudice.
Starring Hrithik Roshan in the lead role of Jalaluddin Mohammad Akbar, 'Jodhaa Akbar' is scheduled to release on February 15, 2008.
Aishwarya Rai will star in one of the most expensive French film series of Asterix and Obelix. The film titled, Asterix at the Olympic Games is reported to be one of the most expensive European films at approximately 93 million dollars. Apparently the film is also slated to premiere in India at the prestigious French Film Festival. Ash seems keen to fill her kitty with a number of international films.
According to sources, the makers of the Asterix series have written a special role just for Aishwarya. The series has not had any female characters and Ash will be the first female character in the film. Ash will be working with top international stars like Gerard Depardieu who plays Obelix, Clovis Cornillac, other international celebrities like Michael Schumacher, Jean Claude Van Damme etc. However Ash's presence in the film is not yet being revealed. Ash is obviously considered one of the top stars on the international front and hence she is receiving lucrative international projects. The film will also premiere in India at the French Film Festival and it is likely to coincide with Beijing Olympics of 2008.
The supremely beautiful Aishwarya Rai Bachchan will now be seen as the queen of Hindustan Jodhaa Bai in Ashutosh Gowarikar’s much awaited film JODHAA-AKBAR due for release soon. Not only Aishwarya, but her fans and movie goers across India are waiting with bated breaths to see how the lady fares in her first film after her marriage to Abhishek Bachchan. The entire industry too is waiting eagerly.
During an exclusive tête-à-tête the glamour girl of Bollywood talked about her experiences while shooting for JODHAA-AKBAR, her life and more. Here are the excerpts.
Thus far, people have only read about Jodhaa Bai in the history books and learnt about her fascinating character. This is the first time that a film has been made on the famous Mogul Empress and you are portraying her character. Are you convinced that you have done justice to the role
12 January 2008 (Sawf News) - Aishwarya Rai and Hrithik Roshan along with director Ashutosh Gowariker unveiled the special 1ssue of Filmfare on Jodhaa Akbar at the Le Royal Meridien, Santacruz, Mumbai, 11 Jan 2008.
Aishwarya Rai at the launch of the special issue of Filmfare, Le Royal Meridien, 11 Jan 2008. Photo Credit: Sawf News
Aishwarya, despite a glowing complexion and well done hair, disappointed us with her beige georgette kurta and churidar pajama.
Hrithik Roshan at the launch of the special issue of Filmfare, Le Royal Meridien, 11 Jan 2008. Photo Credit: Sawf News
The kurta had pink embroidery and silver borders on the neckline as did the dupatta.
We wonder what happened to Aishwarya Rai yesterday when she suddenly developed a heavy American accent similar to Madhuri Dixit. The entire time during the event which was the launch of the music for the film Jodhaa Akbar,
Ash had a very put on kind of accent. Even during her interview she didn’t let it slip and kept it going right till the end.
It just makes us think whether she is being carried away with Hollywood or is she trying to impress them to get into another crossover film.
Ashutosh Gowarikar's Jodhaa Akbar has been in trouble from day one. The director, who was keen to release his film in the month of January, had to shift the release further. Now, it is heard, that the director has been suffering from severe back pain and is executing all his work lying on the bed.
If all this was not enough, Ashutosh, who was editing recently, realised that a scene he had shot with Aishwarya Rai was not upto the mark. Our unit source claims, "The director picturised a scene where Aishwarya is riding a horse in a fight sequence. The director wanted an aggressive expression on Ash's face, but, to his dismay, he realised later that Ash is looking frightened on the horse. With less time on his hands, he cannot re-shoot the entire scene and will have to morph her expression with advanced technology. He is now trying to figure out the technology with which he can rectify the situation. Ashutosh did not realise this when he was shooting or even later, when he was monitoring the scene at the set."
The source continues, "One doesn't know whether these small situations or sequences will further delay the film. Ashutosh is trying his best to do it in time as further delay will only hamper work on the project.
He had a directorial life before. But it's with Lagaan followed by Swades that Ashutosh Gowariker has acquired the reputation of being one of the most influential and socially awakened filmmakers of our times. With his new epic Jodhaa-Akbar he goes into the historic alliance between a Mughal Emperor and his Rajput wife with much diligence and passion. Gowariker talks about the film with Subhash K Jha.
After Lagaan, you return to a period film in Jodhaa-Akbar?You might say that. But I call Lagaan a period film. Jodhaa-Akbar is to me a historical.Anything after 1857 is a period film for me. Anything before that is a historical. Jodhaa-Akbar is certainly not a costume drama.It isn't set in a never-never land. I'd call Mughal-e-Azam a historical though its focus was different from mine. I feel if today we make a story about the past it must be co-related to the present.
And Jodha-Akbar is as relevant to present times as arranged marriages. Jodha and Akbar shared a perfect arranged marriage. I was fascinated by how their relationship must have grown after marriage. There was no reference in any books about what happened between them. I've taken extreme care to make sure viewers believe in the relationship.
How much have you stressed the religious different between Jodha and Akbar?
It's important but not stressed in my film. Let's not forget, Akbar's marriage to Jodhabai was no common occurrence.It had a nationwide reverberation 450 years ago when society was far more conservative. How did their marriage affect those times? That's a question relevant even today. But I'm not jingoistic in my treatment.
Aishwarya Rai and Hrithik Roshan have very contemporary personalities?
That won't be a problem. The audience will come in and forget everything about Hrithik and Aishwarya. I've no fear of that. The two are brilliant Ultimately the audience will be watching not the stars but the two characters that they play. Hrithik-Aishwarya's pairing is incredible. They're extremely charismatic and good-looking. They were a huge success in the contemporary Dhoom 2. That can only help my film, not harm it.
What audiences will see in my film are Jodha and Akbar. At least that's what I've tried to ensure through their looks, body language and behaviour. I wanted to make my historical as believable as I'd like to see it being. Every element big or small, from the texture of the clothes to the sets, décor, dialogues and the protocol, even the incidental sounds of birds and animals, they all had to be just right for me.
I'm tired of filmmakers wondering where those good old days have gone. I wanted to reclaim those days. It took me two years of pre-production before I got into my first shot.. Is this the most difficult you've made?
It is. But the process has been so enjoyable I didn't mind the toil. My crew made the process of creation very interesting. Just working hard isn't a virtue. Otherwise I should not make a film. And I definitely shouldn't make a historical.
Film analysts feel history has no relevance for today's average youngster?
I agree. Even as a child myself historical films never interested me. But when I saw Mughal-e-Azam on television I connected to it because it was a story of lovers separated by parental opposition. That the parents were historical figures was incidental.
I feel the story has to be connectable to the audience. Hyder Ali who wrote Jodha-Abkar told me, 'In Mughal-e-Azam the focus was so much on Salim and Anarkali nobody asked a fundamental question. How did Akbar come to marry Jodhabhai in spite of their religious and cultural divide? I immediately reacted to their alliance. I saw an interesting story there that needed to be told.
As for the youngsters, I had one rule of connectivity in my range of vision. Any word or dialogue that I didn't understand in Urdu, I kept out.I've no interest in impressing audiences with my knowledge of Urdu, Hindi or even literature. I feel literature is for the books, and that's where it should stay. I needed to reach out to the masses.
So is Jodha-Akbar kitsch?
No. I've referred to literature and academia. But the Akbar-nama was in Pharsi. It doesn't mean I'd use Pharsi in my film. I want Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Bengal to understand the film. I'm dubbing the film into Telugu and Tamil. Each language has its own regality and I'm going by the individual regality of the province. I had one vision before me when I started making this film. It was the world of the Amar Chitra Katha. I've grown up on that world.
Oh it has been tremendously enriching. So far the Mughal period was part of textbooks. I always wondered about the battles and the durbar intrigue. The mughal period was known for its lavishness, so much so that studio bosses in Hollywood from the golden period were not called movie czars or movie nawabs. They were called movie moghuls.
Young and dynamic director Ashutosh Gowariker, who is ready with Jodhaa-Akbar, says he was fascinated by the relationship that the two historical figures must have shared after marriage."I feel if today we make a story about the past, it must be correlated to the present. And 'Jodhaa-Akbar' is as relevant to the present as arranged marriages. Jodha and Akbar shared a perfect arranged marriage. I was fascinated by how their relationship must have grown after marriage," Gowariker told IANS.Starring Aishwarya Rai and Hrithik Roshan in the lead roles, the film is set to hit the marquee Feb 15. The director is dubbing it in Telugu and Tamil as well.
Excerpts:
After Lagaan, you return to a period film in Jodhaa-Akbar?
You might say that. But I call Lagaan a period film. Jodhaa-Akbar is to me a historical. Anything after 1857 is a period film for me. Anything before that is a historical. Jodhaa-Akbar is certainly not a costume drama. It isn't set in a never-never land. I'd call Mughal-e-Azam a historical though its focus was different from mine.
I feel if today we make a story about the past, it must be correlated to the present. And Jodhaa-Akbar is as relevant to present times as arranged marriages. Jodha and Akbar shared a perfect arranged marriage.
"The audience will come in and forget everything about Hrithik and Aishwarya. Hrithik-Aishwarya's pairing is incredible. They're extremely charismatic and good-looking." I was fascinated by how their relationship must have grown after marriage. There was no reference in any books about what happened between them. I've taken extreme care to make sure viewers believe in the relationship.
How much have you stressed the religious difference between Jodha and Akbar?
It's important but not stressed in my film. Let's not forget, Akbar's marriage to Jodhabai was no common occurrence. It had a nationwide reverberation 450 years ago when society was far more conservative. How did their marriage affect those times? That's a question relevant even today. But I'm not jingoistic in my treatment.
Aishwarya Rai and Hrithik Roshan have very contemporary personalities?
That won't be a problem. The audience will come in and forget everything about Hrithik and Aishwarya. Hrithik-Aishwarya's pairing is incredible. They're extremely charismatic and good-looking. They were a huge success in the contemporary Dhoom 2. That can only help my film, not harm it.
What audiences will see in my film are Jodha and Akbar. At least that's what I've tried to ensure through their looks, body language and behaviour. I wanted to make my historical as believable as I'd like to see it being.
Every element big or small, from the texture of the clothes to the sets, dialogues and the protocol, even the incidental sounds of birds and animals, they all had to be just right for me.
I'm tired of filmmakers wondering where those good old days have gone. I wanted to reclaim those days. It took me two years of pre-production before I got into my first shot.
