Ragini in Raavana is a strong woman: Ash

Aishwarya Rai in Raavan

Aishwarya Rai started her film career with Mani Ratnam's Tamil film Iruvar in 1997, but says she feels "confident" about doing more Tamil films only now after the multilingual Raavan with the National Award winning director.

"I understand a bit of Tamil and speak a bit of it. For me, it is very important that I understand the meaning of my dialogues before I deliver them. I can't just mug up the dialogues. So for Raavan, I made sure I knew what I was saying and yes, I have improved a lot on the language and I am confident about doing more Tamil stuff in future," Aishwarya said.

"After Raavan, it was like - 'Come on! Bring on Robot (now Endhiran)," she told reporters at the music launch of Raavan.

Raavan

Aishwarya plays Ragini, a classical dance teacher. The first look into the movie shows her dancing gracefully in a song where she has been picturised getting cosy with Vikram, who plays her husband in the Hindi version of the film.

One mention of how beautiful the dance moves looked, and Aishwarya said: "Aww...Thank you so much."

Talking about her role, she said: "This was an extremely challenging role for me. To shoot it in Hindi and Tamil at the same time was quite a task. But the experience was so wonderful that if Mani sir asks me, I am ready to do it all over again."

According to the 36-year-old, her role was a discovery and a mystery.

"Ragini is a strong woman and very relatable to the modern Indian woman. She speaks her mind. I say discovery because we kept discovering fantastic locations and got to see so many places. We used to trek every morning to be on the sets

"The role remained a mystery because I was playing the leading lady and there I was with no make-up, no fancy clothes and all drenched in rain with mud all over. But that's what Mani sir expects from us to keep it all as real as it can get," she said.

Aishwarya says they used to give shots with "snakes a whisper away" and that they "must have donated blood to 300 leeches".

"All in all, it was an incredibly original experience. It was almost like being on a Fear Factor show," she added.

The movie, co-produced by Reliance BIG Pictures and Madras Talkies, is expected to release June 18.

Abhishek, Ash to celebrate third anniversary in US

Aishwarya Rai

Bollywood star couple Abhishek and Aishwarya Rai are set to ring in their third wedding anniversary
Tuesday in the US, according to sources close to the actors.

Abhishek's father Amitabh Bachchan on his blog Sunday said that the couple was taking a flight to New York.

A source close to the couple told IANS from Mumbai, "The two have gone to an undisclosed destination and will be back in time for the music release of Raavan on April 24."

Abhishek too posted on his Twitter page: "...It's Houdini time again. Have managed to abduct the wife. See you all soon."

According to another source, the duo have been planning this holiday so that they could spend some time together after keeping busy with their respective shooting schedules.

Last year, the actors took out time for a week-long vacation while they were shooting for Mani Ratnam's Raavan, which is among their most awaited films this year.

On their first anniversary, Abhishek was busy shooting in Miami for Dostana, but wife Aishwarya joined him there.

The couple got married in 2007 in a grand wedding ceremony
at Bachchan's residence Prateeksha in Mumbai.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan: The case of the 125 dresses!

Aishwarya Rai

Bollywood flicks are famous for giving their female leads a whole load of branded costumes and perhaps an equal if not more, number of jewellery sets.

But, reportedly, the number of costumes that the wardrobe in charge of the heroines clothes, does not have to bother for more than 40 dresses on an average.

Now, ask the wardrobe in charge of Aishwarya’s clothes or costumes in the film ‘Action Replayy’,and you’ll know that the actress gets to wear an astounding 125 dresses to make her look on top of the world!

Ask any of the insiders, and they’ll tell you that it is a fact that Ash has got that many costumes, but only because her character in the film is absolutely obsessed with clothes. She is a woman who is passionate about clothes, and just adores wearing a new outfit every time she appears in public.

Well, speaking of Ash and her flair for carrying almost any dress under the Sun with great style and confidence, this movie is surely going to be a treat to watch for her fans to watch. The film is directed by Vipul Shah, and it has Akhsay Kumar and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan as its leading pair.

Aishwarya Rai, Akshay Kumar have great chemistry in 'Action Replay'

Aishwarya Rai

April 19, 2010, (Sawf News) - Aishwarya Rai and Akshay Kumar's great chemistry in the upcoming period comedy has director Vipul Shah wondering why the two have not been paired earlier.

The two featured together in Khakee (2004) but Aishwarya was paired with Ajay Devgan in the film.

"Akshay and Ash look terrific together. I am surprised that no one has thought of casting them as a romantic pair. They are outstanding," Shah tells IANS.
Aishwarya's wardrobe overdrive

Aishwarya's retro look is something else, Shah is excited about.

"She is in a retro look. She looks gorgeous in every look but no one has seen her in retro look. It's fantastic to see her in the new light, he says

Aishwarya reportedly wears 125 costumes in the film. Her character in the film loves to dress up.

"It's a script requirement. That's how her character is etched out," explains Shah. "She is simply a person who loves to wear clothes and keeps shopping all the time. I had no clue that the number of costumes had extended to such a number that the girl who was managing her costumes kept coming to me for more and more space to keep them. That's when I realized that the number had gone so high."

Action Replay is tentatively scheduled for release in July, 2010. The finally schedule is currently being wrapped up in Manali.

The film is based on a Gujarati play of the same name that Vipul had staged over 15 years ago. Set in Mumbai, it is a humorous take on a person who travels back in time to the 1970s.

Aishwarya Rai ACTION REPLAY to tickle your funny bone in July!!

Aishwarya Rai, the gorgeous Bachchan bahu who plays the lead in Vipul Shah’s upcoming flick ‘Action Replay’ opposite Khiladi Akshay Kumar, is all set to tickle your funny bone in July with her first ever comic role in this venture.

Though, Aishwarya Rai’s another flick ‘Raavan’ directed by Mani Rathnam will be releasing on June 18, Vipul Shah feels that it would not affect the box office prospects of his ‘Action Replay’. The confidence of the veteran director comes from the fact that ‘Action Replay’ was as different from Mani Rathnam’s ‘Raavan’ as chalk and cheese, and hence, they would have different segments of patrons for them.

In fact, ‘Action Replay’ is out and out comedy, wherein Ash will be showcasing her comic talent for the first time, while ‘Raavan’ is based on the mythological story of Ramayan with modern interpretation to suit the contemporary times. Trade sources say that despite of all differences between the two movies, Vipul Shah is likely to consult director Mani Rathnam before deciding upon the final release date of his flick.

He will also have to take into consideration the fact that November month has already been indicated by another maestro Sanjay Leela Bhansali to be the release date of his upcoming Aishwarya starrer flick ‘Guzaarish’.

Even otherwise, Aishwarya Rai is needed by Vipul Shah to complete a song number for his ‘Action Replay’, which is yet not been shot. As the song requires Ash and Akshay both at the same time, Vipul Shah is trying to co-ordinate the dates of the duo before deciding upon the venue of shooting.

Aishwarya Rai and Akshay Kumar are teaming up for this flick after a long time on the screen. Their earlier outing together was ‘Khakee’, but that was before marriage of Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan: The Impressive learner pleased Mani Ratnam!

The film ‘Raavan’ is making news even before its release to such an extent, that now people are even interested in the nitty gritties of thefilm, at every stage of its making.

This film, directed by the great stalwart Mani Ratnam, is being made in 3 languages, Hindi, Tamil and Telegu. In Tamil, it will be called ‘Raavana’.

However, the news is that for this film,(Tamil version) the leading lady, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, will be dubbing her own lines. This has pleased the director very much. The reason for being so, is because Aishwarya, who belongs to Mangalore, speaks the language ‘Tullu’, at her parents place, hence she was not very fluent with theTamil language. Thus, in 1997, when she had worked in the Tamil Film ‘Iruvar’, by Mani Sir, she could not dub her own lines. The job was done by a professional Tamil dubbing artist.

Now, after a lapse of almost 13 years, she is working with the director again, and there was a professional Tamil teacher hired to train her on the finesse of the language. Aishwarya, who proved that she was a good and hard working student, learnt the language in 6 months flat.

Sources reveal that she has dubbed her lines so well that any one that hears it feels that it is the work of a professional artist. The impressive learner had managed to please Mani Ratnam. Well, what can we possibly say but, Great going Ash!

Ashwarya Rai works hard to get 'Mumtaz' look right

Aishwarya Rai has never shied away from experimenting with her looks. And it has always worked for her. From the traditional Bengali belle Paro in Devdas to the tomboyish Sunheri in Dhoom II , all her looks have been applauded. But it seems Ash got a bit apprehensive about going for a retro look in the film Action Replayy. The reason was, the look was partially inspired by yesteryear's heroine Mumtaz and Ash did not want it to go wrong.

The buzz is that Ash closely watched Mumtaz's hit films such as Tere Mere Sapne, Khilona and Aap ki Kasam and also instructed her team

of makeup artists to get the look bang on.

The result, we hear, was amazing - Ash looks stunning in her retro look.

A source says, ' It was very important to get Ash's look accurate as she plays a character set in the 1970s. Her makeup artist watched a lot of films made during that era to study its trends and styles. The filmmaker wanted Ash to sport a look similar to that of Mumtaz.

Ash also watched Mumtaz's films and made some suggestions.

Though the look is basically inspired by Mumtaz, the makeup artist has also copied bits of some other heroines of that era.' Ash had said, ' It was a great experience to change my looks. I have had to sit with my makeup man for many hours to finalise my look.' Apart from Aishwarya, Action Replayy stars Akshay Kumar, Randhir Kapoor and Neha Dhupia.

The movie is directed by Vipul Shah.

Aishwarya Rai climbs steep mountains for Abhishek RAVAAN!!

Aishwarya Rai with Abhishek
Aishwarya Rai, the gorgeous Bachchan bahu who plays the lead character of Sita in Mani Rathnam’s upcoming mega-budget flick ‘Ravaan’ opposite hubby Abhishek Bachchan did not hesitate in climbing steep mountains for shooting an important sequence of the flick with lead actors Abhi and Vikram.




All the members of the production unit were taken by surprise when Aishwarya trekked the same route twice without any complaint whatsoever. It had even left cut marks on her beautiful persona but Ash was undeterred in her effort and gave the best possible shot.



As Mani Rathanm is making the flick simultaneously in Hindi and Tamil and two different heroes Vikram and Abhishek play the lead, Aishwarya had to accompany both of them to the top of mountain to complete the shoot. Though her beautiful face received some bruise marks and all that but Aishwarya completed the shot convincingly.



The movie is almost complete and Mani Rathnam has even chosen eighteenth of June to be its release date in the theatres worldwide. Meanwhile, there is also talk of ‘Ravaan’ going to be screened at the Cannes film festival on May 14.



The industry is abuzz that Mani Rathnam has chosen an unconventional end for his upcoming flick and Sita would be siding with Ravaan and not hubby Ram. Sources say that when Ram doubts Sita’s chastity after she comes from Ravaan’s custody, Sita simply walks out with Ravaan and the movie ends.


‘Ravaan’ is a modern day adaptation of Ramayana and stars Aishwarya, Abhishek, Govinda, Ravi Kissen, Vikram etc. While Vikram plays the title role in Tamil, Abhishek Bachchan enacts the same part in Hindi version.