She looked natural, even ethereal, as the Rajput princess Jodhabai, so much so that she made you feel she has some real connection with Jodha. And you believe Ashutosh Gowarikar when he says, “She is so regal and royal. I believe that she was a princess in her past life.”
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hat is Aishwarya for you! Because you know that with Jodha Akbar Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has surely turned a new leaf, and some credit does also go to Gowarikar for tapping a very rare side of Aishwarya through the rebellious, self-righteous and romantic princess. And things seem to be finally settling down with the queen of Bollywood now, after a spate of controversies and rumours. Last year, around the same time, Guru had released getting her a lot of praise and rave reviews for her chemistry with Abhishek Bachchan. Soon after, she tied the knot with Abhishek. And since the time she became the Bachchan bahu, Aishwarya has been in the eye of the storm— stories of her being mangalik, rituals being conducted, and speculation about her motherhood have been rife since her marriage. But Ash seems to be unfazed by them. “We used to get so tired after the long exhaustive days and traveling to and from Karjat every day that we didn’t have the time to quell the rumours,” she says. So is there any truth in the speculation about her motherhood? “Babies will happen when they are meant to. All this
speculation is not going to hurry it up,” she says. One can safely say that Ash has only gotten better. She handles the queries with remarkable composure and ease. In this new phase post-marriage, Aishwarya has also signed quite a few films. There’s Shankar’s Robot with Rajnikant, Sriram Raghavan’s untitled project opposite John Abraham, Ram Gopal Verma’s Sarkar Raaj and her manager Hari Singh’s film. And her excitement is visible. “I think we actors are very greedy. We are like children in a candy shop. For that matter we are children in a candy shop with a sweet tooth. I have never had a dream role and I never constructed one in my head. Because the day you verbalise it, someone will present you a script like that. The film will be done. The dream will be over. So I always start with a clean slate.” You wonder where so much excitement comes from? After working for donkey’s years in the industry and having worked with some of the best filmmakers in Indian cinema— her repertoire boasts of names like Shankar, Mani Ratnam, Aditya Chopra, Sanjay Leela Bhansali and more. Then what’s
it that still drives Aishwarya? “You listen to so many scripts and so many ideas. When you are reading the scripts something just clicks and some of the ideas just excite you and my reason for doing a film is different each time. “Sometimes it’s the director Ashutosh in Jodha Akbar’s case. I had really enjoyed seeing his work and as an actor I was happy to work with him. When you look back you want to see the directors you have worked with. Again, with Robot it’s just the whole idea about working with Shankar again. When I did Jeans, I was doing a double role and a technically superior film and at that time it was a very different thing. It was a good ten years ago. It was different working on a film with so many special effects in it. So I came away enriched by that experience. So I’m excited about working with him again after so many years. I know it’s not an intense acting piece but I know I’ll come away with forward thinking technical experience because that’s what Shankar brings. Also we have all seen Rajni sir but but to now work with him and be with him on the sets is something I’m really looking forward. So yes each time it’s different.” But it’s not all about signing a film 19