Aishwarya Rai

Alas! But it’s true. the so much anticipated Mani Ratnam’s movie “Raavan” was a major flop. It’s true that the movie was one of the most talked about film for Bollywood in 2010. But i guess this over-hype spoiled the fun and raised the fans expectation from the movie. Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan, although one of the most loved couples and big stars, failed to weave their magic in the movie.

I, for one, know that the “Raavan” stars Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, and Abhishek Bachchan had worked their ass off for this film. They cancelled so many meetings, appointments and what not, so that they can give their 100 percent for the film. Despite the music guru A.R. Rahman magic and the awesome direction of Mani Ratnam, the movie failed to do well at Box Office or anywhere in world. If i had to blame one thing for the failure, i would say that it has to be the extra gimmicks and promotional crap that every crew member of “Raavana” had been doing for past 2-3 months. No doubt such gimmicks bring attention to a wide audience but when over-done, it also brings high expectations. Anyhow, i feel bad for the couple Aishwarya and Abhishek Bachchan. I know how heart broken they must have been to see the film do almost no business at all.

Such was the disappointment that an outraged fan lashes out his fury as he spits, “Abhishek is just not cut out for films. He is absolutely wooden. His movements are stiff, his face expressionless, his dialogue delivery flat. Not to mention his inability to dance or fight. He is neither goodlooking. Just being six feet tall doesn’t necessarily make one handsome. If not for his parents, Abhishek would have been working as a salesman in some merchant company, doing the rounds of Mumbai from morning to evening. Before he was getting films because of his father, now because of his wife. It is high time that such ‘ZERO-HEROES’ like him are completely thrown out of the film industry.” Oooomph! That was a little harsh i guess, blaming Abhishek for the failure. When a movie is not good, the whole cast and crew are responsible for it. It’s not right to play the blame game.

Amazingly, Reliance opened the film “Raavan” in some 2200 screens in 35 countries. That was a pretty big launch indeed. I am not sure how much the movie raked in, but many a movie halls claim that they didn’t see any house fulls after the first weekend. In fact at many halls, the movie didn’t even make it past the first week. I don’t know if these are rumors or not but i guess that’s what happened considering how much disappointed people really are.

I am pretty sure about one thing though. Aishwarya Rai is a beautiful talented actress. Abhishek Bachchan perhaps not as good as Aishwarya, but he still is in the top actors of the country. Mani Ratnam is a fantastic director as well. A.R. Rahman is a magician with music. So am pretty sure they all will strike back. It’s just one movie at the end of the day. They all will forget about it soon enough. But this definitely is the last time we heard about “Raavan”. I don’t think any “sequel” or “alternate ending” will be planned. Goodbye “Raavan”

Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan are off on another trip! After flying to the south of France for the Cannes Film Festival and Paris for the French Open, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan came back to India for a few visits to Delhi and Hyderabad to promote her new movie “Raavan”.

And now the actress is off again! This time she is going to London for the premiere of Raavan with her hubby Abhishek Bachchan. In Paris Ash took in the tennis matches at the French Open and enjoyed spending time with her parents. But after her trip to Europe it was time to get down to business in India and Ash returned to start promoting Raavan in different cities.

Monday night the actress came back to Mumbai from Hyderabad and our photogs were of course there to snap pics of the working beauty! Aishwarya landed at Mumbai airport looking as fresh as ever in a gorgeous green Sabyasachi outfit with golden high heels and a matching purse. But no rest for this busy belle as the team of Raavan is now off to London to promote the flick.

“With team Raavan at the airport about to board a flight to London. Always feels good to be around mani and all. England here we come!” Abhishek tweeted Tuesday morning. “Lack of sleep does funny things to the mind! Thankfully a 9 hour flight should take care of that,” he added. Hopefully Ash gets some sleep as well, they both need it if they are going to take on fans in London who we’re sure are excited to see Raavan!

I think i need some break from my work and got to sleep as well. Coz i sure as hell, am gonna see Raavan, first day but not the first show

Aishwarya Rai has been shooting in forests of India for the upcoming movie “Raavan”. Shooting in such natural scenarios is never easy for any person, whether they be an actor or an actress or even there body double/stunt man. Anyways, let’s not drift off from the topic. I just wanted to create the environment where you understand “how difficult acting in forests” is!

Like the whole world, South Indian star Vikram is all smitten by co star Aishwarya Rai. Seriously, who isn’t? Aishwarya Rai plays the demure and vulnerable role based on Sita in both the Hindi and Tamil versions of the movie “Raavan” and she plays her character with grace and effortlessness. Vikram sums it up beautifully as he cites, “It’s strange that every Miss World and Miss Universe enters movies. But who has had the lingering impact of Aishwarya’s? She has some kind of an enduring aura. Over the years she has really evolved as an actor.”

Vikram recounts how Ash endured wounds, insect bites, fever and agonising pain in the rough terrain of the Indian forests. Despite her feebleness, she refused to take the help of any body double. Aishwarya Rai’s double whammy: Vikram further showers praise on the former Miss World and quips, “I had to do two characters. But she had to play the same character twice, in two languages, one after another. For example, if she had to climb a rock with me, she’d do it climb down and then do it again with Abhishek.”

Vikram also said “Overall, the filming of Raavan was very tough as the locations were deep inside the wilderness where it wasn’t, at times, possible to drive. It was like going to war. The terrain was so treacherous. Every scene was risky. If it wasn’t raining we were near waterfalls so always wet and susceptible to fall ill.”

Ofcourse Vikram was impressed a lot by Aishwarya Rai. But when it came to dancing, he had just one thing to say. He recalls how good a dancer she is. He hails her dancing skills to be as good, if not better, than the legendary Madhuri Dixit. Speaking of the experience in Raavan, he says. “It was really nice to see her dance. I just forgot my own steps and kept staring.”

Well, i think he just became one of the many million fans that Aishwarya Rai already has. Yeah, it’s easy to express your feelings when you already are star but i still am a bigger fan of Aishwarya’s than guys like Vikram would ever be. He he he he! Anyways, keep visiting our website AishwaryaWeb.com for regular news, updates on Aishwarya Rai. Your feedbacks and comments are always welcome!

Seems like Aishwarya Rai flies around the world faster than the volcanic ash did. Ash, who was in Mumbai just a few days ago, has again gone off to attend some important events abroad.

She will soon be busy with the promotion of Mani Ratnam’s film with hubby Abhishek and south star Vikram, ‘Raavan’. Then she has to go for the Cannes Festival.

She also has to give her time for a ninety day schedule for the shooting of the Nikhil Advani film ‘Patiala House,’ with Akshay Kumar.

Now, all this is leaving the director Vipul Shah, jittery and dry. According to reports, his film ‘Action Replayy’, which stars Akshay Kumar and Aishwarya Rai, is yet to get completed. As the main song, which received much publicity recently, is yet to be shot. Apart from that, the entire shoot for the film is complete.

But, due to the busy schedules of both the stars, there is no scope for the song pictirisation to get started, forget completion.

So, the workaholic and helpful Aishwarya, made a suggestion. She asked Vipul to fly to London with his crew, and she would fly from Cannes, so AkshayKumar and she would be able to give him time for night shifts. Vipul Shah, who is a friend of Nikhil Advani, is not sure as to how he can go for this suggestion by Ash.

And not think of the time and money that the director, Nikhil Advani would lose because of this So, the director, who anyway has shifted his date of release from July to September, and can afford to wait for a few days Now, it remains to be seen what Ash has to say to this!.

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 here Saturday.

Raavan is Ratnam’s much-awaited project and also stars Abhishek Bachchan, southern superstar Vikram and Bhojpuri star Ravi Kishan. The movie has been simultaneously shot in Hindi and Tamil, with a slightly different cast.

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.