Actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is all set to attend the Cannes Film Festival, come May (11-22).

The light-eyed beauty is aware that her red carpet looks will draw a lot of attention, as usual. And if a highly placed source, who is part of a major design house’s team, is to be believed, then dressing up Ash these days is a bit of an added effort.

No, it’s not tantrums that the source was hinting at, but that the actor’s apparently fluctuating weight reduces her number of choices of red carpet outfits.

The source says that this was the case when Bachchan sprung a surprise by sashaying down the red carpet of the recent Academy Awards in LA, with hubby Abhishek.

“Aishwarya is a very beautiful woman and very classy at that. But we couldn’t dress her up for the Oscars because she had put on a little weight. And our new line was full of gowns in light shades, which would not suit her because of this reason. I think that’s why she finally chose a dark brown number and it worked well too,” says the source.

Well, that was a few months back and sources close to the actor say that she has shed a few extra kilos since then. To give Bachchan the benefit of doubt, she was on a holiday back then and it is only natural that one lets go of their strict schedules during such times. But here’s what desi designers, who have had their brush with the red carpet suggest Ash does to get it right this time…

His long cherished dream of winning the world cup for India having come true, Sachin Tendulkar is now in the mood to celebrate.

The Little Master has apparently sent invites to some Bollywood folks as well, we hear. In fact, Amitabh Bachchan has confirmed on his blog that Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai have been invited by Sachin.

“I messaged Sachin and Harbhajan on their marvelous victory and true to their spirit they responded, as always. Abhishek and Aishwarya have been invited tonight to a celebration by Sachin. The joyous mood retains its vigor,” Big B wrote on his blog.

The mega star went on to add that sports and entertainment are two unifiers of people.

“A prominent author and thinker on a public platform admitted that sport and film were the two most fertile ingredients in bringing a nation together. Nothing could be truer. They always were and shall always be, a unifier!” Big B wrote.

Normally, the Bachchans used to avoid watching the cricket matches live because they harboured a superstition that watching the match would lead to India’s defeat. But they watched the final match on Saturday and after India’s win the trio of Amitabh, Abhishek and Aishwarya took to streets to celebrate the win with aam aadmi.

Abhishek Bachchan took it upon himself to get Aishwarya and Sonam Kapoor into the friendship zone again…

Actor Abhishek Bachchan is full of energy, and is a great person to have on the sets. After starring with Sonam Kapoor in Dilli 6, Abhishek and Sonam will be seen sharing screen space once again in the movie ‘Players’.

While they were shooting in New Zealand for the movie, Abhishek’s wife, actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan decided to visit him on the sets. Aishwarya and Sonam’s alleged war has been much spoken about. There were rumours that Ash didn’t want Sonam to walk the red carpet with her at Cannes, and there were also reports that Sonam went ahead and called her ‘Auntyji’, those both have been refuted by now.

There were reports that both these actors made up in the course of time and all was well between them. However, once Aishwarya reached New Zealand, Abhishek, we hear, did everything to sort out the issues. Ash and Sonam became friends and even went shopping post that, is what we hear.

So while there camaraderie seemed superfluous until now, Abhishek ensured that his co-star Sonam, and his wife Ash share some ‘real’ moments.

This is not the first time that Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has said ‘no’ to a film opposite her husband Abhishek.

In 2009 she turned down Dostana, saying the concept of romancing a second man while her husband was on screen with her and eventually walking away with a third, did not appeal to her. Later she refused Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Se and then Abhineo Deo’s Game.

Vipul Shah’s film goes on floors this year. And it doesn’t have a leading lady. Says a source, “Vipul spoke to Aishwarya about being cast opposite Abhishek. But she thinks she can’t add anything to the project. In fact, Aishwarya suggested that Vipul cast Katrina instead.

Vipul however denies having approached Aishwarya, “So far we haven’t really discussed the project.”

Grapevine has it that Abhishek and Aishwarya have mutually decided to star together only when a project offers them something really novel and exciting to do. Says the source, “They don’t want to give the audience too much of themselves.”

Simon Cowell, the CEO of 19th Hole Productions, has just learned that Indian actress Aishwarya Rai has refused his offer of being one of the judges on his new X-Factor Show.

Cowell who was the mastermind behind the extremely popular singing reality show American Idol as well as about 48 other Idol shows throughout the world, confessed that he was quite disappointed.

He commented that Aishwarya would have made a perfect fit as the third judge with himself and the beautiful English singer Cheryl Cole. Cowell smiled and said that it would have been a novel showcase with two exquisitely dressed gorgeous women and one T-shirted English bloke.

When Ms. Rai was contacted by a reporter for The Tinsel Town Times Tribune and asked why she had turned down Mr. Cowell’s very generous offer she simply smiled and said that it was a very personal matter.

[EDITOR'S NOTE: I placed a call to the man who knows everything about everybody, my good old retired friend Larry King. He informed me that Cowell had offered Ms. Rai $4.7 million (£3 million U.K.) which is the exact amount that he will be paying Cheryl Cole. King disclosed that Rai's husband Abhishek "The Camel Dude" Bachchan simply did not want his wife going to America for fear that she would get swept off her feet by some Hollywood leading man.]

There is no doubt that Aishwarya, who is one of the world’s most beautiful women would no doubt attract men like a late evening Wyoming campfire attracts moths.

In fact, Rai, who was crowded Miss World in 1994, is in The Guinness Book of World Records for having received more marriage proposals than any other woman in the history of civilized marriage. The total entered into the book is 19,983.

So as of now, Simon Cowell, aka “The Sultan of Sarcasm” is still searching for a third individual to sit at the judges table with Cheryl Cole, the girlfriend of the winner of this years Dancing With The Stars, Derek Hough and himself.

In military news. The rumor that a Guatemalan aircraft carrier has sunk a Chinese submarine in the Baltic Sea has been disproved. Guatemala does not have an aircraft carrier.

Whenever Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai paired up for a film, they became the most talked about on-screen couple and this year too it was no different for the film ‘Guzaarish’. Sanjay Leela Bhansali brought these two stars of the industry together for the third time, but apart from that what more connection do these two actors hold in the year 2010. Here is a look at three films that promised and delivered grandness and good cinematography but dunked in the box office.

‘Ravaan’: Santosh Sivan and V Manikandan helmed the department of cinematography for this Mani Rantam film and it was brilliant. The waterfall the lucid clear look for Aishwarya in contrast to the dark murky background for Abhishek’s character, but the film just took a huge plunge in the box-office.
‘Guzaarish’: The grandeur of a film is something that one can look forward to a Sanjay Leela Bhansali flick and in this Hrithik –Aishwarya flick the audience got that from the director of photography Sudeep Chaterjee. The color palate was there, the lavishness in the showing of the film was there so were the copy form the foreign flicks in the frames. But the film didn’t have the strength survive in the box-office.
‘Kites’: This Hrithik Roshan film had people talking about its cast (read actress Barbara Mori) long before the film hit the theatre. But even though the film failed to soar in the sky of the box-office the majestic locales, the beauty of Barbara and the disheveled look of Hrithik’s didn’t go unnoticed as Ayananka Bose the director of photography caught it for the film and recreated Anurag Basu’s vision.
Unfortunately, this year while both Hrithik and Aishwarya can celebrate release of multiple films, they both also list in two of the most good looking yet bumped films of the year.

Bollywood is a place of stars and paparazzi and gossips and rumours are nothing new to the corridors of B-town. But unfortunately the tabloids refuse to learn from the past and continue to chase the rumours.
The latest rumour doing the rounds revolves around Aishwarya Rai’s pregnancy but this time it is not the Indian media that has spawned it but the Dubai one. Aishwarya was slated for some interviews in Dubai but she had to bow out at the last moment possibly, due to some health niggles.

But as reports started doing the rounds of her ill-health, the media added one and one to make it three. The result was that the Dubai newspapers were flooded with the news of her pregnancy.
However, Aishwarya is no stranger to gossips and rumours. She has, in the past, almost always chosen to ignore it. And even this time she didn’t feel the need to set the records straight.
After all, Aishwarya and Abhishek’s marriage was an explosive affair in the tinsel town. Surely, they have a right to reveal any personal matter whenever they feel like. But certainly, the day Aish does turn a mom will be another day of jubilation for her die-hard fans. But for the moment….let the rumour set to rest!

Dark, heavy dresses; stark red lipstick. Braided hair, piled into an olde worlde bun. Fuller cheeks and a serious expression. The Aishwarya Rai Bachchan of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Guzaarish is a stark contrast to the Indian beauty of Raavan and the feisty retro babe of Action

“My look is very important to me in every film,” says the actor, confessing that she would hate to look like the same person in every role. “Right from the beginning I try to have a certain ‘look’ – it defines the film and it defines the character. It’s the first thing a person sees and it says a lot about the character.”

Ash says she discusses the character’s persona with the director and then they approach stylists and designers and work closely with them. “Movies give me an opportunity to play a different woman each time, so why not?” she laughs.

What’s the real Aishwarya’s style. “Comfort”. She quickly tells us that being comfortable is more important to her than making a statement with her clothes and brings us back to the topic of her look in Guzaarish.

“My character Sophia is a caregiver and a nurse, a Goan girl from a simple background. Her look is unique- she has hand embroidered handkerchiefs that she probably made herself, she wears a lot of black and stark red lipstick. Through the course of the movie, as you learn her backstory, you realise that she’s dressing up as much as she is hiding something.”

We point out, very diplomatically, that it looks as if she’s put on a few extra kilos. “Yes, there was a little bit of putting on weight, for both Hrithik (he co-star) and me. And we maintained it through out the film. There needed to be a sense of realism, to fit in with the character and her circumstances. There’s a certain degree of weight and tiredness that needed to get conveyed.”

Questions about weight are always tricky, and we’re worried that the actor may be offended. Instead, she’s actually happy. “Everything is not necessarily translated. There’s a lot we try and say through little things, and it’s great that people have noticed the smaller details about Sophia.”

On the controversy
Last week, a Mumbai tabloid reported that Ash had asked Bhansali to edit certain scenes from Guzaarish, where she and actor Hrithik Roshan get “intimate”. Reportedly, Ash and Abhishek were uncomfortable with them. Her response: “It was a silly story. Serioulsy, after all these years in the industry, why would I film something that I was uncomfortable with in the first place? And then, why would I go and have those scenes cut? It makes no sense!”

The box office success
Besides Guzaarish, which released this Friday, Ash has had three releases this year. Raavan and Action Replayy, which failed to work wonders at the Box Office, and Rajinikanth starrer Robot – a phenomenal success. Despite the flops, Ash says it’s been a spectacular year for her. “Individually the response I got for each performance was gratifying. With Action Replayy I got to explore a new character. With Robot, that my presence was appreciated by Rajini was great, and Raavan was an incredible experience. So, at the end of the day, it’s been a fabulous year for me.”

Bollywood queen bee Aishwarya Rai turned 37 on Monday and the Bachchan bahu spent her big day celebrating with her family.

Her birthday was brought in with a family dinner on Sunday night at the Taj Hotel after an awards function attended by Amitabh Bachchan, husband Abhishek, mother-in-law Jaya and sister-in-law Shweta.

“Family dinner at Chinese in Taj where function was held… and brought in Aishwarya Birthday… good feel about the day…(sic),” Big B posted on Twitter.

Birthday wishes started flowing in at midnight while Aishwarya was on her way back home from the hotel.

“It nears past midnight as we stroll out of the Hotel Taj and the wishes for Aishwarya start. Happy birthday daughter-in-law and may you achieve and get all that you so desire,” Bachchan senior wrote on his blog.

Her husband posted a loving picture of the pair on Twitter, showing Aishwarya dressed in blue with mehendi on her hands, as Abhishek looked dapper in a bow-tie and tuxedo.

While Robot is breaking all records, the film’s leading lady, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, isn’t around to bask in the glory. She is in Europe with hubby Abhishek fulfilling prior commitments.
“Abhishek and Ash attended the Armani Fashion show in Milan recently. They also went for the party in France that was hosted to celebrate ace fashion designer Roberto Cavalli completing 40 years as a designer,” said a source. It wasn’t all parties though. The celebrity couple shot an advertisement for a soap that they endorse together. But Robot did manage to track them down in London as Abhi and Ash attended a special screening of the film there.