Actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has finally given the nod to veteran filmmaker Shyam Benegal.

The film to be shotnext year would be an out-and-out female-oriented subject to be shot atone stretch.

Says Aishwarya, “I’ve been working so hardthis year thatI haven’t had achance to look at scripts. Butyes, the one that Shyam Benegal hasgiven meisveryvery special. We’ve beenmeaning to work with one another for years.”

Aishwarya wasearlieroffered Benegal’s Chamki,his screenadaptation of Georges Bizet’s classic French operaCarmen.
Laughs Aishwarya, “I don’t know how many times that has come to me. He needed to catch the moodduring winter in Rajasthan. And somehow I never had that window inmy schedule.”
The new Aishwarya-Benegal project takes the actor intoa different time zone.

ExplainsAishwarya, “We metin Hyderabad last year when I was shooting there and he was shooting Well Done, Abba. I hope to beable tosit down with him soon towork out the details.”
Not willing todivulge any more details at the momenton the Benegalproject, all Aishwarya will say is, “It’s contemporary. But setina differentframe oftime. But it isn’ta periodfilm.”

And yes, Aishwaryawill finally beworking with Raj Kumar Santoshi again. Says the actor, “I think Rajji has beenoffering mea film almost every year. Only oncewhen I had twenty days in my schedulewas I able to work with him in Khakee. Nowwe’ll do something else.”

Meanwhile Aishwarya has a very busyyear ahead. After Raavan in two versions,Hindi and Tamil, she has Endhiran in Tamil,Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Guzaarish andVipul Shah’s Action Replay coming upby the end of the year.

One of the most beautiful and unearthly lady walking the planet is the 1994 Miss World Aishwarya Rai. A moving poetry in flesh and blood, her eyes are hypnotic and beauty peerless. With her Grecian features and enigmatic appeal, it’s no surprise that even the sexiest men on planet easily fall for her charms.
And one such sexy man from the shores of Bollywood is the rippling hunk Akshay Kumar. Ash is currently busy shooting with Akshay for Vipul Shah’s next flick ‘Action Replay’, a tentatively titled caper that’s a blend of science-fic and comedy.
Since the duo fly through a time machine, they have been lent an ageing look in this film (in some parts). And Akshay is awed by the fact that even when Aish is made up to look like 50, she still glimmers and shimmers like a 21 year hottie.
Making no concealment of his reverence for the gracious beauty, he showers applauses on her via twitter as he tweets, “I am now sitting in my van being tortured by my make-up artists to look like an old haggard man in the stunning mountains of Manali. About to shoot the much awaited song with Ash, who still looks 21 even when they try and make her look 50.”
Romancing the screen Goddess even at 50, all I can say is that Akshay Kumar, you are one lucky man……..

There will be fireworks this Diwali as Akshay Kumar and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s Action Replay comes up against Ajay Devgn’s Golmaal 3.
Two weeks later, on November 19, Kumar’s Patiala House takes on Bachchan’s Guzaarish. And then there’s Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 1 that arrives to wean audiences away from these two big-ticket desi movies.
The new Potter movie will unleash with at least 700 prints in regular, Imax and 32 format in English, and also Hindi, Telugu and Tamil dubbed versions. Warner Bros Pictures India will be unleashing at least 700 prints in India.
Denzel Diaz, Deputy Managing Director (Theatrical), Warner Bros. Pictures India, says that the number of prints could go up to 1000.
“The first Potter film released with around 150 prints. But the fan base since has grown by at least 25 per cent. We’re expecting a bigger draw since this is the last chapter in the series and is now in 3D too,” says Diaz.
Not worried
Siddharth Roy Kapoor, CEO, UTV Motion Pictures, that is co-producing and distributing Guzaarish, is not perturbed by the Potter mania: “We’ll go with a huge number of prints too, given that this is a Sanjay Leela Bhansali film toplining Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai. Their earlier film, Jodhaa-Akbar, that we co-produced and distributed too, was a big hit.”
Vinod Mirani, managing editor, Box Office India, agrees that Potter is a big brand but doesn’t think our filmmakers should be worried. “There’s always curiosity for new films,” he asserts.
Fellow trade analyst Amod Mehra however believes that given the huge sale of Potter books, the movie should make a dent in the collections of the two Hindi films, even though the Order Of The Pheonix didn’t do too well.
“The 3D format is an advantage,” he says. “Also, two weeks after Diwali isn’t great timing. Last year, both London Dreams and Aladin bombed. And Hrithik’s last film, Kites, flopped too. Having back-to-back releases isn’t a good strategy for Akshay.”
Interestingly, Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince released on the same day as Akshay Kumar’s Tashan. It remains to be seen if the Khiladi Kumar will escape The Deathly Hallows this time.

Looks like someone is having a lot of fun on the set of Action Replay! From disco dancers to fun loving hippies, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and her Action Replay co-star Akshay Kumar have tried on several different looks for Vipul Shah’s new flick and now new pics of the acting duo rehearsing on the set have leaked!

The movie is about a man who travels back in time to the 70s when he was young and handsome. Both Ash and Akshay have worked with some of Hollywood’s best makeup artists to get into character and Ash even set a record in dress changes! The actress changed outfits over one hundred times while shooting a number the movie: “In one song, Aishwarya Rai changes costumes 125 times. Since this is necessary for the song, she did it. I think this is a record in Indian films,” Vipul Shah told reporters.

And we’re sure fans will appreciate all the efforts both Ash and Akshay have made to make this a box-office hit! “It’s a very special film for me for many reasons. This is my tribute to the 70s that was the greatest retro era. I was kicked with the idea because I’m entering the time in cinema where my father-in-law was a superstar. It is my fifth film with Vipul and definitely another one to remember. Ash and I had a brief romantic interlude in Raj Kumar Santoshi’s Khakee, but Action Replay is our first romantic comedy together. Believe me, I was blushing through the making and there’s a lot I wish to tell my audience about but Vipul wants me to keep things under wraps for the moment,” Akki told reporters.

The drama tells the story of Kishen and Mala who are constantly fighting but who manage to rekindle their love on their 33rd wedding anniversary. “Akki and I have an impeccable box office record. For me it was an exciting experience because I could bring together Aishwarya and Akshay, a pair I had been wanting to cast for sometime now. They’re both good looking, super-talented and what’s more, they’re fashion icons as well. Akki has made an amazing screen pair with some of the existing girls but believe me, he and Ash are extra special,” Vipul Shah said about the film. Are you looking forward to seeing Action Replay when it hits theaters in August? Drop us a line.

Bollywood is surely a male dominated industry. Actors in their 40s romance with 20 something Bollywood heroines and no one raises an eyebrow, but if any actress gets paired with a hero younger than her tongues start wagging.
Actors continue to enjoy cult status irrespective of their marital status while it has been widely believed that men stop fantasizing about their actresses once she gets married.

This has been the norm for many years till some actresses like Madhuri Dixit, Kajol and more recently Aishwarya Rai smashed these popular beliefs.
Madhuri made a comeback with Aaja Nachle. The film flopped but the audience was mesmerized once again by that dazzling smile.
Aishwarya Rai, too, got married at the peak of her career and it seems that her popularity had not dipped even a bit.
With Mani Ratnam’s Raavan slated for release, she has her platter full along with Sanjay Leela Bansali’s Guzarish, Shankar’s Enthiran and Action Replay in which she co stars with Akshay Kumar.
Commercially, too, marriage did not prove to be a barrier in her soaring career as she continues to enjoy popularity both in India and even abroad.
Recently she attended the 63rd Cannes Film Festival and all eyes were on this beautiful lady. She is the face of many popular brands and has proved that one does not need to sacrifice career in order to get married or sacrifice marriage to build a career.
Indeed, Aishwarya is the one of the complete woman on earth-a modern woman who knows how to balance her personal and professional life.

One song. One Bollywood diva. 125 dress changes. You guessed it; we are talking about Aishwarya Rai Bachchan! The actress changed outfits over one hundred times while shooting a number for Vipul Shah’s new movie “Action Replay.” Wow! Even for a true B-town diva like Ash that is a lot! Director Vipul Shah shot the song over several days, but still, 125 times? Sounds like too much. We can’t wait to see the results of this record setting number!
“In one song, Aishwarya Rai changes costumes 125 times. Since this is necessary for the song, she did it. I think this is a record in Indian films,” Vipul Shah told reporters. Sounds like it was more Vipul’s idea than Ash’s, but we can only imagine that Mrs. Bachchan was more than happy to spend more time on hair and makeup while playing dress up!

Ash has worked with some of Hollywood’s best makeup artists to get into character in the movie about a man who travels backwards in time to the 70s when he was young and handsome. The actress is set to take on the part of an old lady for a few scenes. The former Miss World got a drastic makeover with the help of makeup artists.
And her co-star Akshay Kumar will not avoid the big old wig either as he will play the time-traveling man! Hollywood’s best makeup artists have worked hard to create a special wig for the sporty actor and we hear it’s a real piece of art!
So is the acting duo ready for their 70s style close ups? Well, according to director Vipul Shah, Ash and Akshay have watched TV from that era to get into character: “Since we haven’t copied our 1970s look from Hindi films, Akshay and Aishwarya sat down to look at real-life footage from the decade to get the look right. They specially looked at television footage of live cricket matches in the 1970s. Akshay was busy peering at the pavilion of spectators, what they wore, how they spoke moved their body language. That’s how he conceived his character in the 70,” Shah told reporters.
70s hair styles, old lady wigs and 125 dress changes for one song; let’s hope it will all be worth it! Do you think it’s exaggerated to change so many times for one number? Drop us a line.

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 and Akshay Kumar is going to do what Kareena Kapoor and Aamir Khan has already attempted in “3 Idiots”. In the song, “Zoobie Doobie”, Aamir Khan and Kareena Kapoor grooved to music down the different eras of Bollywood.

In their forthcoming movie, “Action Replay”, Aishwarya Rai and Akshay Kumar is shooting a song that is a tribute to the couples of yester years. Legendary couples such as Amitabh Bachchan-Jaya, Dharmendra-Hema Malini, Rishi Kapoor-Neetu Singh, Rajesh Khanna-Mumtaaz, and Shashi Kapoor-Parveen Babi had a lot of hit songs in the golden seventies.

We are sure the fans will love to see Aishwarya and Akshay groove to a melody representing the 70′s. “Zoobie Doobie” became an instant hit as soon as it was aired. Let’s keep our fingers crossed and wait for the trailers to hit the market.

VIPUL SHAH’S upcoming movie ‘Action Replayy’ starring Akshay Kumar and Aishwarya Rai has created a lot of buzz amongst film fans this year.

The duo will be paying a musical tribute to the Bollywood couples of 70′s namely Amitabh-Jaya, Dharmendra-Hema, Rishi-Neetu, Rajesh-Mumtaz and Shashi-Parveen in one song of the movie.
Pritam is the music composer of the theme song “nakhre nakhre”, which the film maker thinks will capture the popular mood.

“This song, which will be shot in Manali, starts in a playful manner and then goes on to salute the stylish romance that was a trademark of the 1970s,” said director Vipul Shah in a press statement.

The film’s based on Hollywood’s “A Curious Case of Benjamin Button” which had Brad Pitt in the lead role.

It also has Akshay Kumar to do a John Travolta in his hit 1977 number.

The whole movie has a retro-atmosphere and since romance was at its peak in the 70′s so this is a kind of gratitude to this sentiment.

Akshay-Aishwarya duo will be paired on screen for the first time. Prior to this, they appeared together in an item number in the movie “Khakhi” . It remains to be seen whether the couple will be a huge hit in Reel-life or the audience will be disappointed by their chemistry.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan will finally be able to breathe easy as she has back-to-back releases during 2010. The actress has been shooting non-stop since 2009 and once her movies release in 2010; she will get a much-needed relief from traveling. Ash has had a hectic shoot schedule starting with Mani Ratnam’s venture ‘Raavan’ followed by Tamil film ‘Endhiran’ starring Rajnikanth. Besides, she has Vipul Shah’s ‘Action Replay’ with Akshay Kumar and Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Guzaarish’ opposite Hrithik Roshan.