The gorgeous Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has bagged another project titled “Devi Chaudhurani” with National Award winning director Rituparno Ghosh.

The two have earlier worked together in films like Chokher Bali and Raincoat. Devi Chaudhurani is a novel penned down in 1884 by renowned writer Bankim Chandra Chatterjee.

The film adaptation of this novel is one of Suchitra Sen’s most cherished works. A source stated “Aishwarya has asked for the DVDs of Suchitra Sen’s film, which is about how a typical affluent housewife turns into the leader of a pack of dacoits.”

The source said further, “The film will be an adaptation of the novel which is set during the 1880s but nevertheless, Ash wanted to do some research on the actor.”

The source added “Ash has always regarded Sen as one of the finest actors that Bengal has ever produced. She also wanted to meet her once, but she knows that this wish is near impossible as word has it that the senior actor rarely steps out of her appartment. Ash is very interested in her though.”

The actress director duo had several meetings to discuss about this project in detail. Both have confirmed the news of the film being made.

The film will be made in both Hindi and Bengali. The source further added “The script has already been handed over to Ash and she is about to allot dates for the shooting.”

“Rituparno had discussed this with Aishwarya when they were shooting for Chokher Bali itself but he finally got the nod from her when she was in Kolkata last year to accept an award for Raavan,” the source added.

Stardom isn’t exactly a cakewalk for our celebs. Take the handsome couple Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan for example. The duo have had a busy year churning one release after the other and now they don’t even have time to take a holiday off for their fourth wedding anniversary!

Abhishek, who is looking forward to the relase of his film Dum Maaro Dum on 22nd April, will be busy promoting the Bipasha Basu, Prateik Babbar and Rana Daggubati starrer. And to add to his cramped dates, he will immediately start shooting for Abbas-Mustan’s Players after DMD with a huge star cast of Sonam Kapoor, Bobby Deol, Bipasha Basu, Neil Nitin Mukesh and Omi Vaidya.

Last year, Abhi had taken Ash to the US on their anniversary. The year before that, the two were busy with Mani Ratnam’s Raavan but had managed to take some time off for themselves. On their first anniversary in 2008, Aishwarya had joined Abhishek in Miami as he was shooting for Dostana with John Abraham and Priyanka Chopra.

But this year, Aishwarya Rai is taking it a bit easy and doesn’t have any projects in hand. We’re sure she can have a nice surprise planned for her hubby on 20th April. Any ideas?

Actress Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan is apparently doing her bit of research on the reclusive Bengali cinema diva Suchitra Sen as she is touted to step into her shoes soon. Ash, who has already worked with National Award-winning director Rituparno Ghosh twice (Chokher Bali and Raincoat), will be seen playing a bandit queen in the adapted film version of Devi Chaudhurani.

Devi Chaudhurani is a novel by Bengali writer Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in 1884 and is regarded as one of the most popular novels of its times. The film’s adaptation is also regarded as one of Sen’s most appreciated works.

“Aishwarya has asked for the DVDs of Suchitra Sen’s film which is about how a typical affluent housewife turns into the leader of a pack of dacoits. The film will be an adaptation of the novel which is set during the 1880s but nevertheless, Ash wanted to do some research on the actor,” says a source.

Incidentally, both of Ghosh’s previous films with Ash were also on-screen adaptations of well-known literary pieces.

According to sources, Ash has already seen the movie once and has even selected certain portions that she would like to watch again.

“Ash has always regarded Sen as one of the finest actors that Bengal has ever produced. She also wanted to meet her once but she knows that this wish is near impossible as word has it that the senior actor rarely steps out of her appartment. Ash is very interested in her though,” the source adds.

Ghosh and Ash apparentlysat over a series of meetings to discuss the storyline of the film and how it should be adapted in a modern context.

“The script has already been handed over to Ash and she is about to allot dates for the shooting. Rituparno had discussed this with Aishwarya when they were shooting for Chokher Bali itself but he finally got the nod from her when she was in Kolkata last year to accept an award for Raavan,” the source adds. The film will in all probability be a Hindi-Bengali bilingual.

Both Ash and Ghosh confirmed the news of the film being made.

Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan were last seen together on the big screen in the film Raavan. Well fans of the couple will be pleased to hear that they are now set to star together in Raj Kumar Santoshi’s Ladies & Gentleman, that tells the story of an unfaithful husband and his wife.

This film will see a few firsts for the couple; Abhishek will play a womanizer for the first time in his career and will be seen romancing several ladies, it will also be the couple’s first romantic-comedy together.

The role was offered to Aishwarya five years ago but due to lack of dates the actress had to turn down the role.

On speaking about Aishwarya’s role in the film, director Raj Kumar Santoshi tells the media that, “Aishwarya is perfect for this film. Though Aishwarya has done comedy before, this is a new genre for Abhishek and for them as a pair.” He goes on to say that “This comedy takes me into the same genre as Andaz Apna Apna and Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani. But the humor here is not slapstick.”

Ladies and Gentlemen will also see Raj Kumar Santoshi start a new banner named after his late mother who passed away last year. Shooting for the film is set to start in July.

It is a known fact in Bollywood that off screen couple performs miserably in box office and seldom do any of their films becomes a success. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan is no exception to the rule. Right from Dhai Akshar Prem ke to Raavan nothing for this happy couple has done any wonder in the box office. However, both the couple would again try their luck in their latest movie Ladies and Gentleman which has an interesting storyline. It is about a cheating husband and his wife.

Considering that the two Aishwarya and Abhishek can’t even now keep their hands off each other it would be a very different kind of movie where Abhishek would be cheating on Aishwarya on screen. Raj Kumar Santoshi is the director and he wanted to do the film for a long time.

The director of the film had offered the film to Aishwarya five years back but somehow the film didn’t work out well then. The director feels that it is destiny as he always wanted the Bachchan bahu to perform the character which was cut out for her. Now five years later she is doing the same movie. The director also makes it clear that for the first time Abhishek and Aishwarya would do a comedy together but all said and done he feels that the humor in the film is not slapstick.

The director is really excited with the project and wants to make most of what the glamorous pair has to offer. Raj Kumar says that, “This comedy takes me into the same genre as Andaz Apna Apna and Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani. But the humor here is not slapstick.”

Aishwarya Rai, the former Miss World and one of the leading Bollywood actresses, delivered as many as 4 film releases in 2010. And if critical acclaim is anything to go by, then it has been a mixed year with its share of good and bad.
4 Aishwarya-starrer films that got released last year are ‘Raavan’, ‘Action Replayy’, ‘Guzaarish’ and ‘Endhiran’. Out of these 4, only 1 (Endhiran) could rock the box office primarily as it starred the Demi-God of South Rajinikanth. Aishwarya, despite putting up a brilliant portrayal, got largely overshadowed by the peerless prowess of Rajinikanth.
However, despite the fact that ‘Guzaarish’ did a miserable business in the cash windows, it brought laurels and trophies to Aishwarya for her winsome rendition of a doting nurse. For playing that role of Sophie, she raked up trophies for Best Actress (Critics) in Zee Cine Awards and Best Actress- Drama category at the recently concluded Stardust Awards.
But coming to two of the biggest duds of the year, her films ‘Action Replayy’ and ‘Raavan’ licked dust at box office and were torn apart by critics. Even her performance was not up to the mark in these two films for which she has been conferred the Ghanta Awards for Worst Actress of the year.

The proverb “All’s well That Ends Well” is aptly fitting actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. 2010 was a four release year for the actress, with films like Raavan, Robot, Action Replayy and Guzaarish.
Buzz up!
When looked upon critically at all the four film, Robot was a commercially successful film, while Aishwarya was critically liked by people in Guzaarish. Raavan and Action Replayy, got un-noticed getting a lot disappointment both to the actress and her fans as well.

The actress even managed to bag an award for the performance in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Guzaarish. Hmm!! looks like

She even managed to pick up awards for her performance in this Sanjay Leela Bhansali film. It was a ‘all is well’ year for Ash.

2010 ended for Aishwarya Rai Bachchan with 4 releases – RAAVAN (Hindi) & RAAVANAN (Tamil & Telugu), ROBOT/ENDHIRAN, ACTION REPLAYY and GUZAARISH. The reviews for her performances from critics and the movie going audiences have been over whelming, clearly stating that Aishwarya has been able to create and give a new life to each character she has portrayed. The icing on the cake has been the numerous awards conferred on her for these films.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan started the season of awards with a bang; she was awarded Actress Of The Decade at the Big Star Entertainment Awards. At the Apsara Awards Producers Guild Awards 2011, she was conferred with the PRESIDENTS HONOUR for the cinematic excellence of her work as the leading female actor in the film GUZAARISH. This winning streak continued when she got the Best Actress-Critic’s Category at the Zee Cine Awards held at Singapore and then most recently she got an award for the Best Actress-Drama Category for her role in GUZAARISH at the recently concluded Stardust Awards.

Aishwarya Rai is awarded with the worst actress Ghanta award at the award show which is a rip-off of Hollywood’s Razzies.

Last year Aishwarya Rai had four films. If she won the hearts of her Tamil fans with her Endhiran opposite Rajinikanth, she also bowled over the audience with her beauty and acting in Guzaarish, but her Action Replayy was a big let-down and her detractors didn’t spare her for Raavan too.

So, the actress has been named the worst of the lot at the Ghanta Awards.

Ghanta Awards as the name suggests acknowledges the best of worst in Bollywood from Diwali 2009 – Diwali 2010. Who are the other winners:

Worst Actor – Himesh Reshammiya

Worst Breakthrough – Aditya Narayan (Shaapit)

Worst Couple – Uday Chopra and Priyanka Chopra (Pyaar Impossible)

Worst Director – Sajid Khan

Worst Film – Pyaar Impossible

Worst Song – Jailhouse Rock (We Are Family)

Worst Rip-off – Prince

Worst Supporting actor – Zayed Khan (Blue)

Worst Supporting actress – Lara Dutta

WTF – Vegetarian Sharks in ‘Blue’

The man who swept the best actor award in many of the recent award events is nominated in Golden Kela Worst actor category. Shahrukh Khan’s acting in My Name Is Khan has earned him a worst actor nomination. Hrithik Roshan joins him in the league with his acting in Guzaarish. Aishwarya Rai is nominated for Golden Kela worst actress for her film Raavan.

Golden Kela Awards, organized by Random magazine, is a spin-off of Hollywood’s Razzies to honour the worst in Bollywood every year. The award, which is based on public poll, is in its third year. Last year Abhishek Bachchan was given the award for worst accent, and the actor was present at the award ceremony to accept the Dara Singh Award for Worst Accent for his attempt to speak in an American accent in Delhi 6.

Salman Khan’s blockbuster Dabangg has not been nominated under any category.

The award ceremony will be held on March 2 and will be hosted by Cyrus Broacha.

Check out the list of Golden Kela Awards for the worst performance of the year 2010.