By Jilawatan

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan recently turned 37. But age seems to do little to her beauty and effervescence, or to her star power for that matter. The actress has had four releases in 2010 already (Raavan, Raavanan, Robot, Action Replayy) and is gearing up for her final performance before the year ends. Guzaarish releases on November 19 and what we see from the promos she is looking prettier than ever! We chatted with her about the film, which brings her back with Hrithik Roshan and also Sanjay Leela Bhansali. She has worked with both in two movies each and all four films have been hugely successful. Needless to say, expectations from Guzaarish are sky high. Excerpts from an the interview:

By Jilawatan

Bollywood beauty Aishwarya Rai’s traditional outfits in the film Raavanan are finding many takers in Malaysia with Deepavali shopping at it’s peak.

The original outfits, long-sleeved salwar kameez (tunic) and chudidar pants, were created by Indian designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee and imitations have flooded the shops here with many shopper’s asking for the Aishwarya masakali.

The suits have been in the market since early this year after the release of the movie but sales have peaked as Deepavali approaches, reported New Straits Time.

The salwar kameez also comes with transparent sleeves and multi-coloured dupattas (stoles) to suit the tastes of the individual shoppers.

Malaysia is home to 2.1 million ethnic Indians, a bulk of them are from Tamil Nadu and fans of Tamils films and film stars.

The Hindi version of the film Raavan failed to create magic at the box office, but Raavanan, in Tamil, became an instant hit in Malaysia.

By Jilawatan

Bollywood couple Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan won’t be able to attend the screening of their film Raavan at the upcoming 67th Venice Film Festival, due to prior commitments with their brand endorsements.

Raavanan and Raavan – the Tamil and the Hindi versions of the Mani Ratnam film – and Anurag Kashyap’s That Girl In Yellow Boots will be screened at the festival, starting Wednesday.

“Aishwarya and Abhishek are not going for the Venice Film Festival as reported in some media outlets. The festival falls on the same dates on which they have previously committed. Aishwarya is going for an event for Longines (as she is the brand ambassador), while Abhishek will be busy with a shoot for Omega in Italy,” said a source close to the actors.

By Jilawatan

Though Aishwarya Rai is predominantly concentrating her career in Bollywood, she is continuing to act in Tamil films with her latest release being Raavanan. The actress is expecting the release of Endhiran, which has Rajinikanth in the lead.

The buzz in Kollywood is that Ash is not a member of the Nadigar Sangam till date. The Sangam has issued a deadline to all artistes acting in Tamil films to register themselves, but the actress did not heed to it, report sources.

Sources in Kollywood say that many stars that have registered recently fearing action from the Sangam feel that the Nadigar Sangam is going soft on Ash.

By Jilawatan

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan came out with an award-winning performance in Mani Ratnam’s just-released Raavan and Raavanan. There is no second opinion on this! No actress but Aishwarya could have played the beauteous and virtuous modern-day Sita kidnapped by a Maoist Raavan.

Now all eyes are set of Aishwarya Rai’s next Tamil film Endhiran with Superstar Rajnikanth. Director Shankar wrote in his blog recently, “Well… except one song, the shooting of the whole film (Endhiran) is complete. The full edited film has been given to A.R. Rahman for background score and Resul Pookutty for the sound effects. Just waiting to shoot the last song, the computer graphics work of the climax and some important scenes to be completed.”

Reportedly the last song will feature the lead pair Rajnikanth and Aishwarya Rai! And now the entire Endhiran crew is waiting for Aishwarya Rai’s dates for the shoot. According to sources, the song will be shot on a beautiful set erected at a studio in Chennai.

By Jilawatan

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has been critically appreciated for her roles in Mani Ratnam’s Raavan and Raavanan.

The audience feedback in Chennai on her performance is that she is mesmerising and has come out with an award-winning performance. According to many, her on-screen chemistry with Vikram in the Tamil version crackled. Now that the hype and hoopla surrounding the release of Raavan is over, everybody is eagerly looking forward to her next release in Tamil, Endhiran (Robot), with Superstar Rajinikanth.

Director Shankar wrote in his blog, “Well… except one song, the shooting of the whole film (Endhiran) is complete. The full edited film has been given to A R Rahman for background score and Resul Pookutty for the sound effects. Just waiting to shoot the last song, the computer graphics work of the climax and some important scenes to be completed.”

By Jilawatan

Languages aren’t a barrier when it comes to Mani Ratnam’s film. The world cinema buffs across the globe have always welcomed the ace filmmaker’s masterpieces for its unique themes. Here comes the biggest release Raavanan releasing with 2000 plus prints in three versions.

Buzz up!
With the film slated to hit the screens tomorrow, private screenings are been held continuously in Mumbai and Chennai as a close associate of Mani Ratnam and his wife Suhasini hosts them. There’s buzz in the air that the film has a tragic climax with the death of Ragini (Aishwarya Rai) and Veera (Vikram). Nonetheless, it has been denied by the units dismissing it as a baseless rumor.

Manirathnam is known for having different climaxes for Hindi, Telugu and Tamil versions. Remember his yesteryear film Thalapathi, The climax screened in Tamil Nadu had the Malayalam actor Mammooty shot dead while in Kerala it was the superstar Rajinikanth.

By Jilawatan

There might be Beera hogging the limelight with his cranky behaviour and outlandish expressions, and then there might be the cool-andsuave Dev but Ragini brings the much-needed grace to the proceedings on screen. Aishwarya Rai, widely described as India’s most beautiful woman, got to play Ragini not once, but twice, in Mani Ratnam’s double bonanza!

FROM IRUVAR TO RAAVANAN

One of the reasons that I came into cinema was because of Mani Ratnam. And when I got an opportunity to act in his film for my debut, I grabbed it. I still remember the first Tamil word I uttered on screen — Pesanum…. I guess I haven’t stopped talking since then!

THE MANI MAGIC

People around the world love his cinema and style of filmmaking. As actors and creative people, we cherish the opportunities of working with such a great filmmaker. I used to call him Mani sir when I started but by the time we did Guru, he told me to call him just Mani.

By Jilawatan

In her latest film Raavan in Hindi and Raavanan in Tamil, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan plays Ragini, the wife of a police officer who is abducted.

It’s a role which involved working in tough terrain, heavy rains and amongst creatures of the jungle. In this interview, she speaks about her role, the challenges of working in a bilingual and her co-artists. Excerpts of a teleconference.

All about your character in Raavan and Raavanan
There has been a lot of talk that my character is based on a modern day Sita from “Ramayan”, which is not true. I think all the stories can be drawn parallel to our epics because at the end it is all about inter-personal relationship. My character Ragini is Mani’s perception of this strong willed woman abducted by Beera. And the story is about the dynamics between the three characters- Beera, Dev and Ragini.

By Jilawatan

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is quite firm in telling that Mani Ratnam’s ‘Raavanan’ is not a new age adaptation of Ramayana or any other mythological story.

Affirming her views, Aishwarya clearly tells that ‘Raavanan’ the title was placed because the character of Vikram in Tamil or Abhishek Bachchan in Hindi, is a multifaceted character. The character they play has a lot of negative shade but they are not out rightly bad people.

Further adding she says, that particular character’s nick name is ‘Raavanan’ for the wicked things Vikram does! It is an unpredictable character, while he is happy and smiling at a particular time, he acts mean and crazy the next second.

Is she reminding us of ‘Anniyan’ by any chance? Jokes apart, the movie is an interesting tale of revenge and everyone is eagerly waiting to see it!