By Jilawatan

Following her trip to Tinsel Town and the release of ‘Pink Panther 2′, Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan is back in Bollywood with a heavy duty call sheet in hand. The actress, who was recently felicitated with the prestigious Padma Shri award in Delhi, is set to resume shooting in Mumbai for Vipul Shah’s ‘Action Replay’.

Meanwhile, she has her hands full with Mani Ratnam’s much awaited ‘Raavan’, opposite her hubby Abhishek. The movie is scheduled to be released in 2010, and is being shot simultaneously in Tamil under the title of ‘Ashokavanam’. Though the cast in the Tamil version differ slightly, the main characters are being essayed by the likes of Vikram, Govinda,Prithviraj Sukumaran, Prabhu Ganesan and Manisha Koirala. It’s being claimed that Raavan/ Ashokavanam is a modern day version of the Ramayana, with Ash as Sita.

BY Jilawatan

The first ‘bahu’ of Bollywood, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, may have competition back home from sis-in-law Shrima Rai, who won first runners-up at the Shrima Rai
Mrs India contest. We speak to the lady…

How did Mrs India happen?
I was busy with investment consulting for Standard Chartered, when I decided to send my portfolio to Gladrags. I was shortlisted and here I am.

All your family was there except Aishwarya. Why?
All my family was there to support me. Pa-in-law and mom-in-law were nervous, but Aditya was the most nervous! Ash could not come as she was busy shooting for her film, but that didn’t stop her from calling and messaging me.

Did you get some modelling tips from her?
Ash is a pro at walking the ramp and has won pageants too. She shared some tips with me regarding the walk and expressions, but the one important thing she told me was that I should forget about everything and just enjoy the experience. And that actually helped me a lot.

By Jilawatan

Sanjay leela Bansali’s next Mega-Budget Film starring Aishwarya Rai Bachchan & Hrithik Roshan in lead role, is titled as GUZARISH.After creating history by becoming the first Indian to bag the Oscar Award for best sound mixing for Slumdog Millionaire, Resul Pookutty is now looking forward to put his audio wizardry in Sanjay Bhansali’s next film featuring Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan which is scheduled to start later this year.

Sanjay recalls his first association with Resul and says, “My assistant Vikram Motwane had suggested Resul’s name. For Devdas, Resul recorded the sounds of a hurling train for the climax, I hadn’t met Resul then. For Black, I worked with him for the first time on a complete film. I realised how meticulously he designed the sound and by sound, I also mean the way Resul uses silences on soundtrack.”

By Jilawatan

It seems unusual that one of the most romantic off screen movie stories – that of Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan – has not been seen in a straightforward romantic situation on-screen since their marriage.

Soon, we’ll be seeing them together in a tale of forbidden love in Raavan. But the pair are quite happy with this situation. “It’s wonderful because even we as actors, over the years, have been gravitating towards experiences as characters in a lot of movies,” says Aishwarya.

As well as Raavan, Aishwarya has also been working hard on Endhiran with Southern legend Rajnikanth and she has talked about how excited she feels to have the opportunity to work with him.

“We’ve all grown up watching Rajinikanth films and all those moves – it’s been exciting, everyone around me was excited about me working with him,” she explains.

By Jilawatan

Will Aishwarya Rai fight Lok Sabha elections on Samajwadi party ticket? The question has become more intense following the sudden announcement of Sanjay Dutt’s candidature from Lucknow on Samajwadi party ticket.

It seems amazing but unfortunate that a follower of Lohiya, Mulayam Singh Yadav has started running behind Bollywood stars, even tainted ones in order to win some Parliamentary seats.

It is not just an issue of Aishwarya Rai. She is a wonderful woman and a great actress, but there are already several Bollywood personalities who anyhow overshadow this Lohiyaite Mulayam Singh Yadav.

There are already two Jayas, Jaya Parda and Jaya Bachchan. Now there will be along list of other stars who will give company to these Bollywood personalities.

Samajwadi party is trying to rope in everyone it seems fit to win election to contest next Lok Sabha elections for it. Just two days ago the party announced the name of Sanjay Dutt as a candidate from Lucknow Lok Sabha seat.

By Jilawatan

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, who played Paro in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Devdas, is following Pa B and hubby Abhishek’s example – by singing a song!

The musical duo of Vishal-Shekhar, who talked Abhishek into the groovy hip hop number Right Here Right Now, has also convinced Ash to sing for them.

“You won’t believe what an amazing voice Ash has! We’ve talked her into singing a song for us and we’re going to record it very soon,” says Shekhar. And is it in a movie that they’re composing for? “No, no. Right now, we’re only recording it, before Ash changes her mind! We’ll see what to do with it in the future,” he laughs.

And their hip hop number for AB Sr for the upcoming Aladdin – is it going to be in Hindi, English or a mix of both? “Sab kuch hai usme. Mr Bachchan has a phenomenal voice and there’s so much music in him,” replies Shekhar.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has given her nod to act in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s next film. She is also giving her unstinted support to the director who is facing rough weather after the debacle of his last venture, Saawariya.

Saawariya was panned by critics and crashed at the box office. But Ash feels that one failure does not mean that Bhansali should be written off from the Bollywood map as he is one of the best talents the country has ever produced.

“Sanjay Leela Bhansali has gifted me two of my most memorable films ,” Ash says, referring to Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Devdas. She adds,” He is a master filmmaker and I don’t think one failure is a very big deal. “