By Jilawatan

Though Hollywood directors courted her with roles in their films, Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai says she could not take up the offers because of scheduling problems.

“It wasn’t about an attitude I had, or any inverted ideas about working overseas, it was simply about scheduling. I just didn’t have the time,” Aishwarya said.

The punishing long-term scheduling in Bollywood, she said, is more limiting than that in Hollywood, reported The Times.

In fact, she was courted relentlessly by Hollywood filmmakers. Director Brett Ratner wanted her for Rush Hour and Wolfgang Petersen pursued her for Troy.

“Michael Douglas came to India and did a press conference where he confessed that he had brought a script my way. And Will Smith was generous enough to be persistent twice over, for Hancock and Seven Pounds,” said Aishwarya.

By Jilawatan

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan might be all of 35 and is losing out on endorsement deals and positions to the likes of Kareena Kapoor and plastic actress gone lucky, Katrina Kaif, but she still is going strong in more ways that one.

Not just Ash, her contemporaries like Sushmita Sen, Rani Mukerji, Preity Zinta and Kajol too have been replaced by the likes of Kat, Bebo, Deepika Padukone, even Sonam Kapoor and Genelia D’Souza.

But Ash is doing better than her contemporaries. She may not be the face of Coca-Cola and Nakshatra diamond jewellery in India, but she still has successful and long-standing international endorsements.

She has completed nearly a decade of endorsing Swiss luxury watch brand Longines, international soap Lux and is the brand ambassador of global haircare brand L’Oreal since 2003. And unlike Shilpa Shetty and Preity Zinta who have moved on to businesses like IPL with rich boyfriends.

Will Smith is a big fan of Bollywood cinema and Aishwarya Rai.
He is now making an idea of a crossover flick starring himself, Aishwarya Rai and Anil Kapoor.
A source reveals, “Will Smith has been coming to India every few months and is looking for actors and places. He has a script in mind and now has approached a handful of Indian actors. Two of them will be Anil Kapoor and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.”

Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle was recently heard saying, “While we were doing film there, Will Smith came over twice. There is a very large coming together of Bollywood and Hollywood. It will only take one person.”
It will bring them together and it will be huge.
When Anil Kapoor was asked about the idea, he said, “Yes, he came to meet us. He came to my house. He is very talented.”

It seems like marriage between Bollywood and Hollywood is inevitable. News has it that Bollywood’s ‘Bahu’ Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is reading a Hollywood script that stars none other than comedy star Will Smith.

Although, the beautiful actress is inclined towards the tempting project, she has not given her consent to it yet. Speaking to a news daily, Aishwarya said, “There is the possibility of a movie with Will Smith and I am very excited about it because the script is fabulous and no doubt, he is a great actor and is a funny companion to work with.”

After starring in interesting Hollywood projects like ‘Mistress of Spices’ and ‘The Last Legion’, Aishwarya is excited about Will Smith’s next. Aishwarya admits to reading other scripts from Hollywood also and said that she would leave it to destiny to resolve.

The role of Mary Embrey in Will Smith’s sci-fi action comedy ‘Hancock’ was offered to Aishwarya Rai who turned it down. While Aishwarya may not regret her decision to do so, it was a huge opportunity missed, the like of which may not come her way again.

The role of Mary Embrey in Will Smith’s sci-fi action comedy Hancock was offered to Aishwarya Rai who turned it down. While Aishwarya may not regret her decision to do so, it was a huge opportunity missed, the like of which may not come her way again.

The film is a runaway success. Made on a budget of $150 million it has already grossed $344 million worldwide. But it is not just the success of the film that Aishwarya will rue.

Does Sandalwood require Bollywood stars to promote its films? Metrolife finds out

Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger in Bollywood, Aishwarya Rai, Big B, Om Puri, Tabu, Irfan Khan, Rahul Bose in Hollywood. Even the Kannada film industry has had its share of actors from Bollywood and actors from Sandalwood

experimenting in Bollywood. While Daisy Boppanna, Bhavana, Vishnuvardhan and Ramesh have starred in Hindi movies and Sudeep will soon be seen in one, Shilpa Shetty, Juhi Chawla, Madhu, Sonali
Bendre, Lisa Ray, Dhyan, Dino Morea, Rahul Dev, Ashutosh Rana, Ashish Vidyarthi, Aruna Irani and Big B have acted in Kannada movies.

But is the trend here to stay and can Bollywood artistes draw the crowds? “Many movies are released at any given time, having stars from Bollywood may help in gaining attention, but I doubt if it will excite our audience. These are mostly attention seeking tactics and I would rather come up with a solid story,” says actor-director Ramesh Aravind.

Hollywood actor Will Smith revealed that Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai was his original choice to co-star in his latest movie, Hancock before Charlize Theron was signed on.

Apparently Ash had refused to accept the role due to some date problems.

The actor is a huge fan of Aishwarya. “I would love to work with Aishwarya. She is gorgeous. I had even offered her roles with me. In fact for ‘Hancock‘ also she was my first preference over Charlize,” he told a news agency..

The actor is still hopeful that would work together in future. “I received denials all the times, may be she had some justified problems. But of course, I will do anything to work with Aishwarya,” says a hopeful Smith.

Aishwarya Rai has a great fan in Will Smith. He says that she was his first choice for Hancock. The film was released in India July 11.

The man who was once called the most powerful actor on the planet by Newsweek is fond of Aishwarya Rai.

It is another thing altogether that a leading US actress went on to do the lead role opposite Smith who has established himself in different fields including as an actor, rapper and producer.

The great US actor Smith who is in India to explore the possibility of working in some Indian projects says that he was still hopeful that one day he will be able to work with the former Indian beauty queen.