Aishwarya Rai-Abhishek Bachchan's wedding/reception has been fixed for February 19

Aishwarya Rai-Abhishek Bachchan's wedding/reception has been fixed for February 19 and the Hyatt, Santacruz has been booked as the venue. They publicly announced at a party recently thrown by Aditya Chopra to celebrate the success of 'Dhoom2', that they were going to get married. While Neeta Lulla has been asked to create Ash's outfit, Anna Singh will design Abhi's sherwani. According to numerologist Sanjay Jumaani, Abhi completes 31 years on Feb 5. his 32nd year is very auspicious for marriage.

Today is Aishwarya Rai's birthday!

Today is Aishwarya Rai's birthday! But she is not at all b'day bash kind. "My day will start with a visit to the Siddhivinayak Temple with my family, something I do every year. There will be no loud parties…my birthday is a very private affair. Considering I have to leave for Dubai tomorrow, it will be over early too. Only family and friends will be there," informs she. Ash denies the rumors of her marriage with Abhishek in February. As they only want to concentrating on their individual careers now. On Abhishek she says, "He is a friend for sure. We get on really well. He's fantastic at what he does and deserves the acknowledgement he is getting now. And even though he never played a prank on me, I have no doubt that he is a brat."

Aishwarya Rai may work with Will Smith

Bollywood leading lady Aishwarya Rai is eager to work with U.S. actor Will Smith, but is in no rush to sign on to other Hollywood projects, a news agency reported.
Rai has some big roles in upcoming Bollywood releases, including the much anticipated "Dhoom 2," and she's been linked to several Hollywood projects such as "Chaos," in which she would star alongside Meryl Streep.
But in an interview with the Press Trust of India, Rai declined to discuss any Hollywood plans, apart from a possible film with Will Smith for which she has already seen the script.
"There are quite a few scripts from abroad, but I hope to be able to work with Will Smith. The script was great and it will be fun to work with him," the agency quoted Rai as saying on Monday.
As for other Hollywood projects, it quoted as saying, "I really want time to decide. I don't know what will come my way. I will go through the scripts, I will look at the dates and only then will sign newer movies."
Rai, a former Miss World, has acted in more than 30 movies and is considered among India's top actresses.

Aishwarya says she had ‘fun’ with Abhishek

Diplomatic to the core, Bollywood diva Aishwarya Rai set aside questions about her marriage and said that she had left everything to fate. "Marriage will be an eventuality for sure but only God knows about the time," she said,
interacting with the media persons on the sidelines of the launch of a new watch collection of
Longines. Aishwarya is the ambassador for the brand.
She was poker-faced while answering questions on her relationship with Abhishek Bachchan with
whom she is starring in three movies. "Abhishek is a friend for sure. He is a fantastic colleague
and I had a fabulous time working with him this year," she said.
When she spoke of the 'fun' she had with Abhishek, she was quick to add, "It was obviously on the
sets as we get along very well professionally."
Aishwarya's forthcoming movies with Abhishek include Umrao Jaan, Dhoom-2 and Guru.
Speaking about the recent string of Bollywood hits like Lage Raho Munnabhai, Rang De Basanti,
Khosla ka Ghosla, she said it was great to see good cinema being appreciated by audiences.
"Moviemakers would get confidence from the success of different genres of movies recently," she
said.
Talking about her stint in Hollywood, she said her two movies Provoked and Last Legion will be
released shortly.
Provoked would be dubbed in various Indian languages.
Aishwarya said she was actively considering a script to act with Hollywood actor Will Smith.
Source:Sify

John, Aishwarya to sizzle onscreen

Producer Gaurang Doshi has roped in John Abraham and Aishwarya Rai for his mystical romantic musical Happy Birthday and says 'they look like Adonis and Venus together'.
They have not been paired before. "But if you close your eyes you can see how good John and Aishwarya look together," Doshi told IANS.
To be directed by Sriram Raghavan, who earlier did Ram Gopal Varma's Ek Hasina Thi, Happy Birthday starts shooting in January.
"We had signed John about a year back. But we needed a strong charismatic and popular leading lady because Happy Birthday isn't about just the male protagonist. When Ash said yes, everything fell into place. She has never been seen with John before," said Doshi.
John is on the lookout for new leading ladies. In Water he's paired with Lisa Ray, in Baabul with Rani Mukerji and in Salaam-e-Ishq with Vidya Balan for the first time.
"The catch-line for Happy Birthday will be, 'Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.' We needed a magical pair. John and Ash have the quality."
"I think Aishwarya and I will make a good team. It's a great script. Sriram is a super-director, and we're excited," said John.
The music score is by Vishal-Shekhar.
Source :HT

'Ash no longer likes my style'

Saroj Khan Has Donned A New Cap. ….She Has Finished directing a Bhojpuri film named Dil Diwana Tohar Ho Gayil. The film, shot in the UK and Mumbai is ready for release.
The star-choreographer is at home with her new vocation. "Why not direction? When the opportunity to direct a Bhojpuri film came along I agreed. Bhojpuri cinema has become massive. And the language isn't a problem.
I'm really enjoying this new job. Directing a film is like choreographing without the song. Sure, you don't have the music, but all the movements, emotions and story are there in my dances."
The fact that she has worked closely as a choreographer with some of the top filmmakers helps. "Often as I take a shot I'm reminded of Subhash Ghai or Sanjay Leela Bhansali…
I'm a good student and I never forget what I've observed the great directors doing…And Ravi Kishan and Nagma who star in the Bhojpuri film were very dedicated students. They took my instructions as director and choreographer very seriously."
Besides directing the film, Saroj Khan has also choreographed ten songs filmed on Nagma and Ravi Kishan. "All situational….Not that I don't do item songs.
In fact they started with me in Tezaab's Ek do teen…But I don't have to resort to gimmicks to get my audience. Even my soft romantic songs like Dhak dhak karne lagaa had the audience glued to their seats."
She's extremely dishearted by recent choreographic trends. "I feel dancing in our films is going down the drain. Earlier audiences watched film dances with their mouths open. Now saliva falls out of their mouths.
Film dances are no longer art. They've become too commercial. Now my children have grownup. I've grandchildren. I'm only interested in doing selected films like Yashraj Films' Fanaah."
She doesn't much care about the trend of multiple choreographers for one film. "If they all know what they're doing it's okay. But often the dances look patchy. In Fanaah I've done all the songs except one which was shot in Poland. My doctor forbade me from going into the snowy country. I think Vaivabhi Merchant did that song."
She disapproves of the trend of choreographers allowing their assistants to compose dances. "I never did that. Farah Khan and Vaivabhi Merchant adopt any movement from their assistants that catches their fancy. If an assistant choreographs a number what right does Farah Khan have to take the award?
It's good that her assistant Geeta Kapoor has branched out on her own. When I go to collect an award I do with the pride of knowing that it's rightfully mine. I never forget I've graduated from P.L. Raj-ji's school of choreography. This is the man who composed the dance for Hothon pe aisi baat. How can I let him down?
Today I don't feel like putting the tv on to watch the dances. My grandchildren watch the cartoon network rather than the film songs. I liked Aishwarya's songs. But of late even they look very strange. I was supposed to do Umrao Jaan with Aishwarya Rai. But something happened between me and Mr J.P.Dutta. So I walked out."
Why has Aishwarya stopped working with Saroj Khan? "I don't know. Maybe she no longer likes my style. I'm sure she has found better choreographers to work with…But I must say Kajra re didn't impress me much as a dance number.
Still it took away all the awards….I took all the awards for Aaj-kal mujhko hai intezaar although the film Sailaab had flopped…Now they say Bunty Aur Babli worked because of Kajra re. I feel like laughing at some of the awards juries.
They found some of my movements vulgar and gave me awards for the same movements in another song. My fans feel Main vari vari in Mangal Pandey should've been nominated for every popular award."
But Saroj Khan isn't moving out. "I'll keep choreographing until the end of my life. But I won't get into a rut. I wouldn't do dances just to earn money. Nor will I seek out work. I never did that during Sridevi and Madhuri. Why should I do it now? I feel the younger stars feel I belong to the older generation.
Like Abhishek with whom I worked in Refugee and Kuch Na Kaho, prefers Vaivabhi or Remo. Maybe they feel I'm part of the past. But I like choreographing Aishwarya Rai. I like the way Priyanka Chopra dances. "
She's open to more directorial ventures. "It's an enjoyable job. And I want to continue direction."
Source :Santabanta

Aishwarya Rai’s decade long innings in Bollywood

It’s been ten long years since Aishwarya Rai came into the Hindi film industry and there’s been no looking back for her. She was crowned ‘Miss World’ in 94-95 and then moved onto acting. Although she had several flops at the start of her career this actress came into the limelight with director Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam’ and his ‘Devdas’. The actress received accolades of praise for her performance in these films. Unfortunately although Ash has even been seen in several Hollywood films, box-office success is again eluding her. However Ash has endorsed several international brands and even though she has not had a big hit film in a long time, yet the actress has her own high brand value. However Ash will be seen after a long time in quite a few films this year, like Dhoom 2, Umrao Jaan, Guru and Hollywood films Provoked and The Last Legion.Recently bollywood star Ash was even responsible for creating a traffic jam in the Middle East country of Dubai where she was shooting for a beauty product. Though she knows she is one of the most beautiful faces in the world, Ash manages to keep a firm head on her shoulders. She claims that she has been promoting many international brands and her association with almost all her brands has been a long standing one. She has endorsed these products not only in India but in other countries too, so in this way she feels she has managed to cross borders. Ash claims that even while endorsing her products especially after she became Miss World she has always put in a lot of thought into which brands she endorses. She has always been responsible as to which products she endorses. Ash has always played different roles and different characters in all her films; she says “I have been blessed to work with different directors and in different roles in my films. The audiences have wanted see me in different roles that’s why I have been able to do them.” This year she has films where she plays many different roles again like Umrao Jaan which is a period film where she plays a courtesan. She plays the victim of domestic violence in her Hollywood film Provoked, in Dhoom 2 she plays a modern woman and she plays a warrior in the Hollywood flick The Last Legion. But at times it does bother Ash that she has been solely judged by her looks rather than her acting. However she believes that with her films on hand this will soon change.More than her films again the actress has always been in the news for her personal life rather than her professional life. She had a volatile relationship with co-star Salman Khan which was highly publicised. Recently again the actress was in the news for her relationship with co-star Abhishek Bachchan . In fact she will be seen opposite him in quite a few films like Guru, Umrao Jaan and now even Sarkar 2. According to rumours beau Abhishek has been responsible for getting her most of these films and convincing directors to cast her opposite him. But Ash is unfazed by any rumours, she claims that although she is uncomfortable with her personal life being splashed for public scrutiny, she has now come to terms with it and just considers it an occupational hazard. However Ash says “In my personal life I decide what I want to share and what I don’t want to share.” The actress has even appeared on the internationally acclaimed ‘Oprah Winfrey Show’ and she feels that whatever show you are on there should not be any pretenses to be someone else. One should always be themselves and be true to themselves. Finally Ash is extremely happy about the way her career has moved so far and she says “The incredible amount of love that I have received from the audiences and my fans is very satisfying and is definitely a special feeling.”

Aishwarya’s look in Umrao Jaan arouses curiosity

When one of the most beautiful women in the world goes behind the veil, it is natural for her fans to be curious.
As J.P. Dutta’s most awaited venture Umrao Jaan is coming close to its release, the cine lovers are getting curious about Aishwarya Rai ’s look in the movie.
The director has still not disclosed much about her look and has kept Ash’s all-new avatar under wraps. After Devdaas it will be Ash’s second movie in which she will be seen portraying a character from history.
In order to create a right look for Ash’s character of the courtesan and poetess Umrao Jaan in the film, Dutta is said to have gone into meticulous detail in costumes and jewellery. He has also created the authentic ambience by using the right architecture and antique items.
But more than the costumes and ambience, it is the performance of the leading actors on which the success of the movie hinges.
According to Dutta, Ash has worked intelligently to bring the right nuances in the mannerisms and body language of her character. The movie’s dialogues are in Urdu and Ash had to get the right voice modulation to bring conviction to her performance.
The movie is a musical love story of a courtesan Umrao Jaan based on Mirza Mohammed Haadi Ruswa’s novel. In 1981, filmmaker Muzaffar Ali directed the first screen adaptation of Ruswa's book, starring Rekha in the title role. Rekha won a National Award for her performance.
It goes without saying that cinegoers will compare Ash’s performance with Rekha and it will be a great challenge for Ash to match up to her predecessor’s style.
J. P. Dutta insists that his film is not a remake of Muzaffar Ali’s ‘Umrao Jaan’, but an original take on the courtesan’s life, based on the script written by his father O.P. Dutta.
The flick will mark Dutta’s comeback after LoC Kargil and his first experiment with a women-centric theme. Most of Dutta’s previous flicks were based on warfront, which left little scope for his female cast.
The movie buffs are also curious to see the chemistry between Ash and Abhishek Bachchan who will pair opposite each other in this film after Kuch Naa Kaho .
‘Umrao Jaan’, made on a budget of Rs. 200 million, was shot mainly in Jaipur. It also stars Shabana Azmi , Sunil Shetty , Arshad Warsi and Kulbhushan Kharbanda .
The lyrics of the film are written by Javed Akhtar and the music is composed by Anu Malik.
The film is slated to release this Diwali.
Source :Apunkachoice

Hrithik outsmarts Abhishek

The whole world knows about Hrithik's 15 different get ups in one of the most talked about films- DHOOM 2. The film has been postponed to November end. It was supposed to release along with DON and UMRAO JAAN on 20th October. Director Sanjay Gandhvi informed a daily that they are still busy with the post-production work and they don't want to rush into anything. The film has been shot in Rio and Namibia and is an out an out entertainer.
Hrithik plays a con man in the film who outsmarts Abhishek Bachchan every time, owing to his different looks (disguises) one being a dwarf and a woman also. The film seems twice as exciting as DHOOM and promises some mind-boggling stunts and action scenes. Moreover watch out for some sizzling scenes and catch the stunning Aishwarya Rai and Bipasha Basu in ultra chic avatars.
Source :Glamsham

Aishwarya Rai does bold stunts in THE LAST LEGION

Aishwarya Rai and her predilection to the West is evident now. After MISTRESS OF SPICES and PROVOKED, it's THE LAST LEGION with Colin Firth that marks her next international release.
As per reports in a tabloid, Aishwarya plays a Byzantine warrior named Mira in the film. The filming of the movie took place in Tunisia and Slovakia and is based on Valerio Massimo Mandredi's novel of the same name. It is set in 470 AD and deals with the story of Rome's last emperor. The film also has Ben Kingsley and Aishwarya has performed some bold action stunts, adds the tabloid.
As for her Bollywood projects, watch out for the stunning actress in DHOOM 2. Then there's Mani Ratnam's GURU, J.P Dutta's UMRAO JAAN and Ashutosh Gowarikar's JODHA AKBAR lined up.

http://www.glamsham.com/movies/scoops/06/sep/14_aishwarya_the_last_legion.asp

Bollywood News

Sneha Ullal 'Replaces' Aishwarya Rai in a Hollywood Film

Mumbai, Sep 19: Sneha Ullal is about to play the female lead role in a Hollywood film for which the gorgeous Aishwarya Rai was the original choice.
Actor-producer Tom George Kolath, winner of the Best Feature National award and Indian Panorama award in 2004 for Malayalam film 'Akale At a distance', is all set to foray into Hollywood with his directorial debut 'Gandhi Park'.
'Gandhi Park', starring Sneha, Anupam Kher , Brandon Sommers, Vikaas Kalantri, Sush Nayar among others is a contemporary, cross culture romantic comedy.
At a press conference in Mumbai Monday September 18 night, Tom, announcing his film said it is a passionate love story and deals with the realities when an Indian girl falls in love with an American boy. It is about the ensuing family tension, the inherent conflict of cultures, and the pressures of going against the family traditions that are set in stone.

Aishwarya Rai does a Tata Young now?

Can the audience imagine DHOOM 2 without a music video? Especially after the huge success of the 'Dhoom Machale' in DHOOM which saw Tata Young gyrating to the racy track along with John Abraham and Abhishek Bachchan. The riot causing chartbuster made waves and caught everyone's attention. Well the audience seems to be in for yet another treat.
If the grapevine is to be believed, Arjun Sablok has been roped in to direct the promotional video starring Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai in DHOOM 2. Director Aditya Chopra has even had a hush hush meeting with Arjun whose directed films like NA TUM JAANO NA HUM and NEEL N NIKKI earlier. The music video will be choreographed by none other than Shiamak Davar and the film releases on 24th November.

Aishwarya Rai sneak into the semis, Preity Kajol and Rani move ahead.

Aishwarya Rai maintained her unbeaten run at the Most Popular Bollywood Star 2006 contest here at desifans.com as she beat her long time rival Sushmita Sen in a somewhat closely fought contest to reach the semi finals.

The contest was swaying Sushmita Sen’s way till the halfway and then Ash leaped forward in the last few days to win the round 54:44. The Dhoom2 girl meets Fanaah girl Kajol in the semi finals. Kajol after a dream comeback in Faana is still in the hearts of thousands of fans. She proved that by winning her quarter final round by beating beauty queen and much younger counterpart Priyanka Chopra comprehensively in a 67:33 margin.
Bollywood hot and sultry bomb shell was not much of a fight for the hugely talented Rani Mukherjee. The bengali actresses fought it out with Rani, the queen she is, winning 61% of the total votes. In another quarter final, Preity Zinta just walked over Kareena Kapoor winning more than 72% of the popular votes. With the hits lined one after another, Preity surely has a huge number of fans .. and even in her semi final match, she is leading over Rani by a decent margin.

Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan paired in 'Sarkar 2'

The hottest couple in the tinsel town will be seen together in Ram Gopal Varma’s sequel of Sarkar .Although there are still months left for the project to go on the floors, Ramu has confirmed the presence of Aishwarya Rai in Sarkar 2 . She will play the lead role opposite Abhishek Bachchan .

Hrithik, Aishwarya Rai in a Music Video for Dhoom 2?

Dhoom 2 without a music video……….no way, there has to be one! Rumors are rife that Sanjay Gadhvi’s highly awaited Dhoom 2, which is under the Yashraj banner, will have a promotional music video just like Dhoom had which featured Tata Young along with the lead male stars of the film. Arjun Sablok directed the music video.

IndiaGlitz - Ash to be part of IIFA finally - Bollywood Hindi Movie News
The speculation over whether Aishwarya Rai will or will not be a part of IIFA Awards this year in Dubai was cleared when Rai agreed to be present during the premiere of her film ‘Provoked’. Although she is busy shooting for Mani Ratnam’s ‘Guru’ in Chennai, she will catch a morning flight to Dubai and will be back the same night.
According to her secretary Hari Singh, Ash would want to be present during the premiere because she couldn’t attend the premiere of her other film ‘Mistress of Spices’ as she was shooting for ‘Guru’ in Badami. The undue criticism from the certain sections of media had hurt her immensely then and she didn’t wish to go through the same grind again.
Wizcraft, the organizers of the IIFA Awards also wanted Ash to perform during the awards night. But she excused herself and in the bargain had to forfeit a huge sum of money. Maybe she didn’t wish to give a scope to the rumour mongers to spread the word that she was performing in the event because her alleged boyfriend Abhishek Bachchan’s father is the brand ambassador of the event.
Whatever may be the case, IndiaGlitz applauds Aishwarya Rai’s professionalism

No decision yet on Big B and Aishwarya as brand ambassadors
Kochi, June 13. (PTI): The Kerala Government is yet to take a decision, on whether or not to rope in Bollywood superstars Amitabh Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai as brand ambassadors to promote the State.
'The matter is under the Government's consideration and no decision has been taken,' official sources said.
Tourism officials have held discussions with both Bachchan and Aishwarya and they have reportedly expressed intrest in the project, the sources said.
Bachchan was recently in Munnar in kerala to shoot for Ram Gopal Varma's 'Nishabd'.
The department's proposal to have Bachchan and Aishwarya was following the huge success of Kerala Tourism commercials featuring Hindi television stars Smriti Irani and Mona Vasu in driving tourists from North Indian states to Kerala.
The commercials were a great hit in popular entertainment channels including Zee,Star Gold, and Star Plus,the sources said.
Hoping to cash on in the popularity of the two big names in the entertainment industry, the tourism officials had drawn up plans to have the two stars as brand ambassadors.
In 2005, the foreign and domestic tourist arrivals to the State were 3.46 lakh and 59.46 lakh respectively. During the current year, the department was targetting a growth of 20 per cent for international tourists and five per cent for the domestic tourists.
The foreign exchange earnings from tourism in the State during 2005 was Rs 1552.31 crore, while the total earnings from tourism during last year was about Rs 7738 crore. "

Celebrities: Aishwarya Rai , Winner in Provoked
Provoked is the real life story of a battered Indian woman who went on to become a role model for all victims of domestic violence in Britain. The movie stars Indian beauty Aishwarya Rai & has been previewing in Cannes Film Festival this year.Provoked has had positive reviews both for it's filming and for Aishwarya's performance, which proved to be sensitive & beyond what was expected of her.

Aishwarya Rai: Provoked to hit Indian screens in 3 languages
Aishwarya Rai starrer Provoked is all set for a world wide release after receiving rave reviews for its volatile and relevant content in the Cannes film festival. The film will also be dubbed in three Indian languages for Indian audiences.
Producer J Murli Manohar told IANS: “Since the theme of domestic violence is as relevant in the West as in a remote village of Punjab or Bihar or Tamil Nadu, we’d like ‘Provoked’ to go into places that are ideally not seen as commercially viable for English language films. We therefore plan to dub ‘Provoked’ into Tamil, Telugu and Hindi.”
‘Provoked’ in its three Indian versions will have a background score completely separate and far more dramatic than the original English version.
A.R. Rahman, who will compose the music, said: “I don’t think this has ever been done before. But when Jagmohan Mundhra (director of ‘Provoked’) and I got together for the background score in ‘Provoked’, we felt it was too underplayed for the Indian market.
“Here, we like the music to emphasize every scene. We spoke about it, and I got another background score ready for the Indian market. It is more in keeping with the mood required in our cinema,” added Rahman.
‘Provoked’ is the harrowing real life tale of a lady named Kiranjeet Ahluwalia, who unable to bear the brutality and repeated rapes by her alcoholic husband, kills him unintentionally by setting him to fire.
Aishwarya Rai plays the role of the protagonist in the film. The film also starrs Naveen Andrews, Miranda Richardson, Robbie Coltrane, Nandita Das and Steve McFadden in pivotal roles.
The film is expected to hit Indian screens in August.

Free Articles for Reprint - Aishwarya Rai- Aishwarya Rai's 'Provoked' to be screened at IIFA: "After its entry in Cannes, screening of the Aishwarya Rai starrer Provoked will be the highlight of the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards ceremony to be inaugurated on June 14 in Dubai. "