Aishwarya Rai Interview: i play best role in the industry!

Aishwarya Rai Interview: i play best role in the industry!: Aishwarya Rai, who plays a 'typical' girl of the 1970s in the retro comedy " Action Replayy", says she didn't try to imitate any particular actress, but picked from the looks and mannerisms of all reigning heroines of that era.

"There isn't any particular actor whom I followed. In terms of visual styling, make-up and hair, there are lots of actresses from that time. There is no signature reference of any particular actor of that time. It's a collage of all actors," Aishwarya, 37, told in an interview.

Preceded by serious roles in period films like " Umrao Jaan" (2006) and " Jodhaa Akbar" (2008), it was the word 'retro' that caught her attention when the film was offered to her.

Aishwarya reveals that "Action Replayy" was originally a play by the film's director Vipul Shah himself, and he did not deviate much from the original script.

"It's wonderful that I had so much of period films to do and yet they are all different. When Vipul said he wanted to do a retro film, the word retro was quite catchy. He didn't call it historical era, period piece, pre-independence, he called it retro era," she said.

"The moment you say retro, we all go into the 70's. I instantly knew it was different," she said.

"It's a fun genre. Vipul was very clear about the film he was making. It was a play that he made several years ago. He was very clear in his narrative, and didn't want to change anything except when most necessary. Of course, we improvised, but not that much, because Vipul was clear about what each character was supposed to do," Aishwarya said.

The actress said though it's a comedy film, she got enough scope to exhibit her acting skills.

"This film gave me the opportunity to do something. We have pushed the envelope even in the comedy genre, where we have revisited another era. Of course, visually there are aspects of styling, make-up and costume, and there are nuances in acting. As my character is very boisterous in the beginning of the film and then becomes mellow and feminine, we have spoofed it in the acting style of that time," said Aishwarya.

Did she ask for tips from her parents-in-law Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan?

"No, I didn't sit with Ma or Paa because, like Paa has always said, your work speaks volumes. You need not sit with them and literally speak. You have their films to refer to," she said.

Aishwarya feels her career has come full circle in the past two years as she is doing films with directors she worked with in her initial days.

"I am thankful to get such good roles in my career. It's a blessing and there are lots of very good memories and they were fulfilling," she said.

Aishwarya Rai celebrate her birthday with family

Aishwarya Rai celebrate her birthday with family:
The Bollywood still the best queen and bachchan's Bahu Aishwarya Rai, who is busy promoting two of her upcoming films releasing next month, will squeeze out some time to be with her family on her birthday Nov 1.

‘I am busy promoting my films. ‘Action Replayy’ is releasing on Nov 5 so lots of intense work every day.

I have kept aside time on my birthday as always I spend it with my family, and how the day will roll I have no idea,’ Aishwarya, who will turn 37, told IANS in an interview.

After director Vipul Shah’s retro comedy ‘Action Replayy’, Aishwarya has Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Guzaarish’ releasing Nov 19.

Aishwarya Rai and Bhansali have a special connection!

Aishwarya Rai and Bhansali have a special connection!: Aishwarya Rai, who once again teams up with Sanjay Leela Bhansali in Guzaarish, says they share a strange connection. The beautiful actress also says that the sensitive film helped the whole team reconnect with the goodness inside them.

"We are so strangely connected that we can communicate so much in silence. You can't bring down the experience of working with Sanjay in one word, sentence or a paragraph. Sanjay can't be contained in a word. We all say he is a genius, multi-faceted, but actually he is a real artiste. He sings, he breaks into dance, he loves music and he is very intense," Aishwarya told IANS in an interview.

Guzaarish being her third film with Bhansali after Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999) and Devdas(2002), the actress reveals that she has always felt being an important character in his films and not just the lead heroine.

"In his film, everyone is a character integral to his narrative and it's a pleasure working with him. You always feel that you are in a team. I experienced that in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, I experienced that in Devdas, I experienced that in Guzaarish," said Aishwarya, who plays a nurse to actor Hrithik Roshan's character of a paraplegic in Guzaarish.

The actress refrains from saying that intense roles are harder than playing the typical Bollywood heroine. Citing her last two films with Hrithik - Dhoom2 (2006) and Jodhaa Akbar (2008), Aishwarya says her roles were equally intricate to the genres of both the films.

"I have done a lot of intense films, lesser comedy films, and lesser commercially typical heroine films and yet I say all could be equally easier or tough. When you go without make-up, wear a sari, suddenly that role becomes more intense and just because you put make-up, wear dresses and do hair styles the role becomes frivolous...I think it's unfair to compartmentalise creativity like that. How you pose for the camera is also a craft.

"In Dhoom we had to look smashing in every frame, the character's incidental in terms of acting nuances, but everything had to look perfect. That's also a method of the craft.

"In Jodhaa Akbar we were doing a history together, but in every point while we were working with the detailing and authenticity with a director like Ashutosh Gowariker, we brought that in. It always played in our mind that it shouldn't look that today's kids are donning historical costumes. That needed a certain kind of craft," Aishwarya explained.

In Guzaarish, Hrithik plays a paraplegic and "yes, I am playing a caretaker nurse, but within that we had to bring in the story that Sanjay really wants to tell and at the same time we have to be honest to our character in terms of expressing our inter-personal relations," Aishwarya said.

Asked if through the journey of making the film, she had subtly evolved as a better human being, she said: "The whole team felt that. Everyone has goodness in him or her. But everyone has experiences which help you connect or reconnect with the goodness in you or the goodness you wish to share. This film has been a very positive film for the whole team because of the intensity of the genre and the sensitivity of its nature."

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan Interview in “Connect The World” on CNN

CNN’s Max Foster interviewed World’s most beautiful woman and the leading figure in Indian cinema – Aishwarya Rai on CNN "Connect The World".

Aishwarya Rai as the "Connector Of The Day" talks about how her career started with her modeling as a hobby to becoming one of the biggest names in the Bollywood film industry.

Rai also talks about her new Bollywood movie that released today, called "Raavan" - written and directed by Mani Ratnam, which also starts her husband, Abhishek Bachchan.

Tell us about this new huge film called "Raavan" ?
It conjures up the very the very vivid image of a demonic king who had 10 heads. And he was this villain. The other protagonist in the film are Vikram (INAUDIBLE), a police officer. So he is the keeper of the law, the so-called hero.

And there is me, Ragini, who is Dev's wife in the narrative.

And through my eyes, the audience goes on to see that through situations and circumstances, the so-called hero and correct human being and the so- called outlaw, you will see shades of black and white and gray in both of them.

So, really, who are we to judge human nature and decide who is right and who is wrong, to come away with it?

So what did you learn from the film?Because I know the director said I want the audience to make their own decisions. What's your...
What I learned?

Yes, what did you learn?
I learned working in two languages at the same time is really tough.

And there's a good and bad there.
Snakes swim. Leaches look like noodles before they suck on your blood. And it isn't easy scaling a waterfall, because there's a lot of moths on the rocks.

But it looks so glamorous.
It gets really it's not.

Bollywood is glamorous, isn't it?
Well, a lot of Indian movies are glamorous and this one, I guess, goes against convention. Well, amongst many. They're not all necessarily glamorous. And especially this filmmaker, Mr. Mani Ratnam, is known to make a lot of cinema which well, he struck this fine balance where it will be an entertainer, it will be the so-called commercial format of an Indian film, and, at the same time, he brings an immense sense of realism to his narrative.

I've got some questions now from viewers.
Sultan from -- Sultan Karachi (ph) from Pakistan says that:

"Bollywood movies don't seem to do well in foreign markets, whereas Hollywood movies do really well in India."

Do you agree with him? You're in London so I know you're going to disagree with him.
No, no, no, no, no.

Because of
No, it's not because of this. I think people need to be a lot more of their homework before these statements are made. It isn't true that Indian movies don't do well outside of India. One in six is an Indian in the world population, as we put it and put it mildly.

In terms of English movies doing well in India, there are many that do well and there are many that don't necessarily do great business at all.

And I can say that for a fact because when I have had worked and, OK, yes, very few English movies. But from their perspective, I've heard first person that India is a market which is very unpredictable for them for English movies. It could do great business or it could be just a regular center. So it is very unpredictable.

"If you could choose one Hollywood actor or actress to work with in your next film, who would it be and why?"
A tough one, simply because I have never been good with these favorite questions, as in favorite film, favorite director, favorite actor.

You've got a favorite reporter now, though.
You, Max.

Can we get it on film?
She said yes.

No, that's such a tough one to answer. But good work, a good script and a great role for me is something that I that all

You're really going for the spirit of it, right?
And my role in yes, the entire picture.

"Is there anything that you feel you haven't achieved in your career yet?"

I can't imagine there is, because you've done so much so far. But, I guess, you know, you're ambitious, so there are things you still want to do.
Well, I don't feel a sense of achievement in terms of my work so far. It's a sense of accomplishment in terms of the kind of work I've been doing, because this is what I sought to do when I started out.

So it does feel good in terms of the body of work and the people I've been working with. But, you know, this is ocean. Look at the world's population. There are so many women out there I still have left to assay. So it's as long as I have good work coming my way and I enjoy doing what I'm doing, I'm going to be here still, you know, doing what I do.

OK. You're actually a bit of a late comer for us, because we were already into your husband...Oh

And your father-in-law.
Oh.

You are part...
There's a trick question coming my way.

You are now it's a real Bollywood dynasty now, isn't it? What's it like being part of that?
You know, this wasn't an exercise in a statement when we got married, it was just that Abhishek and me, we loved each other. We got the blessings of our families and which is great. And here we are married today.

Yes, we do recognize and if we didn't, we're reminded on a daily basis that, yes, this is a family of very established actors and personalities on the public platform. So, yes, my father-in-law, my mother-in-law, Abhishek and me all belong to this world. We do what we do and we do have an incredible amount of love and support from a very huge and vast audience out there. And thank you each moment.

But having said that, really, this wasn't a statement making alliance.

It was just two people getting married and very happy to be family today.

People are fascinated by you, though, aren't they?
It's kind of people like give us a sense of like we belong to this global family. And that kind of got underlined when we got married and we've come out in different job assignments. In fact, up until recently, we didn't realize because time is flying that it's been our third anniversary this April. And people come up to us and congratulate us like we're just married.

Aishwarya Rai interview about Mani Ratnam and her New Film Raavan

Aishwarya Rai News: 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.

You have come a long way from Iruvar to Raavanan
I came into cinema, thanks to Mani Ratnam. His passion and commitment is totally inspiring. And above all he makes every moment and scene real. The first word I uttered on screen is Pesanum (I want to talk), in Iruvar and since then I have been talking. His characterization is superb. In Raavanan, I play Ragini an individual and markedly different from Sujata of Guru or Kalpana or Pushpa from Iruvar. Ragini is a firebrand, a fighter and yet a normal complete woman.

About Mani Ratnam, the master filmmaker
Mani Sir is an institution in himself and his cinema speaks volumes. There is so much we can learn from him. It’s just wonderful how he brings everybody on the same level of passion and madness when it comes to filmmaking. With Mani it is being the student of art you want to learn more. He ignites the hunger in you as an actor, wanting to do something better with every shot.

Abhishek and Vikram have said in their interviews that you are the true hero of the film. Please comment
That is very sweet and generous of them but they have both have done an incredible job. But I think the real heroes are the whole team of Raavan, the set designers, workers, everyone who was on the set everyday, working as hard, if not more than us. We used to start at five every morning and end at night. It was exhausting. We have all worked hard.

How was it working with Vikram and Prithviraj?
We fondly refer to Vikram we as Kenny sir and I think I got familiar with that name because Abhishek always called him that since the time he had come to visit Abhishek on the sets of Guru. One thing that Abhishek and I consciously did but left unsaid was we never acted like a couple in front of Vikram or it would have been hard for him to essay his role opposite me. Prithvi is absolutely adorable. At the start of the schedule we used to tease him because he seemed a bit reserved but after the first schedule he came into his own and was right on the ball.