An Exclusive Interview With Aishwarya Rai

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The posters show Aishwarya Rai looking rather hot in Shabd. Rumours are she’s done a few daring scenes with Sanjay Dutt. But Ash, in her typical style, wonders what the fuss is all about

The latest Shabd in town is you’ve done some bold scenes that show a different aspect of Aishwarya Rai, which nobody has seen before. True?
I don’t know why there’s so much noise about a kiss or a passionate scene that I have done. The script demanded it. It’s just as simple as that. It’s much ado about nothing.

  Does that mean you are annoyed with the manner in which the film was publicised?
No, I am upset about the fact that the kiss is being given too much importance. If there is going to be such a fuss over nothing, how will we actors ever experiment beyond our usual masala stuff? Today, a lot many different films are being made. We ought to think out of the box office as well. Devika Rani kissed way back in the 20s. What were the prudes doing then? Trends in cinema keep changing. It’s like a wheel. We need to grow up.

  Any particular scene which will remain in your memory?
Ya, the one where we were waiting for the rain to come. It had to be shot while it was pouring. We waited, waited... got so impatient that we were on the verge of cracking up. And finally when it started drizzling we all started laughing. The shot was to be picturised on Zayed and me. And it had to be done fast. Somehow we managed before it stopped raining.

  What is Shabd about?
Shaukat (Sanjay Dutt) is a talented novelist whose last book fails to entice his fellow readers. So he decides to write a story based on his real life incidents, to make it more realistic. It all begins when his wife, Antara (Aishwarya Rai), meets Yash (Zayed Khan). Deeply in love with her husband, Antara shows no inclination towards him until her husband Shaukat asks her to indulge in a relationship. This will help him, he says, in writing his new book where he will incorporate Antara and Yash’s passion. It’s only when he sees an unforeseen twist that he realises what has gone wrong. Antara has fallen in love with Yash. Is it too late for Shaukat to correct his mistake?

  How was it working with Sanjay Dutt and Zayed Khan?
Great. We’ve done some very intense scenes without any retakes. So that says it all.

  Zayed is said to be in awe of you?
Well, at least he didn’t show that on the sets (laughs).

  Disappointed with the failure of Kyun Ho Gaya Na and Raincoat?
No. Success and failure at the box-office does not decide how the film was. As for me, I got acclaim in both the films, especially in Raincoat.

  Even Bride and Prejudice wasn’t well received?
After Gurin der’s first film set the cash registers ringing, I think there were too many unrealistic expectations. The film was made by a British filmmaker for a British audience. It did very well abroad. The fact that it didn’t do well in India is not the end-all of life.

  Are you concentrating more on Hollywood?
Nothing like that. It’s not that I want to enter for just the heck of it. But yes, I want to do something very challenging there, something that would help me evolve more.

  Some in the industry feel you should concentrate only on Bollywood?
Why shouldn’t I do Hollywood? I am an actress. I need to experiment with not only different roles but different environments as well. I have reached a certain level in my career and I have no qualms in saying so.

  There is so much of talk about your Hollywood offers. Have you finalised any of them officially?
Two of them. I will be starring in Michael Douglas’s next action flick, Racing the Monsoon, to be jointly produced by Sahara One Motion Pictures. Directed by Steven Carr, the film will feature Douglas, in a double role. Plus I have given my confirmation on Meryl Streep’s Chaos. I have agreed to do some more Hollywood films too. What happens in the West is that there is a huge time lag between my saying ‘yes’ and the film’s production. As for my Hindi films, I am just doing Shaad Ali’s 'Bunty Aur Babli' where the Bachchans (Amitabh-Abhishek) will be doing an item-number with me.

S...DC