The year 2002 saw Devdas. But it also saw Ash in films like
David Dhawan's Hum Kisise Kum Nahin in which she had nothing much to do, the
film starring Amitabh Bachchan and Sanjay Dutt being Dhawan's endeavour to come
up with an Indianised version of the Robert De NiroBilly Crystal starrer
Analyse This. Many said, and rightly so, that this was not the kind of film Ash
should have signed up to begin with since she looked completely out of place.
The year also had some other Ash releases as well. The
actress made a special appearance in Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam which took years to
make and starred Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Madhuri Dixit. But the movie
centering on the relationship between the characters of Shah Rukh and Madhuri
was dominated by the duo all the way. She also made a guest appearance in 23rd
March Shaheed 1931, which was one of the few films based on the freedom fighter
Bhagat Singh to have been released that year.
The most newsworthy mention perhaps was that she did an item
number in Vamshi's Shakti The Power. The song Ishq Kamina was a huge hit
although not many could help wondering why she had agreed to do the number in
the first place. As a report in indiafm.com
said: "Some great news for all Aishwarya fans. While you wait to see a new
film of hers, you can feast your eyes on the beautiful damsel who will appear
in a song in Boney Kapoor's Shakti The Power. It remains a mystery why Ash has
agreed to do an 'item number' when even the less successful Shilpa Shetty has
recently begun to refuse them."
There were suggestions that Ash had been paid quite a r
packet to do the song, and not wrongly one can say for a sure because the song
ended up being the only talkedabout feature of an otherwise disappointing
film. It went ' on to top the charts, and
showed that Ash had the ability to woo the masses even if she made a small
appearance on the big screen.
What was to happen next year was far more significant since
2003 began with a novel venture of Ash's family. Her brother elder Aditya
turned producer, resulting in the home production Dil Ka Rr"shta that was
released on January 17, 2003. The world of films had made a really strong
impact on Aditya when he, after sailing as an engineer with the merchant navy
for five years, had come down to Mumbai for an examination in the year 2000. He
saw the way the industry functioned, fell for it completely, and suddenly
realised that if there was something that he really wanted to do, it was
producing movies.
During his exams, Aditya used to travel with his sister to
different sets and absorb the atmosphere. During one of those visits, he bumped
into Shabbir Boxwala who had worked with Rajiv Rai in films like Gupt and Pyar
Ishq Aur Mohabbat. Sometime later, Aditya and Shabbir joined hands with
restaurateur Suresh Bhandary that led to the foundation of Target Films.
If the phrase 'home production' can be used for any Hindi
film in recent times, it has to be Dil Ka Rishta. Brother Aditya was one of the
producers, sister Aishwarya was playing the female lead, and mother Vrinda had
conceived the film's story. The film belonged to the romantic genre and had two
heroes: one of whom was Ash's old friend from the days of modelling. In 2,003,
this guy named Arjun Rampal was one of the more promising faces in the mart for
commercial films, while the other hero (Priyanshu Chatterjee) was also a
talented actor who had made a mark with his big screen debut Tum Bin.
Before the film was released, expectations from it were
really huge. Arjun hoped that the movie would work while telling how he teased
his old buddy Ash by calling her 'malkin' (owner) in the sets of the film. That
odd moment of humour took nothing away from the fact that Dil Ka Rr'shta was
tipped to be that elusive hit the success-starved industry had been hoping for.
Ash has maintained all through that she did not participate
in the making of the film beyond her role to the best extent possible, and also
issued statements about her professionalism by saying that her own brother used
to come through her, secretary for her dates! During press conferences before
the film was released, brother Aditya would address his mum as 'Ms Rai' and his
sister as 'she'. But it was pretty clear that Ash had a major role to play and
that making the film was easy for the brother because of the lady who happened
to be his loving sister.
Then, the film was released. And it bombed. It had failed to
live up to the great expectations it had generated, and it was not difficult to
see why. The story by Ash's mother was implausible at times; Naresh Malhotra's
direction employed cliched techniques which the viewers favour no longer; while
the editing of the film (by the director himself) left a lot to be desired.
That was a setback for Ash no doubt, and especially since she had such high
hopes from her first home production.
However, the actress was making other experiments with her
career which were noteworthy. Having excelled in a period film like Devdas, she
knew she had to make a mark in films with a difference which she did by signing
award-winning director Rituparno Ghosh's Bengali film Chokher Bali. That she
has always believed in taking chances was evident from her days as a toddler in
the film industry when she had decided to Mani Ratnam's Iruvar instead of a
regular big budget Hindi film. With the signing of Ghosh's film in which she
was supposed to play a widow, her approach to acting was revealed once again.
Ash's getting the role of Binodini from a character based on
a novel by Rabindranath Tagore wasn't devoid of controversies. Actress Nandita
Das who has made a mark in Indian parallel cinema claimed that Ghosh had
offered her the role, and also made a verbal commitment before backing out and
giving it to Ash. But no matter what the reality, the more significant fact was
that Ash had actually chosen to do a small-budget Bengali film which could not
have paid her anywhere near what she was getting in Bollywood. She had taken up
the challenge, and just for the sake of artistic satisfaction.
As she said in an interview to a BBC India correspondent:
"I took Devdas for the role and the director. It so happened that it
turned out to be the most expensive film. But that never was the angle for me.
And Chokher Bali -what better combination can an actor ask for. A director like
[Rituparno] Ghosh, a Tagore story and a character like Binodini."
In an interview published by G, she elaborated on why the
character of Binodini appealed to her. "Binodini does not want to conform
to societal pressures. She was a rebel of her times. She does have grey shades
but then she felt that she had the right to feel and grow with that experience
and thus seek a broader perspective to life as such. The whole film has been a
wonderful experience for me. You can call it a journey in celluloid as far as I
am concerned. The most difficult aspect of the character was to make whatever
she did appear natural instead of looking gimmicky. It was like walking on the
edge of a sword."
Reflective thoughts these indeed were. Also, one must add
that Tollywood (the term some use to define Kolkata's film industry) welcomed
the unanticipated with open arms. We say 'unanticipated' since few could have
thought that Ash, who was being paid huge sums of money in Hindi commercial
cinema, would go ahead to act in a quality offbeat film whose budget was really
low compared to what she was accustomed to. But that she did, with the result
that the shooting of Chokher Bali ended up being quite an event for the film's
cast and crew.
Says actor Tota Roy Chowdhury who acted with her in the
film: "All the members of the film's cast and crew were immensely excited
about the fact that Aishwarya was going to be a part of the film. Overnight,
the studio was decked up in her honour. Every thing was tidied up, the roads
were washed to ward off dust, and the place was decorated with flowers. When
she breezed in, she was in her casuals, and although she was without any trace
of makeup, she looked beautiful. She impressed every one with her down-to-earth
friendly nature and impeccable manners."
Tota who saw her closely during the shooting of the film
says: "Her punctuality was also striking, and she never complained about
the working conditions in our studios which do not have many facilities which
she is used to enjoying in Bollywood." Tota observed that here was an
actress who did her homework meticulously, and "she learnt the Bengali dialogues
so that her lip movements were perfectly synchronised with the dubbing
later."
The actor remembers that throughout the shooting, Ash
refused to be treated like a star. "She made an effort to be a part of the
unit. During the shooting of the film in Benares, all of us actors sat down on
the steps of the ghat and were chatting when we got a break. One chair was
brought on the ghat for Aishwarya. But she refused to sit on the chair and
joined us on the steps to be a part of the group. She did not like to be treated
differently. She wanted to be one of us."
That she was not one of them was obvious though, because
Chokher Balls subsequent popular recognition owed itself largely to the
presence of Ash who had surprised everybody by acting in a venture of that
sort. The film's title literally means 'dust in the eye' and can be said to
represent a person who is a sort of an eyesore, a detested one. Ash had been
cast by Ghosh in that very key role, and the fact that she had the label of a
superstar did create a lot of diffidence among some of her costars who were, to
tell the truth, minor players in the horizon of Indian cinema.
Actress Raima Sen who played the critical role of Ashalata,
a naive Bengali girl, admitted later that she felt she would be sidelined the
moment Ash stepped into the scene. As she was to say in an interview later:
"The day Ash came for the first time on the sets of Chokher. Bah, my
nervousness doubled. I thought that Rituda would divert all his attention
towards Ash, and I will be the neglected one. Ash could understand my feelings
and said, 'don't be foolish. You know the language, but I am absolutely alien
and my nervousness is much more than yours.' Soon I realised that Rituda was
paying equal attention to both the characters. He told me, "Each character
in this film is equally important, how can I ignore them as a director?"
Briefly, during the shooting of the film at least, there was no partiality as
Ash endeavoured to master the idiom of a kind of filmmaking that was hitherto
unknown to her.
The response to the movie was pretty mixed at the Locarno
film festival, but it is unfair to deny that Ghosh, while not coming anywhere
near his much more famous predecessor Satyajit Ray, had been able to create a
fine film in which Ash's was a most unusual role. Since the plot is situated in
the Calcutta (now Kolkata) of 1902, the actress had to acclimatise herself with
a culture that was vastly different from the one she had been brought up in.
That she did so under the guidance of Ghosh showed that she was willing to
learn and grow as an actress despite so much of success in the commercial mart.
In the West, some critics might have been baffled with the
theme of the film, and largely because the character of an intrepid Indian
widow is not something that can be understood without a thorough awareness of
the nation's socio-cultural texture. In the ultimate analysis, the film proved
that Ash was capable of taking on roles needing more emotional intensity
compared to her character in Bhansali's Devdas. Raima, the granddaughter of the
celebrated Bengali actress Suchitra Sen did make a huge impact and, according
to many, was the real star of the show. But Ash was pretty good as well, thus
creating a situation where filmmakers could think of her while casting for
ventures with unusual and complex story lines.
For obvious reasons, the chronology has gone a little
haywire, because Chokher Bali was released sometime after a controversy took
place. And this time too, the protagonist was Ash. For the actress, the month
of May was Cannes time since she had been invited to be a member of jury for
feature films at the Cannes Film Festival held from the 14th to the 25th of
that month. When the news about her invitation filtered through the media, many
eyebrows were raised. Lots of people were convinced that Ash did not deserve to
be in Cannes, and these individuals came up with reasons that were fairly
valid.
The reaction to Ash's choice was hardly surprising, and
because she was in an exclusive club comprising stalwarts like director Patrice
Chereau who had won a Special Jury award for his film La Relne Margot, as also
director Steven Soderbergh who had received the Palme d'Or for Sex, Lies and
Videotapes and has also directed other classics like Ocean's 11, Traffic and Erin
Brockovich. Her name was being mentioned in the same breath with Meg Ryan, who
has given some unforgettable performances in films like When Harry Met Sally
and Sleepless in Seattle that have got her Golden Globe nominations.
Next to such highly respected names from world cinema, Ash's
was clearly an odd entry. There were snide remarks about the fact that she
managed to make it to the jury because a cosmetics giant of which she is a
brand ambassador was one of the official partners. "The decision to name
Aishwarya on the jury could be more a marketing decision than a move prompted
by a sense of appropriateness," remarked a Cannes Film Festival delegate
from India. Veteran Derek Malcolm, a regular India watcher, was really
vitriolic when he boomed: "What does Aishwarya know about world cinema?
Has she seen even 20 films in her life?" Far too critical possibly, but it
was not tough to figure out what Malcolm meant by what he said.
Ash, on her part, was pretty relaxed as she made a valiant
attempt to nullify the criticism surrounding her presence by using the only
formula available: that of modesty. "I am here to learn," said she,
and almost played into the hands of her critics who rightly affirmed that being
on the jury was not the right place to learn when she was supposed to judge
works by maestros of the cinematic form such as Lars Von Trier, Claude Miller
and Clint Eastwood.
The odd person like the Mumbai filmmaker Sudhir Mishra rose
to her defence though: "If Sharon Stone can ' be on the jury, why not Aishwarya Rai? Does she know any
less?" That logic was more than hollow, because Stone has been nominated
for the Oscar once and the Golden Globe thrice, and she has even won the latter
once. That, compared to Ash's stats" as an actress, is tremendous achievement.
Veteran filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt hit the bull's eye when he
reasoned that the mere fact of being beautiful did not disqualify her from
being a judge. But he added: "Cannes according to me is a marketing event
and it sells the oldest trick in the book:. sensuality. Half of India knows
about Cannes today because Aishwarya is the judge. These people are, the very
same who had not heard about it till yesterday."
No matter what the intention of the festival authorities
might have been, there is very little doubt that Ash's journey to the festival
was viewed appreciatively by few. She was there before time, no question about
it, and what made the whole thing even more ridiculous was that the outfits she
wore seemed to the only issue that concerned the media. Instead of discussing
what all Ash was judging, they, raised an unending furore about what she was
wearing!
A discussion forum in the web site www.sysindla.com posted a report which highlighted how the media
went on and on about her outfits. When read today, the text sounds almost
irrelevant. "Poor Aishwarya Rai. She couldn't have dreamt that she would
ever be likened to a "dowager sofa set". But that's exactly how image
consultant Prasad Bidapa describes her look at the ongoing Cannes film
festival. "She's looking like a dowager sofa ;set, with her clothes,
overdone make-up and hairstyles," he says. "Even Nicole Kidman, who's
no match for Ash's beauty, has managed to.look like a diva while our girl is
looking like yesterday's news."
"Poor Ash.. She didn't make as much news when she
publicly broke off with Salman Khan, as she is these days with her wardrobe.
The atrocious pinks and greens that she's donned are a complete contrast to the
understated elegance that has been her trademark all these years: For Cannes
2003, she opted for Indian outfits by Mumbai designer Neeta Lulla and
westernwear by Vikram Phadnis, plus assorted pieces from here and there."
"Lulla defends her designs: "Ash wanted a very
Indian look. She's there as a representative of India, and that's what I have
tried to bring out in the clothes." Has the talk of
"how-bad-Ash-is-looking" reached her ears? She replies: "It's
just that the pictures we are getting here are bad. She has been looking great
otherwise. You also have to keep in mind that she hasn't been feeling well
since the ankle injury." Phadnis, however, admits, "Ash could have
looked better. But her hairstyle and make-up should also have been
better." Huh?" Such reports overshadowed the very reason why Ash was
there at the festival, but then not many thought she should have been there in
the jury anyway:
Around this time appeared another major story. There were
affirmations that Ash was all set to be the next James Bond girl opposite actor
Pierce Brosnan who has been playing the role of the spy that Sean Connery and
Roger Moore once did. The news sounded credible, and this'could be attributed
to reports that discussed her choice most categorically.
Sample this Press Trust of India report that happened to be
among those stories responsible for instilling a certain conviction in the mind
of the average person: "Aishwarya Rai has been offered the lead role
opposite Pierce Brosnan in the new James Bond flick, but India's highest paid
actress has yet to give her nod to the project." (Well, how much clearer
than anybody get really?) The report went on to add: "Sources report the
actress saying, 'I am still to talk to the people from the London-based
international coordinating agency who have sounded me for the role on behalf of
the studio making Bond movies."
Reactions to this story were mixed. Prolific letter writers
in newspapers and web sites differed on one key issue: will Ash make the right
Bond girl? Did she have the looks and the personality to carry off a role in
which she was required to reach out to a truly international audience and, that
too, opposite a charismatic actor like Brosnan? What was being seldom
questioned was whether or not she had been offered the role at all which, in
retrospect, sounds both funny and somewhat absurd.
The web site rediff.com
carried a feature in which the writer spoke to Catherine McCormack of Eon
Productions which looks after the Bond franchise. The report said that
McCormack had affirmed that "there never was talk of Rai or any other
Indian actress being in the reckoning for the role." Quoting sources in
Los Angeles, it further stated what these people had to say: "The next
Bond film is far from production. Besides Pierce Brosnan, nothing else has been
decided. Not even the script. How would they know if they require an Indian
girl?" Funny that really sounds, but then there are times when stories
form their own introductions about which the celebrity-protagonists might be
completely clueless.
It is not that Ash had been misleading the masses for the
sake of cheap thrills or publicity. When the world was engaged in its own
calculations that did not require her presence at all, there was precious
little she could have done. In an interview to a BBC India correspondent, she
did say that some people had met her. "They were not really agents casting
for the Bond movie. Maybe they were agents for the agents. But I don't know
much at this stage. I am told they are right now only at the scripting, not
casting, stage for the next Bond movie." The story had taken its own time
to evolve, and it had withered away due to lack of concrete information... for
the time being at least.
Not that Ash not acting in the Bond film was the end of the
story as far as her forays in the West were concerned. She was offered a major
role for director Ronald Joffe's The Invaders, an ambitious $ 42 million
project, which will have Vivek Oberoi as her co-star. Ever since talks about
this project began in early 2003, there were rumours that the film would be
shelved due to lack of funds.
The film's producer Ajay Jhenkar later confirmed that was
not true at all, and that the film was all set to take off. Based on the Battle
of Wadgaon fought between the British and Marathas in 1779 that the British
lost, stories floating around suggested that Ash will play the role of Tulaja,
a spy for the Marathas. Should this film take off, and there is no reason why
it should not because Joffe has been the director of major films like The
Killing Fields, Ash will be venturing into a new territory where she will be
required to deliver as an actress of quality in a period film which, although
based in India, will reach out to an international audience. With a director
like Joffe at the helm of affairs, that surely implies a lot.
Speaking of an international audience, let us not forget
Bride And Prejudice, a film made by Gurinder Chadha for which the shooting is
through. When Ash signed to do this film, some scribes even gave rise to
speculations that Ash might be planning to leave India altogether. A journalist
from The Straits Times asked her most bluntly: 'People have been asking me,
'Does this mean you're moving away from India?" Pat came the reply:
"As actors, we're nomads, we go to where the jobs are. To me, doing an
English movie just means doing a movie in a different language. As an Indian,
I'm representing all of us, all of our people."
Abandoning the land where she was born and which has given
her so much of adulation would be outright foolish for anybody, but who can
keep a check on ideas that germinate most senselessly on occasions? During the
time The Straits Times reporter posed the question to her, Ash had become a war
veteran in dealing with.such guesswork. What it did not imply, however, was
that she was not keen to work in films abroad. She was, and especially in a
film made by Chadha who had won over the hearts of the masses worldwide with
her film Bend It Like Beckham.
What motivated the making of Bride and Prejudice was
Chadha's source of inspiration, the great Victorian novelist Jane Austen whose
Pride and Prejudice continues to be one of the most-read classics close to two
centuries after it was written. Chadha acknowledged this during a press
conference in Mumbai: " I wanted to take a great British classic which I
had studied in school, and put my stamp on it and work with Indian,
British-Asian and American actors and make a truly diaspora film."
From the reports that are available, Bride and Prejudice is
a story that revolves around four sisters of a family (in Austen's novel, there
are five sisters but such changes are what one means by the implementation of
creative liberty anyway). In the novel, there is the Bennett family. In
Chadha's film, the family is of the Bakshis with Nadira Babbar playing Mama
Bakshi, and Ash, Namrata Shirodkar, Peeya Rai, and Meghna Kothari playing the
four sisters. A challenge that surely must be, because playing one of the
sisters would automatically mean that the limelight won't be on Ash all the
time.
But then, what happened soon thereafter has prompted many to
address one question: Is Ash ready to sign any film for film's sake? Or do
other considerations matter to her even after she has surely made more money
than most other 30-year-old inhabitants of the film industry today? The second
option seemed to come across as a strong possibility after her ouster from
Ketan Mehta's ambitious project The Rising in which she had been cast opposite
Aamir Khan, one of the Indian superstars with whom her association began during
the days she had shot for a Pepsi commercial years ago. Times had changed
dramatically since then. Aamir as of now was labeled as the thinking man's
actor, and his home production Lagaan had received fine critical reviews and
even been nominated for the Oscars. Aamir and Ash were together in a project -
making it something to watch out for - but the latter's polemical exit made
huge news.
Amisha Patel who, for a while had threatened to usurp the
number one crown after her sensational debut with Hrithik Roshan in Kaho Naa
Pyar Hai in 2000, had replaced Ash according to reports. While Amisha herself
confirmed that she was doing the role that Ash was supposed to do, she did not
dwell into the reasons behind the change. A big budget period film, The Rising
would have given Ash an opportunity to feature in a film in which Aamir is
playing the character of the Indian patriot Mangal Pandey who had inspired a
historically momentous rebellion against the British colonisers. Why she had
been replaced in the project was since "she wanted to revisit the
contract" according to the film's producer Bobby Bedi in rediff.com. Bedi also corroborated that Amisha
was the new entrant and went on to assert that the fact of Aamir's presence and
the good story were the two reasons why the film would generate a lot of
interest.
Stardust reported extensively on what went wrong when the
deal for The Rising was being struck. It was in November 2002 that Ketan Mehta
met Ash and suggested that she be a part of the film. Ash requested that
certain changes to her character should be made and agreed to the idea of doing
the film "unofficially" Till May 13 2003, the actress did not receive
any document concerning the dates and other details of the film. It was on the
14th of May that she received a contract form which stated that she had been
finalised to play the character of Jwala and also that the shooting would begin
in November. She also received a cheque as the signing amount that Ash returned
in October.
When the magazine approached her for the story, she fumed:
"I kept on asking about my role and about other essential details of the
film. Moreover, they didn't bother to hand over the final script of the film.
The dates were also not sorted out. Added to all that, Bobby didn't revert to
the calls and innumerable e-mails that my agency William Morris had sent him.
Without a proper deal and lack of official contract, I had no other option but
to return the signing amount to Bedi. Then all of a sudden, when Prince Charles
visited India he calls me to for the mahurat shot. Is this what you call
professionalism?"
There were stories that Ash had initially demanded Rs 1.5
crore but had doubled her price later when she heard that the film's hero Aamir
Khan was being paid a huge sum of Rs seven crore. Besides, it was also being
said that she did not like the character from day one. The actress refuted both
the allegations with articulate candour: "What rubbish! I have always said
that Ketan's film would be a masterpiece. He is a brilliant director and I have
nothing against him. Moreover, how can I disagree to JwaIa's character when I
didn't even have the chance to read the script? Yes, I did tell him to make
certain alterations and he was very open to my suggestions."
Was money the issue then? The actress explained: "The
fact is that there was never a formal agreement made. Next, I found that The
Rising was no longer just an Indian 'territory' film, and that it was being
shot in Hindi and English, co-financed by UK concerns and that contact had been
made with major US studios for distribution, etc. It became clear that the type
and level of the film had changed and it was no longer 'just' an Indian film. I
have two US agents; William Morris Agency is my exclusive agent for Hollywood
assignments, while Canyon Entertainment takes care of the Management. So both
of them help me in deciding the remuneration as per international standards,
including commercials and television. I was totally willing to appear in The
Rising provided all terms were fair and settled."
It was in early November that Ash spoke to William Morris
Agency so that the deal with Bobby could be finalised. In a conversation with
Stardust, Ash's manager Simone Sheffield affirmed: "Ash's price in the
international market has risen significantly in the past year alone, making her
price higher than a year. ago, even a month ago. Now that The Rising has become
an international project on a totally different level than in November 2002
when Rai was originally approached, deals were to be resettled." She
added: "When Bedi said he had no more upfront money for the role - we
offered to accept fees on the back-end for UK and US territories. If the film
did not make money internationally, Ash would receive only her flat fee. Bedi
told me 'only Aamir was getting back-end': I found this unfair and
unacceptable, especially when Rai has an international appeal."
Ash's position is more than understandable because one must
agree that she has opted for working in ventures in which money could have
never been the decision-making criterion. As she said: "Money has not been
a major criteria for me. I am an actor, and I respect my profession. I went out
of my way to help my friends and associates. I have worked in Rituparno Ghosh's
Bengali film Chokher Bali virtually for free. However, I believe that those who
support me would understand my position and those who wish my bad would
continue to do so. Sometimes people tear you down and sometimes they praise you
like a Goddess. I believe it's all a part of showbiz." What also shows
that she has her heart in the right place is the fact that she is acting in
Rituparno Ghosh's maiden Hindi venture Raincoat in which she has been cast
opposite Ajay Devgan.
The Rising hasn't materialised of course, and what Ash must
do now is delete from the storehouse of her memory such unsavoury factoids as
she looks towards the future. Given the amount of work she now has, she also
need not sit back and brood over the odd fiasco like like Kuch Na Kaho which,
in English, implies 'don't say a thing.' The latter's debutante director was
Rohan Sippy, the bearer of the famous Sippy surname and the son of his famous
father Ramesh who had given to the world Sholay, a curry Western which is
easily 'the' film that has made the maximum impact on the Indian masses.
KNH was a mature love story and, talking about Ash's
character in it, Sippy told musicindiaonline.com
on the eve of the its release: "In my film, she's far removed from Devdas.
We've worked towards making her less exotic, more 'everyday'. In Devdas, she's
almost lyrical. In my film she plays a working woman. We've made her as
contemporary as possible. She's moved away from the classical mould. I feel
she's still quite underrated. She understands her own personality and the
camera very well. Her chemistry with Abhishek (Bachchan) is the film's
USP"
But the film starring Ash and Abhishek, the son of the great
Amitabh Bachchan who was one of the main actors in Sholay, bombed badly at the
box office. The film did not hamper Ash's career in a significant manner
because she had experienced her share of hits before. But one was compelled for
feel for Abhishek Bachchan, for here was a guy who continued to act well in bad
movies without any good luck to boast of.
Apart from offbeat films which she is all keen to sign should
the projects have substance, Ash has had a recent release which is a definite
blockbuster. The film is Raj Kumar Santoshi's Khakee, a project with a huge
star cast including Amitabh Bachchan, Ajay Devgan, Akshay Kumar, and Tusshar
Kapoor who happens to be the son of Jeetendra, a superstar of yesteryear.
That Ash approaches her work most professionally can be
judged from a story that started floating around when Khakee was being shot.
The film's director Santoshi was busy shooting away and, even when Ash had
committed herself to Bride and Prejudice, a song with Ash and Akshay had not
been picturised. When the time for shooting the song finally came, Ash is said
to have pleaded her case with Chadha who gave her a three-day break following
which she rushed back to the location. The first day was marred by really bad
weather, and nothing could be shot at all. But the gods proved to be kind to
Ash, and the weather changed on the second day, allowing the unit to complete
the shoot before Ash went back to work on Chadha's film.
When Ash is spoken about as far as Khakee is concerned,
there will be many references to her accident on the sets of the film as
opposed to her role itself because she did not have much to do anyway. But she
approached the work with immense dedication which was endorsed by none other
than costar Akshay Kurnar in Screen: "Aishwarya is a professional and
takes pains to give her best. She's a good actress and no doubt, very
beautiful. I have two songs with her in the film, a romantic song 'Wada raha...'
and a dance number 'Mehbooba...'. 'Wada raha...' was shot in Khandala
immediately after the rains and it looks ethereal."
In a cop story completely dominated by Amitabh Bachchan who
plays an aging police officer on his last mission before retirement - and quite
a dangerous one at that - Ash plays a social worker who accompanies the Big B
and his associates as they undertake a critical journey towards a future
charged with lethal possibilities. Not many have given much space to Ash's
performance, and only the magnanimous among critics such as the writer for www.bbc.co.uk said recently: "As for
Aishwarya Rai, she adorns a simple look and does justice to her small role in
the film." Briefly, the star of Khakee is Amitabh who towers over every
one else while Akshay surprises many with an interesting performance. Not that
it will not help Ash in a small way though; for hers is the only female
character with some substance in the film that is all set to be a huge hit.
Hits and Ash? A few years back, the very mention of these
words in tandem would have led to the twitching of eyebrows, the shutting of
one eyelid, the curling up of the nose. But today, things are so dramatically
different that some of her biggest critics of yesteryear are her biggest admirers
today while those who do not like her cannot do much except ...not like her
while her fans continue to multiply with each passing day.
For those in a minority who have turned sulking into a fine
art that is paraded on print, what they have to say about Ash as of today has
become virtually insignificant. For, what they might be asserting doesn't
matter to her fans. And it does not matter to Ash either. At least, not any
longer.
