From Dhai Akshar Prem Ke till Guru, this duo have been making headlines for years. For the past few days, it has been impossible to read the papers without having any news about this couple. From where they have been with to where they were at, journalists and reporters are not even one bit tired to let the whole world know!
First up is Abhishek Bachchan. about eight years ago, Abhishek Bachchan was a nobody. Standing by his dad shoulder to shoulder and behind his mom, The world never did know whether this little guy could grow up to fit his fathers’ shoes. Born on 5th January, 1976 to to Bollywood legend and veteran actor Amitabh Bachchan & Bollywood actress Jaya Bachchan, the 6’1″ feet tall boy suddenly emerged from the shadows in 2000 and gave us a new movie, titled Refugee. Unfortunately, luck was not shining on him when his emerging colleague, Hrithik Roshan, came up with a hit blockbuster on that same year too. Luck seemed to evade AB Jr. for quite some time, as flop after flop piled up, one right after another. In between there were some average movies like Kuch Naa Kaho which still couldn’t salvage his career. On top of that, his engagement to Karishma Kapoor ended sourly when Karishma decided to call the wedding off. And just when we thought that Small B’s career was going to an end, he surprised us with a hit performance in 2004 with a movie titled Yuva. Abhishek’s performance in Yuva left critics and audiences dumbfounded and gave his career a much-needed boost. It seemed that Lady Luck was feeling guilty about the fact she hadn’t payed any attention to him and gave him a little flick to make 2004 became the Year of Abhishek Bachchan. He again gave us another perfect performance in Dhoom, which was the confirmation to the world that Abhishek Bachchan is here to stay. After that, how he single handedly did it, I have no idea. 2005 was the year of special appearances for Abhishek and mediocre performances such as Sarkar, Salaam Namaste and Dus. During this time, gossip about his relationship with Dipannita Sharma was doing the rounds, and later, their breakup. At the same time, rumours began to surface about Abhi’s relationship with Aishwarya during their filming of Umrao Jaan, although both denied all rumours. 2006 saw Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna and Umrao Jaan (alongside Aishwarya) becoming mediocre movies. He then again gave his role as Jai Dixit another go and gave another Ace Performance in Dhoom II. Aishwarya was part of Dhoom II also but she wasn’t paired up with him, and instead with Hrithik Roshan. Before Dhoom II was released in theatres, rumours about the couple were at an all-time high. Soon enough, controversies about the kiss between Hrithik and Aishwarya in the film went around the world like a bushfire. Earlier this year came Guru, which truly marked Abhishek’s arrival as a fine performer and an A-league hero. Right before the release of the film, the couple announced their engagement…and the rest is history! With more movies coming up, this Little B has become the Hottest B around.
And now, Aishwarya Rai. The 5’7″ Scorpio girl was born in Karnataka, Mangalore in India on November 1,1973. After winning Miss World in 1994, the acting world opened up to her. She debuted in Mani Ratnam’s Tamil film, Iruvar alongside Mohanlal and Tabu. She was then introduced to the Bollywood film industry in Aur Pyar Ho Gaya, alongside with Bobby Deol. However, her career didn’t take off immediately. She later did very well in the next Tamil movie, Jeans and also in Kandukonain Kandukonain. She then appeared in the popular film, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, with Ajay Devgan and Salman Khan, who then started a relationship with her. Though when things started to go well, their relationship turned sour. Their breakup a few years later generated a substantial amount of press attention. Aishwarya’s next release was Taal, for which she got good reviews. She acted with the other two Khans, Aamir Khan in Mela as special appearance and with Shah Rukh Khan in Josh. In 2000, she acted with Abhishek for the first time in the movie Dhai Akshar Prem Ke but the movie performed poorly at the box office. Her career was given a further boost with Devdas in which she played Paro. Though she was all over the news, Aishwarya kept her profile very low. In 2004, she stated dating actor Viveik Oberoi. In fact, nobody even knew that she and Viveik Oberoi were in a relationship only after a few months they were together. The two then acted in their first film together, Kyun! Ho Gaya Na but even that didn’t go too well for either of them. Their relationship ended in 2005. Shortly after, she was rumoured to be with Abhishek. The raging headlines didn’t seem to make Ash sway one bit. She was also chosen by TIME Magazine to be one of the “100 Most Influential People” in 2004 and was then a subject of a 60 Minutes profile on January 2, 2005 as “The Most Beautiful Face in The World”. She was then invited to appear in one of David Letterman’s segment and also on the Oprah Winfrey Show in that same year. And if that wasn’t enough, a wax figure of Aishwarya is displayed in London’s Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum. Aishwarya then was given a chance to act in foreign film when British director Gurinder Chadha got her a part in her movie Bride and Prejudice, a Hollywood-Bollywood funded movie inspired by a classic novel from Jane Austen’s, Pride and Prejudice. Her next foreign film was Mistress of Spices, which flopped all over in 2006. During the filming of Umrao Jaan, headlines heated up and she was eventually seen with Abhishek and his family at various events, confirming a relationship. Though news about her being a ‘Manglik’ filled the air, this did not seem to affect Ash and Abhi’s relationship. Finally on January 14, 2007, they both officially bonded by getting engaged and that ended all the rumours.
So there you have it. Bollywood’s Most Talked About Couple in full glance. Bollywood Hunk, Abhishek Bachchan and Hottest Woman, Aishwarya Rai. Maybe there should be a story written about these two. Or maybe even a movie. A comic novel could be more interesting actually. Though I am not such a big fan of their relationship, it would be a shame to see it going down the drain. We wish them luck in all their future endeavours!
