Aishwarya Rai is quite possibly one of the most talked about celebrities in the history of Bollywood. When can you think of a time when Aishwarya has not been in the news?
She is the media’s favorite target possibly because she is not affected in any way from any kind of negative talk. They want to see how far they can push her until she finally puts her foot down. From the tape controversy to the news about her speculated death, Ash has never come out of her way to dignify these rumors with a response.
Today fingers are being pointed at Rai because of her atrocious box office record. According to the media Aishwarya’s last successful movie was Devdas (2002). Even if that assumption was true it is more of a positive thing than a negative. If her last hit was indeed in 2002 then that is a really a big achievement. There has never been any other actress who has maintained her position in the A-list slot for almost four years with no hit. If any another A-List actress goes on a flop streak, chances are ripe that they will lose their spot on the Bollywood pedestal.
On the contrary, Rai’s last hit was not Devdas. Khakee and Kuch Naa Kaho had earned decent numbers at the box office. Bride & Prejudice, with a budget of 10 Million had made a net profit of 25 Million (and counting). No other actress has pulled off a whole movie on her shoulders without the dependance of a male figure.
Today, Aishwarya has all the top projects in her grasp. First we will see her as a courtesan in Umrao Jaan which is set to have a full release on November 3rd. In the same month, Ash will lose all the traditional outfits and step into a rather sexy role in Yash Chopra’s Dhoom II which also stars Hrithik Roshan opposite her. After being opposite Abhishek Bachchan in Umrao Jaan, the two will reunite once again for Mani Ratnam’s Guru which is set to be out on December 22nd, and capping off the year for Aishwarya.
If you think it ends there, Aishwarya’s English film Provoked and Hollywood film The Last Legion are also to be out early in 2007.
2006 may be an eventful year for Rai, but next year is no less. Watch out for her in Ashutosh Gowariker’s Jodha-Akbar, JP Dutta’s Maharani Gayatri Devi, Ketan Mehta’s The Rebel, Ram Gopal Verma’s Sarkar Sequel and many other top projects.
Often people were mistaken that Ash had moved to chase international projects and left Bollywood behind. Aishwarya is an International Superstar, she is open to act in any movie from anywhere. She isn’t to limiting herself to Bollywood, or Hollywood or anything else. Sorry folks, She is not moving to Hollywood. But she will do projects there. In terms of Hollywood, the question is not what Hollywood movies is she doing next year…the question is….what movies is she NOT doing.
Off-screen Aishwarya is as busy as one can get. The star still continues her strong bond with L’Oreal, Lux Soaps, Coke and many other affiliations. She’s also shed all those extra pounds she had on for a couple of movies. Might we add, judging from the promos of Dhoom she surely can give all the sex symbols a run for their movie.
It’s rather obvious that nothing can bring down Aishwarya now. She’s back, slimmer, sexier and with a whole load of exciting movies that will surely set the screens on fire.
