The most powerful couple Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan won’t be able to attend the screening of their film Raavan at the upcoming 67th Venice Film Festival, due to prior commitments with their brand endorsements. Raavanan and Raavan - the Tamil and the Hindi versions of the Mani Ratnam film - and Anurag Kashyap’s That Girl In Yellow Boots will be screened at the festival, starting on Wednesday.

“Aishwarya and Abhishek are not going for the Venice Film Festival as reported in some media outlets. The festival falls on the same dates on which they have previously committed. Aishwarya is going for an event for Longines (as she is the brand ambassador), while Abhishek will be busy with a shoot for Omega in Italy,” said a source close to the actors.

“There are other film festivals too - Doha and Pusan - where Abhishek and Aishwarya are being invited, to showcase their film or even for individual honours. But the duo will decide which ones to attend according to their schedules,” added the source.

The most beautiful actress Aishwarya Rai has denied being the brand ambassador for French dairy brand Danone – as has been reported in the media.

Danone has a joint venture (JV) with Yakult in India, for which Kajol is the brand ambassador. Rumours were rife that besides the JV, Danone was also planning to go independent and Aishwarya was roped in as the face for it. The actress’ publicist has denied the reports.

‘Media reportage on Aishwarya Rai Bachchan signed on as the brand ambassador for Danone products is entirely untrue. This kind of vicarious publicity shows unprofessionalism on part of the brand and their agency,’ said a statement from her publicist.

‘We would again like to reiterate that there is no truth to these rumours and would request the media in future to cross-check facts with us before reporting such false and untrue stories,’ it further read. Source

After hundreds painstakingly learnt the art of tossing a cigarette in the air the way superstar Rajnikant does, Aishwarya Rai too joined the throng. No, the actress did not attempt to perform the trick herself but was keen on observing Rajnikant’s famous scene of tossing his cigarette in the air. Here’s one wispy prank she played. Aishwarya, who was shooting with Rajnikant, while he had to toss the cigarette, repeatedly kept making a mistake so that there could be re-takes. It turns out that she just couldn’t get over Rajni’s twisted stunt.

A source reveals, “Rajnikant’s trademark style of tossing the cigarette, is loved by Ash. She could ask him once or twice at max to enact this scene for her, but she wanted to see it repeatedly. Thus she purposely kept making mistakes while shooting her scene; Rajnikant ended up enacting his patented stunt six times.”

The source continues, “It was after the wrap-up of the shoot that Ash mentioned to Rajnikant about how much she loves the way he does this particular stunt, and she was bluffing so that she could see him do this time and again. Rajnikant burst out laughing and took it in his stride.” Shankar, the director of the film, said, “We only realised while shooting that Ash was such a big fan of Rajni sir.”

Shankar, let’s hope that the cigarette wasn’t lit. It’s not allowed on screen the last we heard. Source

The year 2010 may not have started on a good note for once upon a time reigning queen of Bollywood, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, with her much hyped RAAVAN failing to make a mark at the ticket window. However, seeing the great line up, it appears that the second half may see the queen bee returning to reclaim here throne from the numero-uno actress Katrina Kaif.

Fans of Aishwarya will await the month of November with bated breath as not one but two of her films will see a worldwide release. The first to hit the screens will be Vipul Shah’s ACTION REPLAYY opposite the in form ‘Khiladi’ who already has a hit in HOUSEFULL. The film is due to release on 5th November during the ‘Diwali’ weekend and seeing the cent per cent success record of Vipul-Akshay and trade report (which predicts a sure shot winner in the film), we are pretty certain that ACTION REPLAYY will definitely be Ash’s first big hit of the year.

Next to follow is Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s GUZAARISH which releases on November 17th. Aishwarya is opposite the super hero Hrithik Roshan. Up till now both the movies (DHOOM 2 and JODHAA AKBAR) that Ash and Hrithik have done together have turned out to be hits and the audience loves their pairing a lot. The film may not be an out and out commercial project like ACTION REPLAYY yet it will attract the multiplex crowd who want something hatke from the league and so it will not be wrong to expect Aish and Bhansali to work their magic once again after HUM DIL DE CHUKE SANAM. Source

Bollywood stars Akshay Kumar and Aishwarya Rai hope to brighten Diwali this year as their film ‘Action Replayy’ will release on the festive occasion.

The film’s shooting was completed in Manali July 15 and is set to hit screens Nov 5 alongside Ajay Devgn-starrer ‘Golmaal 3′.

While ‘Action Replayy’ is a time-travel caper weaved around a story that progresses backwards in time, ‘Golmaal 3′ follows the hit outings ‘Golmaal’ (2006) and ‘Golmaal Returns’ (2008).

Produced and directed by Vipul Amrutlal Shah, ‘Action Replayy’ also stars Aditya Roy Kapoor, Rannvijay Singh, Neha Dhupia, Kirron Kher, Rajpal Yadav, Om Puri and Randhir Kapoor.  Source

Unable to spend quality time together due to their hectic work schedules, Bollywood’s first couple Abhishek and Aishwarya are all set to go for a vacation in London. 

Buzz has it that Aishwarya is leaving no stone unturned in making sure that she spends some quality time with hubby Abhishek in London, where the actor will be shooting for Karan Johar’s ‘Dostana 2’. It is believed that Ash will be taking a week off in order to be with Abhsihek and also celebrate three years of their marriage.

Talking to a news daily, a source said, “Ash will be travelling to London to be with Abhishek. She has made sure that she does not have anything important on her schedule as she just wants to spend quality time with him. The couple has been neck deep in work, right from shooting for their individual films to promoting ‘Raavan’ that saw both of them star in it. They hardly had a breather and so as soon as Ash learnt that Abhi will be in London to shoot Karan’s movie, she decided to book her tickets to England too.”

“Ash loves London. It is one of her favourite cities in the world and the couple will have great fun there. We hear Ash has got everything fixed right from them partying to hooking up with their friends to even shopping,” said the source. More

Ever since Mani Ratnam’s ‘Raavan’ hit the theatres globally, the female lead of the film, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan isolated herself from the public. Aishwarya is hesitant to face the media due to constant controversy surrounding the film and its star cast.

‘Raavan’ was highly criticized by the critics and Abhishek Bachchan was targeted for his terrible show. It is to be noted that Ash has not made any public appearance after the movie and her PR machinery has been asked to remain silent regarding her location.

The former Miss World was really excited before the release of the movie since she played the heroine in both Hindi and Tamil versions. Ash thought that she and her husband Abhi would win praises from all quarters. But the output was unusual and this has disheartened her a lot. Source

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has always been known to strike up a very special bond with all her directors’ wives. During Umrao Jaan, she got along famously with Mrs Bindiya J P Dutta. She bonded with similar warmth with Mrs Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra during delhi-6, although only her husband starred in it, and with Mrs Ashutosh Gowariker during Jodhaa-Akbar.

The latest person she’s gotten close to is none other than Suhasini Mani Ratnam. Says Aishwarya, “Both Abhishek and I are very close to Mani and Suhasini. When we got married, Mani started calling me kanna. I would address Mani as Mani sir and his wife as Suhasini ma’am. But somewhere, as time passed, the walls dissolved. Today, our rapport is not about, what’s our next film, it’s about, what’s the next stage in our bonding?”

Laughs Aishwarya, “Abhishek had a headstart in his rapport with Mani and his wife. But I can’t stop reminding him that I got to know Mani long before, when I did my first film Iruvar in Tamil with him. Today, I’m as close to both of them as Abhishek is.” The cutest part of it is that both Abhishek and Aishwarya have their individual rapport with Mani and his wife. More

Aishwarya Rai starrer ‘Raavan’ might have gone down the Box Office without a trace, but this hardly holds back the Bollywood’s much-acclaimed filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj from chasing the light eyed beauty.
 
News has it that Vishal has roped in Aishwarya Rai Bachchan for a woman-centric project that is slated for release in 2011. It is believed that Aishwarya has even been allocated the dates for the project.

Talking to a news daily, a source close to the actress said, “Vishal and Aishwarya have a history of misses. Years ago, she was supposed to do his first directorial venture, ‘Timbucktoo’. This year too, she was approached for ‘Saat Khoon Maaf’, but she didn`t have the dates and the film eventually went to Priyanka Chopra.”

Even as Bharadwaj was hurt by Aishwarya`s constant denials, the actress would repeatedly tell her close friends that she would love to work with Vishal Bhardwaj. More

Ever since Mani Ratnam’s highly awaited film ‘Raavan’ hit the theatres worldwide, the female protagonist of the film, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan isolated herself from the public. She is reluctant to face the media due to constant controversy surrounding the film and its star casts. ‘Raavan’ was highly criticized by the critics and Abhishek Bachchan was targeted for his bad show.

“It is to be noted that Ash has not made any public appearance after the film and her PR machinery has been asked to remain silent regarding her whereabouts. This is to avoid any uncomfortable questions from the media,” a source reportedly said.

“The former Miss World was extremely excited before the release of the film since she played the heroine in both Hindi and Tamil versions. Ash thought that she and her husband Abhishek would win accolades from all quarters. But the output was different and this has depressed her a lot,” the source added. More