'College named before Aishwarya joined Bachchan family'

Daulatpur (Uttar Pradesh), Jan 27 (IANS) The decision to name a girls college after superstar Aishwarya Rai was taken well before she became a part of the Bachchan family, her father-in-law, mega star Amitabh Bachchan disclosed here Sunday.

Addressing the mammoth crowd that had gathered in the open fields of this village, about 40 km from Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow, Bachchan took everyone by surprise when he made this statement. This was seen as his bid to dispel stories about his plans to set up a school after his poet father Harivansh Rai Bachchan.

'We had decided on the name of the college about a year ago, when Aishwarya was yet to become a part of our family,' he said at the foundation laying ceremony for the Shrimati Aishwarya Bachchan Kanya Mahavidyalaya.

His friend, Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh quipped: 'you see, that is the kind of honour Uttar Pradesh believes in paying to a daughter-in-law.'

Echoing Amitabh's clarification, he added: 'Aishwarya was clearly hesitant about naming the college after her as she felt there were other elders in the family, but we convinced her that this was intended as a gift to our bahu (daughter-in-law).'