At the City Palace in Jaipur, the stillness of the night reverberates to the sound of the heavenly Aishwarya Rai, as she dances before Abhishek Bachchan.
Abhishek Bachchan
The plush premises are closed to the public. "Which is a blessing for us, because it automatically eliminates all chances of intrusion. J P has been on tenterhooks for the last two weeks," says director J P Dutta's wife, Bindiya.
Abhishek caused no delay
Is it because Abhishek's arrival in Jaipur was delayed? "Not at all," replies Bindiya. "All J P had to do was shoot the later scenes first, before Abhishek arrived.
So, in principle, the only change is that he couldn't shoot chronologically, as he has done for all his films. Otherwise, everything is in control. Of course, there's a flurry of activity now, when Abhishek is here. We're finally doing the key romantic scenes and the mujra. Don't you think the two look gorgeous together?"
Aishwarya Rai
Bindiya has a point. We've seen Bachchan and Rai together earlier, but never have they looked so stunningly compatible.
Sighs Bindiya, "You have to admit the Ash-Abhishek combination is lethal. J P is surrounded by beautiful women. I was apprehensive about how he would cope, since he's used to doing men's movies."
Hit jodi
The director is calm, yet stressed out. Last week, his blood pressure shot up dangerously, but it's back under control now. J P seems to fit into the feminine ambience with grace.
Says Divya Dutta, "Abhishek and Aishwarya seem eminently made for each other. And why just them? Shabana and Ash look so perfectly compatible, they could've been mother and daughter in their last lives."
Women-centric films
Says the director. "Everyone seems to remember only my war films, with men running around with guns. People forget I've done films in the past where women were central characters.
Reena Roy and Smita Patil were central to Ghulami; and Dimple and Amrita were very important in Batwara. I don't know why people should be surprised that I'm doing Umrao Jaan."
His lead pair will be flying back to Mumbai for the New Year. "But I think I'll stay in Jaipur… sleep off my days and weeks of strain and stress," says J P.
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