Ash on fire

It's Ash's day out at the box office this season. And not without reason. From a classy courtesan to a battered housewife, the doe-eyed beauty queen is doing it all this year. For the record, after J.P. Dutta's Umrao Jaan, Aishwarya will be seen in at least four back-to-back releases soon. Though Dutta's remake has got mixed reviews, the Rai babe is experimenting with genres like never before. So, if Ash plays a smart and slick Sunehri in the much-awaited Dhoom 2, she turns into a lethal warrior in $67 million Hollywood period action adventure The Last Legion.

"I just want to thank my directors for providing me opportunities in such rare genres. It doesn't often come in these times. So I feel good about it. All creative people are hungry for such experiences, eager to come away enriched from doing films like Devdas, Raincoat, Umrao Jaan, Dhoom 2 and Guru. I guess I'm blessed," said Aishwarya. But the ballgame has just begun for the former Miss World-turned-actress. Before the year-end, Ash will also be seen in Mani Ratnam's much-anticipated Guru. Rumoured to be based on Dhirubhai Ambani's life, Guru has Aishwarya playing Abhishek Bachchan's wife.

Then there is Jagmohan Mundhra's Provoked, based on the true story of a 23-year-old Punjabi woman Kiranjit Ahluwalia. The film has received rave reviews during its screening in film festival circuits. No wonder then, directors are full of praise for this 33-year-old Bollywood diva. "Aishwarya is a complete actress. She is very focused and always willing to learn new things. And all these things stem from the fact that she has a superb IQ level," says Dhoom 2 director Sanjay Gadhvi.

But call it the acid test for Aishwarya who, according to analysts, desperately needs a hit to "retrieve her standing" at the box office. Consider this: as per reports, she has just delivered three hits of 30 movies she was a part of in the past. "It's a very crucial phase for Ash. If these films don't work as expected, it would be a step down for her in Bollywood," says trade expert Taran Adarsh. Whatever the case, for the time being, Aishwarya is surely on a roll.