Speaking at a pre-release event, Chiyaan Vikram said that being Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is quite scary. Elaborating further, he said, "She has always stolen everyone’s heart. Every time there have been many women, who have been queens, Aish (Aishwarya) has always been symbolic of that picture of perfection we look up to. I have seen her films, I've watched her and I think it wasn't just about beauty, it was what she stood for. I've always felt she has been under a microscope. It's so very difficult being her. She is constantly being watched, constantly needs to be perfect, and let me tell you, she has done it in style.”
He further added, "The first time I saw her she hadn't even gotten the title yet, I was in the crowd. As she got in, the cloth got caught in her leg and she stumbled and I thought she was gonna fall on her face. She stumbled, she made a couple of missteps, she gathered her poise, came back and did the routine, whatever she was supposed to do. It struck me this person was going places. I sense in her, the confidence, the poise, the grace. Anywhere you go, even in Chennai, in south India, even today, there will be jewellery stores and saree stores with her picture."
Chiyaan Vikram also spoke about sharing screen space with her. "I got to work with her, I saw the other side where she is professional. It's three films with her actually. I like the way that she puts into her character, it's very difficult. This one is even more difficult now that she's a mother, needs to spend time at home, needs to give Abhishek his time, get her lines straight...and she is still under the microscope. It's such a scary place. They always say that it's lonely at the top, it's very scary. Aish, it must be so scary being who you are...All our fans keep saying it’s so nice to see you as a pair, but the only thing is, I never get her (Aishwarya) in the movies. They knock me off.”
Jodha Akbar
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