Aishwarya Rai Bachchan will most likely star in Mani Ratnam's next. Their association goes back almost two decades and across three films Iruvar (1997), Guru (2007) and Raavan (2010).
"They have been in talks for a project and it seems it will happen soon", revealed a source close to ARB. The project, in question was supposed to kick-start last year but did not, following problems with the cast's dates. It is a Tamil/Telugu project that would also feature Nagarjuna, Mahesh Babu and Shruti Haasan in leading roles.
Aishwarya confirms, "I had chosen Mani Ratnam's film last year. That did not get made. Had it been made, it would have been my comeback film'. For other technical reasons, he has delayed it. He spoke to me recently. He is revisiting it. He's made his other small film in the meantime. Jazbaa happened to be the first, which I had already okayed."
She adds, "I started off with Mani Ratnam's Iruvar at a time when I had numerous film offers lined for me. Yet, I chose to do Iruvar to work with Maniji. Interestingly, life would have completed a full circle if it was his film which I would have done after this little gap. But things didn't fall in place and made way for Jazbaa," Ash giggles.
Like the Karan-SRK or the Rajshri-Salman combo, even Aishwarya has had successful associations with directors like Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Mani.
But talk about successful director-actor pairings and she shoots back, "It's never been an intentional thought process to work with particular directors or actors. But yes, Mani is someone I love working with. I love his sensibilities and somehow I trust him completely. I am a director's actor and he's an actor's director," she signs off.
Ye Hai Mohabbatein
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