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She is almost a regular at Cannes Film Festival now but this time round Aishwarya Rai greeted the press for the first time as a Bachchan. The actress talks about life after marriage and more in conversation with CNN-IBN Entertainment Editor Rajeev Masand.
Rajeev Masand: Aishwarya, first of all congratulations. You are glowing and looking very good.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan: Thank you very much.
Rajeev Masand: And I am guessing this has more to do with marriage than to do with L'Oreal. (Aishwarya is in Cannes as the brand ambassador of the brand)
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan: That's a nice way of looking at it. (laughs)
Rajeev Masand: Now, you have been on a long holiday. It's been the honeymoon and you have been a while away from home, haven't you?
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan: Yes, it has been fantastic. It's probably the best time for any normal girl.
Rajeev Masand: Abhishek is here with you in Cannes. So, is he looking forward to walking the red carpet and just sort of living your life for these few day because Cannes Film Festival is really your home, isn't it?
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan: This is where you guys are troublemakers. You just sit and make statements on everything. We are together and it's not about getting into whose life it is. We are together and we are not getting into judging things the way probably you do. We are here for a day-and-a-half and then we are going to continue with our holiday for a little while more before we get back to a very hectic schedule.
Rajeev Masand: Is this the longest that you have been away from home?
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan: It's really interesting but it's probably the longest time off I have ever had. And what a time! It's the best time to take time off.
Rajeev Masand: Do you feel married?
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan: If this is what it is then it's a fantastic way to be. It's a wonderful place to be in and it's happiness for sure.
Rajeev Masand: We are also going to see shortly your film The Last Legion, your English film with Colin Firth and Ben Kingsley. It released in Russia and it's doing very well apparently. So, you looking forward to its release in India in August?
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan: Yes, August for the rest of the world. For Russia they had already committed at this point of time. But it's a wonderful feeling to see the film open this positively.
Rajeev Masand: The next film that you are going to go into is Sarkar 2 which you start working on shortly. And this movie unites you with family, as you will be working with father-in-law Amitabh Bachchan and husband Abhishek Bachchan.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan: Well, it's family for sure and in that sense it's great to be spending work time with the people you love. But at the same time as craftsmen our world knows how fantastic they are.
Rajeev Masand: Of course, I am not going to leave you without showing that gorgeous ring that Abhishek gave you.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan: Oh, come on! (Giggles and doesn't flaunt the humongous diamond) Watch Video
^^^Wow...i caught tht interview of Ash's...man she cant stop smiling 😉 😆 ^^^
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Amitabh Bachchan writes a letter to Deepa Mehta
16th May 2007 17.30 IST
By Aparajita Ghosh
Deepa Mehta had no plans to attend the forthcoming IIFA awards in Yorkshire. But a letter from Amitabh Bachchan made her change her mind.
For nearly two months now, Deepa Mehta has been in self-chosen exile. It is not because of the loss of her movie Water at the Oscars. It is because of the passing away of her father.
Deepa has been with her widowed mother and avoiding all public appearances since April. She has been undergoing what she calls "process of healing" with her mom in Toronto.
Now, Deepa will come out of her seclusion for the IIFA awards which she would not have thought of attending had it not been for a letter from Amitabh Bachchan, who is also the brand ambassador for IIFA.
Mr. Bachchan wrote a special letter to Mehta, inviting her to IIFA where she will be honoured for her remarkable work as a director in a number of internationally acclaimed films.
Reports quote Mehta as saying that she was touched by Mr. Bachchan's letter. Mehta says she cannot say 'no' to Mr. Bachchan.
The three-day IIFA awards in Yorkshire will begin on June 9. Deepa will wear one of the saris of her mother on the night she is to be honoured.
Now, that's touching, too.
When Tabu wanted to pull Big B's ponytail
16th May 2007 21.40 IST
By Aparajita Ghosh
When Amitabh Bachchan flaunted his sexy ponytail while shooting for 'Cheeni Kum', his co-star Tabu felt an irresistible urge to pull it.
Even before the shooting of the film began, the movie's director R Balakrishnan and cinematographer PC Sriram conceived a stylish look for the character of the acidic chef that Big B plays in the film. Mr. Bachchan was asked to grow his hair and keep a ponytail.
When Tabu wanted to pull Big B's ponytail
16th May 2007 21.40 IST
By Aparajita Ghosh
When Amitabh Bachchan flaunted his sexy ponytail while shooting for 'Cheeni Kum', his co-star Tabu felt an irresistible urge to pull it.
Even before the shooting of the film began, the movie's director R Balakrishnan and cinematographer PC Sriram conceived a stylish look for the character of the acidic chef that Big B plays in the film. Mr. Bachchan was asked to grow his hair and keep a ponytail.
Eventually, the ponytail looked so good on Mr. Bachchan that it became an attraction for the people on the sets.
Don't miss the movie's slideshow at Cheeni Kum .
Tabu, who plays Big B's 34-yr-old love interest in the film, became very fond of the superstar's ponytail.
She says she repeatedly felt in her an urge to pull the ponytail. But whenever she would go near Big B to touch his hair, the superstar would turn towards her.
But during the photo shoot of the film, when the two stars were posing for the camera, Tabu did get a chance to touch Big B's ponytail, fondle it and even pull it slightly.
Mr. Bachchan took Tabu's gesture very sportingly.
Later, when Big B came to know that Tabu had wanted to pull his ponytail all through the shooting, he responded in the same spirit. He said he, too, had wanted to pull Tabu's plait but couldn't get the chance.
'Cheeni Kum' is a funny and sarcastic love story between a 64-year-old chef and a young unmarried woman in her thirties. The film also has Paresh Rawal who plays the woman's father.
'Cheeni Kum' is slated to hit the theatres on May 25.
EXCLUSIVE FROM INDIAFM
JHOOM BARABAR JHOOM-MOVIE PREVIEW
By IndiaFM News Bureau, May 16, 2007 - 08:56 IST
Character Sketch
Abhishek Bachchan as Rikki Thukral
Baadshah of Bhatinda, now Sultan of Southall... Rikki Thukral! Confront him and he pulls out his most lethal weapon... "I got class"... Can't mess with Rikki after that. Classy he is, in his own earthy way... Just watch him engineer a deal... selling pirated films, illegal antiques, rented property, second hand fridges... if need be even the Queen's crown... Rikki makes it look like a cakewalk with his canny cheekiness and charm. Rikki came to Southall with a dream... of acquiring windfall riches. He would do all it takes... The moment he met Huffy Bhai it was like love at first sight. It didn't matter that Huffy Bhai was from Karachi or that he would lift his kurta at the most inappropriate moment... they got on like a house on fire. Him and Huffy live life with the attitude and spunk that shouts out, "We're here now... and now that we're here, Southall is ours!" They stay themselves everywhere... and wherever they go, they set up an independent republic! Together, both of them can arrange anything under the sun... from the best seats at the Cricket World Cup to a fridge at the cheapest price... after all, it's not fashionable for a modern day entrepreneur to have all fingers in one pie. They haven't got a permanent mailing address... and even if they did, nothing would ever get sent there... Always on the move, Rikki's clients' needs are such that he can't contain his business in an office... so the whole of Southall is his oyster.
Rikki doesn't consider himself a crook, but rather a maverick who just makes the calls... talks the talk... brings people together... walks the walk... makes his commission and stays happy. Like everything in Rikki's life, even falling in love was 70mm cinemascope. Only Rikki could have fallen in love with his dream girl Anaida when the legendary love-birds Princess Diana and Dodi were leaving The Ritz for the last time.... And then like sparkling magic, as Rikki says, "when two lovers die, another two are born"... they dance... they sing... they're in love!
Lara Dutta as Anaida Raza
Anaida Raza is the sizzling nymph with a soft core. Brought up in the City of Love as a pragmatic, rooted and razor-sharp woman... Assistant Manager at The Ritz Hotel in Paris... she runs her beat with metronomic efficiency and keeps everybody including her staff happy. She's dealt with all types and can be as friendly as she can be foxy. She'll manage a huge hotel and make it look like a breeze... despite thousands of photographers jumping all over the place... but also find the time to pick up Rikki's handkerchief from the floor and return it to him... How was she to know the hanky would turn out bait... and she'd be hooked, in love with Rikki in the flicker of a moment.
Like so many around the world... she gave her heart to Princess Diana. So much so, that despite her otherwise no-nonsense exterior, she cried when she couldn't visit Diana's funeral. She has that alluring combination of passion and charisma that would make any guy go ga-ga... And Rikki is no exception.
Preity Zinta as Alvira Khan
Picture a three foot six inch girl. She stands alone in the middle of a church. Merely six years old, Alvira Khan takes an oath before God. "I'll never marry a brownie kaalakalutaa. Please find me a good-looking gora boy like yourself. Amen." Cut to 20 odd years later. Alvira is your typical Pakistani Brit. She would hate to acknowledge the Pakistani part... She's more Brit than the Queen herself. Despite living in a ghettoized Lahori household, Alvira has that stiff upper lip attitude towards the riffraff... especially those crass Southalliyas with their lack of polish and their over-friendliness. That job she has as Manager at the House of Fraser's is a godsend. She can hobnob with the hip Bond Streeters any time she likes... Yea, that's what she calls 'class'...
She has a princess personality and a virtually rebellious opinion of everything. And on a fated day at Madame Tussaud's, the princess is daringly rescued by her knight in shining armour... her prince Steve, who grabs her from under a falling Superman model... And she's swept off her feet, heels over head in love... Her dream come true!
Bobby Deol as Steve Singh
Steve Singh is the immensely rich and treacherously handsome joint partner of London's reputed Singh & Smith Law firm. Steve is the man's man... the man about town... powerful, intense and very self-effacing... Born to a British Mum and Punjabi Dad, he's a balance of Punjabi impulse – not thinking twice before heroically saving Alvira's life - and he's got suave ritzy genteel from his Brit Mum. Classy. Seemly. Chivalrous. That's Steve.
He has a palace for an office matched only by Mandrake's Xanadu. And wears those dashing suits and up-market cuts like Bruce Wayne. What's more... one meeting and he seemed to know everything about Alvira her religious rituals, where she worked, her pet name... Is he Clark Kent or Superman? He even seems to appear and disappear at will... Yes... That's Steve. He has those natty rugged looks... a scar on his cheek that he got while rescuing a girl who was being forced to dance... But even that Steve doesn't wear on his sleeve. He's Alvira's knight in shining armour... her millionaire lover... her hero...
Storyline
Busy London station. Delayed train from Birmingham. Two strangers waiting for the train... Rikki Thukral (Abhishek Bachchan) born in Bhatinda, living in London; and Alvira Khan (Preity Zinta) more Brit than the Queen herself, however with Lahori blood in her veins.
Crowded caf. One table to share. Two hours to kill. Perfect setting for the start of a love-story. Hitch? Both Rikki and Alvira are engaged and have come to pick up their fiancs who are coming by the same train. To kill time, they end up telling each other their "how I met my fianc" stories.
Rikki met his fianc Anaida (Lara Dutta) at The Ritz (Paris), the same night that Princess Diana and Dodi walked out of the hotel and into the paparazzi. As Rikki says, "When two lovers die, another two are a born". They dance... they sing... they're in love!
Alvira, a princess by nature discovers her prince at Madame Tussaud's. When a gigantic wax model of Superman falls from the ceiling, Alvira is a sitting target. But Steve the Prince (Bobby Deol), a lawyer by profession saves her life but steals her heart! They also sing, they also dance and they also fall in love...
Stories unfold, time passes, the two strangers start enjoying each other. That Alvira is a Pakistani Brit and Rikki originally from India... that Rikki is crooked, earthy, and rakish: dabbler in various businesses; that Alvira is prim-n-proper, wannabe blue-blood, stiff upper-lip: Asst. Manager at House of Fraser's... none of these details matter. They have gotten alarmingly attracted to each other!
Their brief encounter has created a complicated quadrangle... Rikki Thukral and Alvira Khan have gotten themselves and Steve and Anaida into a lovely mess... To get out of it both of them bend over backward, thinking quickly on their feet, dancing around each other's emotions... After all when you're playing musical chairs with love, there's nothing you can do but Jhoom Barabar Jhoom (Dance Baby Dance)!
{Toh just as I thought CROSS hai!!)😆
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