Pairing with hubby dear excites Aishwarya

By Subhash K. Jha

Mumbai, Oct 31 (IANS) Aishwarya Rai is excited about teaming up with hubby Abhishek Bachchan for Mani Ratnam's next film but reluctant to reveal much about the movie.

"It's a really exciting thought for me and Abhishek to be coming together again with Mani Ratnam. All I can say about the film is that it goes into a completely different theme from 'Guru'," Aishwarya, who turns 35 Saturday, told IANS.

"You can't expect Mani sir to go into the same space twice. Working with him is an exciting thought for any actor. The way he connects to his actors is very clear in the films that he makes. He creates magic on screen," she added.

Aishwarya considers "Guru", in which she paired with Abhishek, a very precious experience.

"It has been a very precious experience on every level, and not just on a personal level. I'd say it was professionally very fulfilling."

The last couple of months have been very hectic for the actress.

"I had joined Abhishek in Jaipur where he was shooting for 'Dilli 6'. Then I was with him in Miami for 'Dostana'. I also packed in Cannes and Paris. Life is beautiful. It really is. You know, life is as special as you make it for yourself. Of course, you can't live your life in a bubble. There're people who want to rain on your parade. It's up to you how you protect your space," said Aishwarya who just finished the first lap of the world tour 'Unfogettable'.

She is also doing Shankar's "Robot" and has teamed up with Tamil superstar Rajnikant in the movie. It got delayed because the film's writer passed away in February this year, thereby pushing the project back by some months.

"After Sujatha sir's sad demise, the project got delayed slightly. People chose this tragedy as an occasion to spread all kinds of rumours when the fact is death slowed down 'Robot'. But we're back on track, though now we need to work on a tighter schedule."

Explaining why the film needs extra planning, she said: "'Robot' has loads of special effects. And the film will be using a lot of crew from overseas. All this needed re-scheduling."

"Robot" wouldn't be the first FX driven film in Aishwarya's career.

"There was 'Dhoom 2'. And right at the start of my career I did 'Jeans'. And that too had very complicated special effects. And I had to do it in Tamil. So I learned a lot during 'Jeans', as I hope to do during 'Robot'."

Clearing another misconception about "Robot", she said: "People seem to think it's in Tamil and Hindi. But it's only in Tamil."

Tell her she's now equipped to direct a film, and Aishwarya laughs. "Everyone says that. I don't know, maybe one day."

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