By: Simran Mody, India Correspondent
It is not uncommon for married couples to work together, even in film. Over in Hollywood, Warren Beatty starred in a few films opposite his actress wife, Annette Benning, in films such as Bugsy, while super couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie christened their marriage on screen with Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Across the waters in Bollywood, fans are even more accustomed to seeing celebrity couples sharing the silver screen together, most notably the likes of Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan or Ajay Devgn and Kajol. This week, Bollywood fans will be heading to the theaters in droves to watch Abhishek Bachchan and his wife Aishwarya Rai take the screen together in Mani Ratnam’s modern-day epic story of Raavan, which opens on June 18. Also starring Tamil superstar Vikram, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan took some time out of her busy day to share her thoughts about what Bollywood fans should expect from the film many have likened to a twenty-first century retelling of the Ramayana, which is being released in three different languages: Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.
Of course, with two unique versions of the film starring essentially the same cast, neither of which were to be dubbed, that meant shooting each scene twice – once in Hindi and once in Tamil. For Aishwarya, filming in two different languages that bear little to no relation to each other was a rather difficult challenge – a challenge she essentially never had to face during her career that has now spanned three decades.
“By far the toughest thing was shooting two films in different languages,” Aishwarya humbly stated during a press conference in Mumbai, adding that each scene was shot back-to-back, first with a Hindi script then re-shot in Tamil. “We’d get it right and then there’d be a need to do one more – in the same conditions, while the light was holding. That speed was extremely challenging. But as a team it’s not about the number of takes or times, it’s about getting that magical moment.”
In trying to seek that magical moment, Aishwarya confessed there was an unintended consequence – she now feels comfortable with last-minute preparations. Since Ratnam was essentially leading two productions on one set, filming was moving at a breakneck speed, meaning the director, his crew, and the actors had little time to prepare for what was coming next. Accordingly, Aishwarya found that she quickly adapted and now has the confidence to go into any scene knowing she can do justice to her part, irrespective of how much time she had to prepare in advance.
“Before, I’d panic if I didn’t get the scene the previous day,” she confessed. “But with the pace at which we were working on this film, my nerves have gone, now I can jump into the deep end and swim.”
As Aishwarya survived the sink or swim test, she also found something else magical about undertaking the role of Ragini in Raavan – the ability to work with acclaimed director Mani Ratnam. Indeed, she stated the fact she had a chance to work with him was compelling enough to convince her to table her plans to put off acting for awhile in order to chase after her ambitions to become a professional architect.
“I’d been getting offers for films, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do movies,” the 36-year-old actress confessed, indirectly putting a twist on why she had been absent from the silver screen, at least in Bollywood and India, for the past two years. “I wanted to pursue my architecture studies, but the day I knew it was possible to work with Mani Ratnam, the genius that he is, I decided movies were the way forward.
“Working with Mani Ratnam whets your appetite and your hunger for more. He’s so demanding and takes so much from you that, creatively, that spoils you. And you just want more.”
Alas, the magical moments did not end with Mani; Aishwarya also had another glaring incentive to take on the leading female role in Raavan – starring opposite her husband, Abhishek.
In working side-by-side with her husband, Aishwarya had nothing but good things to say about Abhishek, adding that not only is he a “pleasure to work with,” but they both do a good job of keeping things professional on set and leaving work at the office, so to speak.
“We don’t rate each other. We just like working with each other as co-actors,” she humbly stated. “Abhishek is a very free actor. He breaks himself free. He works as a team member and doesn’t act as a male lead or anything of that sort (on work). He is a team mate fulfilling his director’s vision in every which manner he can and a pleasure to work with.”
Now, she is hoping the finished product that is Raavan, which is releasing to Hindi, Tamil and Telugu audiences this weekend, is a pleasure to watch. In the film, Aishwarya plays a classical dancer who is married to a police officer (played by Vikram). However, during a brief stay in Northern India, a tribal leader named Beera but nicknamed “Raavan” (Abhishek) abducts Ragini and takes her hostage. The story bears loose resemblance to the epic Hindu tale of the Ramayana, which features a villain named “Raavan” who kidnaps a beautiful woman and ignites a furious battle pitting good versus evil.
By: Simran Mody, India Correspondent
It is not uncommon for married couples to work together, even in film. In Hollywood, movie fans rejoiced whenever the likes of Woody Allen and Mia Farrow or Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall worked together. Across the waters in Bollywood, fans are even more accustomed to seeing celebrity couples sharing the silver screen together — most notably the likes of Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan or Ajay Devgn and Kajol. This week, Bollywood fans will be heading to the theaters in droves to watch Abhishek Bachchan and his wife Aishwarya Rai take the screen together in Mani Ratnam’s modern-day epic story of Raavan, which opens on June 18th. Also starring Tamil superstar Vikram, former Miss World 1994 Aishwarya Rai Bachchan took some time out of her busy day to share her thoughts about what Bollywood fans should expect from the film many have likened to a 21st century retelling of Ramayana, which is being released in three different languages: Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.
Of course, with two unique versions of the film starring essentially the same cast, neither of which were to be dubbed, that meant shooting each scene twice — once in Hindi and once in Tamil. For Aishwarya, filming in two different languages that bear little to no relation to each other was a rather difficult challenge — a challenge she essentially never had to face during her career that has now spanned three decades.
“By far the toughest thing was shooting two films in different languages,” Aishwarya humbly stated during a press conference in Mumbai, adding that each scene was shot back-to-back, first with a Hindi script then re-shot in Tamil. “We’d get it right and then there’d be a need to do one more…in the same conditions, while the light was holding. That speed was extremely challenging. But as a team, it’s not about the number of takes or times — it’s about getting that magical moment.”
In trying to seek that magical moment, Aishwarya confessed there was an unintended consequence. She now feels comfortable with last-minute preparations. Since Ratnam was essentially leading two productions on one set, filming was moving at a breakneck speed, meaning the director, his crew, and the actors had little time to prepare for what was coming next. Accordingly, Aishwarya found that she quickly adapted and now has the confidence to go into any scene knowing she can do justice to her part, irrespective of how much time she had to prepare in advance.
“Before, I’d panic if I didn’t get the scene the previous day,” she confessed. “But with the pace at which we were working on this film, my nerves have gone, and now I can jump into the deep end and swim.”
As Aishwarya survived the sink-or-swim test, she also found something else magical about undertaking the role of Ragini in Raavan – the ability to work with acclaimed director Mani Ratnam. Indeed, she stated that the fact she had a chance to work with him was compelling enough to convince her to table her plans to put off acting for awhile in order to chase after her ambitions to become a professional architect.
“I’d been getting offers for films, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do movies,” the 36-year-old actress confessed, indirectly putting a twist on why she had been absent from the silver screen, at least in Bollywood and India, for the past two years. “I wanted to pursue my architecture studies, but the day I knew it was possible to work with Mani Ratnam, the genius that he is, I decided movies were the way forward.
“Working with Mani Ratnam whets your appetite and your hunger for more. He’s so demanding and takes so much from you that, creatively, that spoils you…and you just want more.”
Alas, the magical moments did not end with Mani; Aishwarya also had another glaring incentive to take on the leading female role in Raavan, starring opposite her husband, Abhishek.
In working side-by-side with her husband, Aishwarya had nothing but good things to say about Abhishek, adding that not only is he a “pleasure to work with,” but they both do a good job of keeping things professional on set and leaving work at the office, so to speak.
“We don’t rate each other. We just like working with each other as co-actors,” she humbly stated. “Abhishek is a very free actor. He breaks himself free. He works as a team member and doesn’t act as a male lead or anything of that sort. He is a teammate fulfilling his director’s vision in every which manner he can and is a pleasure to work with.”
Now she is hoping the finished product that is Raavan — which is releasing to Hindi, Tamil and Telugu audiences this weekend — is a pleasure to watch. In the film, Aishwarya plays a classical dancer who is married to a police officer (played by Vikram). However, during a brief stay in Northern India, a tribal leader named Beera but nicknamed “Raavan” (Abhishek) abducts Ragini and takes her hostage. The story bears loose resemblance to the epic Hindu tale of Ramayana, which features a villain named “Raavan” who kidnaps a beautiful woman and ignites a furious battle pitting good versus evil.
