The Ash Clash
by: Subhash K. Jha - mumbaimirror.com
If Aishwarya Rai has been missing from Mumbai it isn't because she's losing weight to get into a bikini for Dhoom 2. She's been shooting non-stop for her first full-fledged English-language film The Last Legion in Tunisia. She's expected back to immediately start shooting for JP Dutta's Umrao Jaan next month.
But there seems to be a bit of a problem here. Ash won't be back in time to start Umrao Jaan on schedule.
Says JP Dutta, “It isn't her fault at all. Apparently the shooting of her foreign film is behind schedule. And there will probably be a delay of a week. It's a routine delay and one for which she's in no way responsible. Her contract for the foreign film clearly states that there can be a spillover in the shooting dates. She has no choice but to stay back. But that really puts me in a fix. How do I start the film without Ash? There's no Umrao Jaan without Umrao! It's like Agra without the Taj Mahal.”
Has JP spoken to Ash? “She had called on Ganesh Chaturthi.” About the dates? “No. Her secretary has been in touch and he has informed me of the inevitable delay. We're trying to work out a solution. But it looks like I'll have to start building my Agra without the Taj Mahal.”
Ash speaks from Slovakia
Sounding exuberant from Slovakia, could her glee have anything to do with her name being cleared in the murky tape controversy back home? “I will only say that I've always had faith in God.”
Talking about her schedule, she says, “We've completed a truly exhausting and exhilarating schedule in Tunisia. And we've just moved to Slovakia. You know, it was warm in Tunisia… actually very hot. And now right after that, it's freezing cold in Slovakia,” she adds.
Aishwarya has worked with foreign units before. They include Gurinder Chadha's Bride & Prejudice and Chadha's husband's Mistress Of Spices. But The Last Legion is her first assignment outside India where she doesn't play an Indian character.
“True. But I don't differentiate between units …or between two languages either. For me working with Rituparno Ghosh in Bengali was as important as doing an English-language film. Both demand and get an equal amount of my attention,” she says.
She is equally gung-ho about her co-stars Colin Firth and Ben Kingsley, “They're wonderful actors and terrific friends. I'm having the time of my life. But you know what? I'm homesick. I'm looking forward to returning home when I start work on Umrao Jaan.”
