Bollywood star couple Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan come together in Mani Ratnam's much-awaited magnum opus Raavan . As the film gets ready to hit the screens shortly, Aishwarya, who plays Ragini, a classical dancer, opens up on a range of topics. Excerpts from the interview:
Are you nervous about Raavan ? We will see you onscreen after almost two years.
I don't know if other actors experience nervousness, but I don't. The entire making of Raavan has given me an adrenaline rush. We have made the film to share it with the audience, but sometimes we over-analyse a film as it nears its release. When Vikram sir and I were on stage, it was the first time we spoke about the film.
That's remarkable. But surely you must have had long discussions about it with Abhishek.
After pack-up, we would be husband and wife. We would not discuss ‘this scene' or ‘that scene'.
Do you find it unusual that your husband is playing someone who kidnaps you in the film?
Many directors with whom we have worked have been progressive and have not cast us conventionally as husband and wife.
How much is Raavan based on the epic?
Mani has shared with his team that he is not making a statement on the current social scenario or drawing parallels with the political scenario viz-a-viz the epic Ramayana. This fashions the way we view the film. As a viewer, I think there is a reason why our epics are called epics — because you can draw parallels in most of our stories.
How would you define your character Ragini?
I'm glad I got to do a role such as this. She has all the elements in her — she is fiery, she is earthy. I completely relate to her. She is a spirited fighter, somebody who is constantly trying to get away. And yet she is all woman. She draws energy and strength from all the resources within her from time to time. She challenges Beera (Abhishek) and I love that. I thought it was a fantastic character to play in these times.
The film was shot in hostile terrain. Did you ever feel like just throwing up your hands?
No, Mani is there with you, always calm and concerned. After the take, if you freak out or break down, he asks ‘Ok, na?' and you are like ‘Yeah'. I remember we were shooting at the waterfalls near Athirapally, and suddenly one afternoon he said, ‘Now you will climb the falls.' We thought he was joking as the light was fading, but we soon found ourselves in harness, doing the shot. The rocks were very slippery with moss and we had no grip. Mani took us really close to the waterfall and then asked us to scale it. At the end of the shot, I felt like I was a superhero!
Did you train hard for the classical dance in the film?
With Mani, there is no time … you are just there.
How tough was it to shoot each scene a second time over for the Tamil version and dub the lines in Tamil?
Mani has made me confident of my ability to speak Tamil. Now when I go to the Robot shoot, I say, ‘Bring it on'. On the first two days of the Raavan shoot, I got the scene the night before so I thought I would write the lines myself for the phonetics. Also, I wanted to know the meaning of what I was speaking. But after the first two days, there were last minute changes and he started giving me the scene on the sets. He would quip, ‘Direct tava se '. I would do an entire scene in Hindi and then it would be ‘Quick, shoot for the Tamil version, the light is going'. I felt like I was giving my final exams every day.
Can you work under such pressure?
I have been lucky to do films that require a lot of hard work. Be it historicals, period dramas or theatrical dramas such as Devdas . Raavan was a one-off, and it was a pleasure to be part of it. The content of the film is unique.
Finally, this is Abhishek's third film with Mani. Do you feel jealous of the Mani-Abhishek combo?
Mani and Abhishek are a fantastic combination, and I'm saying this as a wife. When I saw Yuva , I was not Abhishek's wife, but I still felt proud of him because we had always been good friends. And, I have always had an affinity for Mani, so I am happy to see them together.
bollywood news service
