It was only after Abhishek Bachchan denied Mani Rathnam?s offer of switching roles in the Tamil version that the director roped in southern actor Prithviraj to essay the character of Dev in the film. As Aishwarya Rai was comfortable in the Tamil language, she accepted the offer of playing the character of Sita (Ragini) in both the versions of the flick.

The buzz doing the rounds in the industry is that Mani Ratnam?s original plan was to make the flick only in Hindi but as the film progressed he conceived of making it in both the languages and shooting it simultaneously with the same actors switching roles. The most important switch over was to be of Vikram from playing Raavan in Tamil version to enacting Dev in Hindi version and Abhishek Bachchan doing the same for Hindi and Tamil versions.

Initially, Abhi had even given his consent but soon found it too difficult to emote without knowing the language. The honest and sincere Abhishek Bachchan made known his difficulties to director Mani Ratnam and this time managed to convince the master filmmaker to let him go.

In fact, Abhishek was said to be too engrossed with the character of Beera to concentrate on anything else, and hence felt it wise to let the role be done by someone else who could do justice to that. Meanwhile, Abhishek Bachchan has refuted the public perception that ?Raavan? had any connection with famous epic Ramayana.

Though there is widespread impression that the film was a modern day adaptation of the epic but Abhishek says that only connection with the epic was due to its name ?Raavan?, and even that was selected because it aptly described the various facets of Beera?s personality in the film.Whatsoever, the film is slated for a worldwide release on June 18 and the whole world would come to know of the truth on that day.

Meanwhile, Abhishek Bachchan has refuted the public perception that ?Raavan? had any connection with famous epic Ramayana. Though there is widespread impression that the film was a modern day adaptation of the epic but Abhishek says that only connection with the epic was due to its name ?Raavan?, and even that was selected because it aptly described the various facets of Beera?s personality in the film.

-- k k rai Send comments: 0comments (less)

"I can't take prompting. First of all, I don't know the art of someone holding a placard and me reading it," Aishwarya, 36, said.

"I tried it once, but it was such a flop because I was in the water and they were holding the placard behind the camera and suddenly Vikram enters the frame and he started acting his bit. Then I had to bank on my memory because Vikram came in front, blocking the placard.

"I don't know how to go with these cheating tactics. So prompting doesn't work.

I tried, but it didn't work because of the waterfall. You can't hear a thing.

So I literally had to rely on memory," she said. Aishwarya plays the female protagonist in both versions of Mani Ratnam's much-awaited movie that is titled 'Raavan' in Hindi and 'Raavanan' in Tamil.

For the Hindi version, she has teamed up with southern star Vikram, who plays her husband, and her real life partner Abhishek, who is seen as her tormentor. Is your Tamil as good as Hindi? "No, no it was memorising and delivering.

But if you keep it in front of me, I would be able to pick it up and do it again," she said. The former beauty queen says though she and Abhishek don't take their personal relationship to the sets of a movie, their natural chemistry reflects on camera.

"We, of course, separate our personal life in front of the camera. But when Abhishek and me are framed together, you naturally see the connection.

Even if it was another Hindi actor, may be you would see a more natural connection than you would see between Vikram and me but that is not because of anything else but probably the familiarity of seeing people together." (less)

Aishwarya Rai, the real life wife of Abhishek Bachchan plays the character of Sita in both Hindi and Tamil versions. Abhishek?s character of Beera abducts Aishwarya in the film and keeps her in captivity just like Raavan did in the epic ?Ramayana?.

-- k k rai Send comments: 0comments (less)

4 million) worldwide on its opening day, its co-producer Reliance BIG Pictures said. All three versions - "Raavan" (Hindi), "Raavanan" (Tamil) and "Villain" (Telugu) - co-produced by Reliance BIG Pictures and Madras Talkies, was released simultaneously in about 2, 200 screens worldwide, said a press statement.

While the star cast of "Raavan" includes Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai and southern star Vikram, "Raavanan" features Vikram, Aishwarya and Prithviraj. The Tamil version was dubbed in Telugu to reach a wider audience.

For foreign screens, the Hindi and Tamil versions have been released with English sub-titles. In the Hindi version, Aishwarya plays Ragini, a dance teacher who is married to a policeman, played by Vikram.

In the course of events, she is abducted by Beera (Abhishek) and held hostage at his jungle hideout. In the Tamil version, Vikram plays Beera.

The music for both the versions is by Oscar winner A.R.

Rahman and the cinematography has been done by Santosh Sivan (less)

Southern superstar Vikram plays the character of Ram in Hindi version but in Tamil version reverts to ?Raavan?s character. Aishwarya continues to stick to her role of Sita in both Hindi and Tamil versions of the flick.

-- k k rai Send comments: 0comments (less)

It's more she dancing while I just join in. I am just a passable dancer.

I'm good fighter.Not quite the dancer.

I always felt Madhuri Dixit was the best dancer ever. But then I saw how Aishwarya held her own in Devdas.

I thought it was fantastic. It was really nice to see her dance.

I just forgot my own steps and kept staring. Every hero from the South wants to work with her at some point in his career.

I got my opportunity finally. It's wonderful that I'm making my Hindi debut with her.

It's strange every Miss World and Miss Universe enters movies. But who has had the lingering impact of Aishwarya? She has some kind of an enduring aura.

Over the years she has really evolved as an actor.? Vikram says Aishwarya is a hero in Raavan.

?There are three main characters, me Abhishek and Aishwarya. I've done a lot of tortuous sequences in the past.

But this one takes the cake and the ache. And Aishwarya suffered all the wounds, pain, fever and insect bites heroically in the forest.

For all the dangerous scenes she hardly ever used a dupe. She was totally up to the task.

I coped.Guys are used to roughing it out.

But she fell ill quite a few times? Both Aishwarya and Vikram play the lead in the Hindi and Tamil versions of Raavan. Explains Vikram, ?I had to do two characters.

But she had to play the same character twice in two language one after another. For example if she had to climb a rock with me, she'd do it climb down and then do it again with Abhishek.

? (less)

"A decision has been taken to follow the existing policy of allowing non-Kannada films in a stipulated number of theatres," Patil said. The decision will be implemented in old Mysore distribution area, which is primarily the southern part of the state.

The decision will not be binding in the other two distribution areas. The release of both the versions is scheduled June 18 by Big Cinemas.

Big Cinemas had contended that since Raavan and its Tamil version have been made at a huge cost and with different artists in the lead, the chamber should treat it as two different films and allow the release in 48 theatres or more. " Raavan is a hugely mounted film and we would like to seek some relief from the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce to liberalise its policy of restricting the release in a fixed number of theatres in Karnataka," a letter from Big Cinemas to KFCC had requested.

The KFCC does not allow non-Kannada films to screen in more than 24 theatres to protect the Kannada film industry. The film stars Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai and Tamil actor Vikram (less)

The movie is due for a world wide release on June 18. -- k k rai Send comments: 0comments (less)

The indication was obviously towards the music release function of ?Raavan? due for April 24, just some days away. Sources say that Abhishek wanted to make the occasion memorable for wife Aishwarya Rai, and hence, decided to go far away to enjoy the anonymity but he was a thorough professional and would love to return well before time for ?Raavan?s music release.

?Raavan? is a very important film for the couple as this is the first film wherein they will be working with Mani Rathnam after their marriage in year 2007. It was during the making of ?Guru?, another Mani Rathnam?s blockbuster that had the couple together, that they came close to each other and finally decided to tie the nuptial knot.

Abhishek Bachchan plays the title role of ?Raavan? in the Hindi version of the film, while Tamil superstar Vikram enacts the part of Ram in the film. That means Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan, the husband wife pair won?t appear together on the celluloid but will be ranged against each other.

Aishwarya Rai, who belongs to Karnataka, also dubbed for the Tamil version of the film in her own voice, as she plays the part of Sita in both the versions?Hindi and Tamil. The film is being simultaneously shot in both the languages and will be released shortly.

The film also has bollywood biggies like Govinda, Ravi Kissen, Nikhil Dwivedi, Sonu Sood, etc, playing important roles in it. Aishwarya Rai, who belongs to Karnataka, also dubbed for the Tamil version of the film in her own voice, as she plays the part of Sita in both the versions?Hindi and Tamil.

The film is being simultaneously shot in both the languages and will be released shortly. -- k k rai Send comments: 0comments (less)

"I did jump. There was a professional diver to train me how to do it, " Abhishek, who has teamed up with wife Aishwarya Rai in the movie, told in an interview.

"When we went up there, it was 90 feet or something. So the insurance people said that we can't allow him to do it.

You can't put your lead actor's life at risk, " he said. "Mani said no, I am not going to risk my actor jumping off that (cliff).

Actually, the current of that river is very intense. There are rocks at the bottom.

"In the meantime, a five-year-old boy came and dived into the water. We were shooting it at Hogenakkal (waterfall on the Cauvery river), where these local kids jump off for money.

So five-six people jumped at the end of the day and finally the shot was taken, " he said. "This is the most challenging film I have ever done in my life.

I haven't done such a physically and emotionally challenging film in my life. And it's not about going to tough locations or tough scenes.

The film drains you and you feel so good when you go home at night because you feel that you have done something. Getting a movie like 'Raavan' is so rare.

You don't get such a role today, " Abhishek said. Ratnam's "Raavan" is said to be a modern interpretation of the epic "Ramayana".

It also stars southern superstar Vikram, who plays a cop married to Aishwarya. The director simultaneously shot "Raavan" in Tamil and Hindi at various locations, including the Athirapally forests in Kerala, Ooty in Tamil Nadu, Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh, Kolkata, and the Malshej Ghats in Maharashtra.

The film has lots of action scenes and stunts performed by the actors. Ratnam completed the film despite health problems.

"Once you work with him, you will be in awe of him because of the talent he brings to the table. The minute he says cut, he turns into a dear friend.

He is someone very close to me. I really feel a strong bond with him.

But in front of the camera, you don't have to work to give him the respect - it just comes. .

. He is truly just the best, " said Abhishek (less)

The good and the bad meet often, fight it out and one reigns over the other. And sometimes the good and bad just casually hang out, too.

Like in Mani Ratnam’s movies. Okay, we’ll tell you what we’re getting at.

It’s a known fact that in Mani’s next, Raavan, Abhishek Bachchan plays Raavan in the Hindi version, and South star, Vikram plays Ram, while in the Tamil version the latter plays Raavan. Apparently, while shooting for the movie, (both the versions simultaneously), the two Raavans would catch up before the shoot, huddle in a corner and discuss how they could best play out Raavan that day, albeit for different versions.

Soon Mani started calling them the ‘Raavan’ club. And the chats would go on till Mani sir would beckon the R-club to get back and face the cameras.

Wonder what else the Raavans talked about..

. how to destroy competition in the ‘star-war’ out there, maybe? Lol! Check out Abhishek Bachchan’s homepage (less)

For me, it is very important that I understand the meaning of my dialogues before I deliver them. I can't just mug up the dialogues.

So for 'Raavan', I made sure I knew what I was saying and yes, I have improved a lot on the language and I am confident about doing more Tamil stuff in future, " Aishwarya said. "After 'Raavan', it was like - 'Come on! Bring on 'Robot' (now 'Endhiran'), " she told reporters at the music launch of "Raavan" here Saturday.

"Raavan" is Ratnam's much-awaited project and also stars Abhishek Bachchan, southern superstar Vikram and Bhojpuri star Ravi Kishan. The movie has been simultaneously shot in Hindi and Tamil, with a slightly different cast.

Aishwarya plays Ragini, a classical dance teacher. The first look into the movie shows her dancing gracefully in a song where she has been picturised getting cosy with Vikram, who plays her husband in the Hindi version of the film.

One mention of how beautiful the dance moves looked, and Aishwarya said: "Aww..

.Thank you so much.

" Talking about her role, she said: "This was an extremely challenging role for me. To shoot it in Hindi and Tamil at the same time was quite a task.

But the experience was so wonderful that if Mani sir asks me, I am ready to do it all over again." According to the 36-year-old, her role was a discovery and a mystery.

"Ragini is a strong woman and very relatable to the modern Indian woman. She speaks her mind.

I say discovery because we kept discovering fantastic locations and got to see so many places. We used to trek every morning to be on the sets? "The role remained a mystery because I was playing the leading lady and there I was with no make-up, no fancy clothes and all drenched in rain with mud all over.

But that's what Mani sir expects from us to keep it all as real as it can get, " she said. Aishwarya says they used to give shots with "snakes a whisper away" and that they "must have donated blood to 300 leeches".

"All in all, it was an incredibly original experience. It was almost like being on a 'Fear Factor' show, " she added.

The movie, co-produced by Reliance BIG Pictures and Madras Talkies, is expected to release June 18 (less)

Changing equation It’s about two characters — Veera and Dev — both seen through the eyes of Ragini. In that sense, Ragini is perhaps the only character that’s close to the audience.

Basically, the film revolves around the hunter, the hunted and the trap. The catch is that the three main characters are always changing and in different positions.

Casting coup 50 per cent of my job gets done when I get the casting right. With Lallan (Abhishek’s character in Yuva), we tried something drastically different and we went back to the same position when we got started on Raavan.

By doing that, we struggle through our film; that’s what works. Safety issues during shoot We are on a job and it’s our duty to get it right.

But we made sure that everyone involved was safe. Hindi v/s Tamil Yes, there will be subtle changes in the two versions as the characters are being played by different actors.

While Vikram plays Dev in the Hindi version, he plays Veera in the Tamil flick. That gives a different perspective to the roles.

But, the basic thread of the film will be the same. Giving shape to Raavanan I can’t pinpoint an exact time when the idea of this film came to my mind.

At times, it’s just a seed that lies in the mind. When I started my career in films, I thought I’d get it right after directing a few movies.

But that hasn’t been the case; Raavanan was as tough as my first film. We kept shaping the characters and subject as we went about shooting.

Four different climaxes? If only I had the capacity to shape four climaxes, I would have done many films by now! It’s hard to get one climax right, leave alone four (less)

Abhishek Bachchan, covered in dried mud, performed to songs from the film. Of course, the style icon that he is, he changed to a dapper suit after his act and joined wife Aishwarya, the event's anchor, on stage.

A R Rahman, who has scored the music sang two songs from the film. One of them came as a surprise to all, including Mani Ratnam, as it was a special song which he composed and recorded just the night before.

??Also present were Gulzar (in trademark white) who has written the lyrics for Raavan, Tamil superstar Vikram, who plays pivotal roles in both the Hindi and Tamil versions of Raavan, the film's designer Sabyasachi, Rohan Sippy, Ravi Kissen, Ila Arun, Vidhu Vinod Chopra and wife Anupama. The music launch of Raavan was held at a suburban studio on Saturday night.

Abhishek Bachchan, covered in dried mud, performed to songs from the film. Of course, the style icon that he is, he changed to a dapper suit after his act and joined wife Aishwarya, the event's anchor, on stage.

A R Rahman, who has scored the music sang two songs from the film. One of them came as a surprise to all, including Mani Ratnam, as it was a special song which he composed and recorded just the night before.

??Also present were Gulzar (in trademark white) who has written the lyrics for Raavan, Tamil superstar Vikram, who plays pivotal roles in both the Hindi and Tamil versions of Raavan, the film's designer Sabyasachi, Rohan Sippy, Ravi Kissen, Ila Arun, Vidhu Vinod Chopra and wife Anupama. The music launch of Raavan was held at a suburban studio on Saturday night.

Abhishek Bachchan, covered in dried mud, performed to songs from the film. Of course, the style icon that he is, he changed to a dapper suit after his act and joined wife Aishwarya, the event's anchor, on stage.

A R Rahman, who has scored the music sang two songs from the film. One of them came as a surprise to all, including Mani Ratnam, as it was a special song which he composed and recorded just the night before.

??Also present were Gulzar (in trademark white) who has written the lyrics for Raavan, Tamil superstar Vikram, who plays pivotal roles in both the Hindi and Tamil versions of Raavan, the film's designer Sabyasachi, Rohan Sippy, Ravi Kissen, Ila Arun, Vidhu Vinod Chopra and wife Anupama. The music launch of Raavan was held at a suburban studio on Saturday night.

Abhishek Bachchan, covered in dried mud, performed to songs from the film. Of course, the style icon that he is, he changed to a dapper suit after his act and joined wife Aishwarya, the event's anchor, on stage.

A R Rahman, who has scored the music sang two songs from the film. One of them came as a surprise to all, including Mani Ratnam, as it was a special song which he composed and recorded just the night before.

??Also present were Gulzar (in trademark white) who has written the lyrics for Raavan, Tamil superstar Vikram, who plays pivotal roles in both the Hindi and Tamil versions of Raavan, the film's designer Sabyasachi, Rohan Sippy, Ravi Kissen, Ila Arun, Vidhu Vinod Chopra and wife Anupama (less)

The decision will not be binding in the other two distribution areas. The release of both the versions is scheduled June 18 by Big Cinemas.

Big Cinemas had contended that since "Raavan" and its Tamil version have been made at a huge cost and with different artists in the lead, the chamber should treat it as two different films and allow the release in 48 theatres or more. "'Raavan' is a hugely mounted film and we would like to seek some relief from the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce to liberalise its policy of restricting the release in a fixed number of theatres in Karnataka," a letter from Big Cinemas to KFCC had requested.

The KFCC does not allow non-Kannada films to screen in more than 24 theatres to protect the Kannada film industry. The film stars Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai and Tamil actor Vikram.

Director Mani Ratnam's Hindi-Tamil bilingual film "Raavan" will be released in only 24 theatres in one of the three distribution areas of Karnataka, the state's film chamber said late Wednesday. Vasant Kumar Patil, president of Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC),??said that "Raavan", titled "Raavanan" in Tamil, will have a restricted release.

"A decision has been taken to follow the existing policy of allowing non-Kannada films in a stipulated number of theatres," Patil said. The decision will be implemented in old Mysore distribution area, which is primarily the southern part of the state.

The decision will not be binding in the other two distribution areas. The release of both the versions is scheduled June 18 by Big Cinemas.

Big Cinemas had contended that since "Raavan" and its Tamil version have been made at a huge cost and with different artists in the lead, the chamber should treat it as two different films and allow the release in 48 theatres or more. "'Raavan' is a hugely mounted film and we would like to seek some relief from the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce to liberalise its policy of restricting the release in a fixed number of theatres in Karnataka," a letter from Big Cinemas to KFCC had requested.

The KFCC does not allow non-Kannada films to screen in more than 24 theatres to protect the Kannada film industry. The film stars Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai and Tamil actor Vikram.

Director Mani Ratnam's Hindi-Tamil bilingual film "Raavan" will be released in only 24 theatres in one of the three distribution areas of Karnataka, the state's film chamber said late Wednesday. Vasant Kumar Patil, president of Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC),??said that "Raavan", titled "Raavanan" in Tamil, will have a restricted release.

"A decision has been taken to follow the existing policy of allowing non-Kannada films in a stipulated number of theatres," Patil said. The decision will be implemented in old Mysore distribution area, which is primarily the southern part of the state.

The decision will not be binding in the other two distribution areas. The release of both the versions is scheduled June 18 by Big Cinemas.

Big Cinemas had contended that since "Raavan" and its Tamil version have been made at a huge cost and with different artists in the lead, the chamber should treat it as two different films and allow the release in 48 theatres or more. "'Raavan' is a hugely mounted film and we would like to seek some relief from the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce to liberalise its policy of restricting the release in a fixed number of theatres in Karnataka," a letter from Big Cinemas to KFCC had requested.

The KFCC does not allow non-Kannada films to screen in more than 24 theatres to protect the Kannada film industry. The film stars Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai and Tamil actor Vikram.

Director Mani Ratnam's Hindi-Tamil bilingual film "Raavan" will be released in only 24 theatres in one of the three distribution areas of Karnataka, the state's film chamber said late Wednesday. Vasant Kumar Patil, president of Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC),??said that "Raavan", titled "Raavanan" in Tamil, will have a restricted release.

"A decision has been taken to follow the existing policy of allowing non-Kannada films in a stipulated number of theatres," Patil said. The decision will be implemented in old Mysore distribution area, which is primarily the southern part of the state.

The decision will not be binding in the other two distribution areas. The release of both the versions is scheduled June 18 by Big Cinemas.

Big Cinemas had contended that since "Raavan" and its Tamil version have been made at a huge cost and with different artists in the lead, the chamber should treat it as two different films and allow the release in 48 theatres or more. "'Raavan' is a hugely mounted film and we would like to seek some relief from the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce to liberalise its policy of restricting the release in a fixed number of theatres in Karnataka," a letter from Big Cinemas to KFCC had requested.

The KFCC does not allow non-Kannada films to screen in more than 24 theatres to protect the Kannada film industry. The film stars Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai and Tamil actor Vikram.

Director Mani Ratnam's Hindi-Tamil bilingual film "Raavan" will be released in only 24 theatres in one of the three distribution areas of Karnataka, the state's film chamber said late Wednesday. Vasant Kumar Patil, president of Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC),??said that "Raavan", titled "Raavanan" in Tamil, will have a restricted release.

"A decision has been taken to follow the existing policy of allowing non-Kannada films in a stipulated number of theatres," Patil said. The decision will be implemented in old Mysore distribution area, which is primarily the southern part of the state.

The decision will not be binding in the other two distribution areas. The release of both the versions is scheduled June 18 by Big Cinemas.

Big Cinemas had contended that since "Raavan" and its Tamil version have been made at a huge cost and with different artists in the lead, the chamber should treat it as two different films and allow the release in 48 theatres or more. "'Raavan' is a hugely mounted film and we would like to seek some relief from the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce to liberalise its policy of restricting the release in a fixed number of theatres in Karnataka," a letter from Big Cinemas to KFCC had requested.

The KFCC does not allow non-Kannada films to screen in more than 24 theatres to protect the Kannada film industry. The film stars Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai and Tamil actor Vikram (less)

He helped introduce the auteur concept to contemporary Bollywood. We are very proud to honour the work of the great Indian director Mani Ratnam.

" The festival premiere of Raavan was attended by the director, Aishwarya Rai, Abhishek Bachchan, Vikram and A.R.

Rahman. Both the Hindi and Tamil versions will be screened at Venice Film Festival.

"Mani Ratnam used to make movies only in his native tongue Tamil, but has been one of the handful of filmmakers to successfully reach out to the all-India market," Muller said. In recent years the award has been given to filmmakers Takeshi Kitano, Abbas Kiarostami, Agnes Warda and Sylvester Stallone.

Raavan tells the story of a bandit leader who kidnaps the wife of a policeman who killed his sister. The film stars Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai and Vikram.

The music has been composed by A.R.

Rahman (less)

"I understand a bit of Tamil and speak a bit of it. For me, it is very important that I understand the meaning of my dialogues before I deliver them.

I can't just mug up the dialogues. So for 'Raavan', I made sure I knew what I was saying and yes, I have improved a lot on the language and I am confident about doing more Tamil stuff in future," Aishwarya said.

"After 'Raavan', it was like - 'Come on! Bring on 'Robot' (now 'Endhiran')," she said. 'Raavan' is Ratnam's much-awaited project and also stars Abhishek Bachchan, southern superstar Vikram and Bhojpuri star Ravi Kishan.

The movie has been simultaneously shot in Hindi and Tamil, with a slightly different cast. Aishwarya plays Ragini, a classical dance teacher.

The first look into the movie shows her dancing gracefully in a song where she has been picturised getting cosy with Vikram, who plays her husband in the Hindi version of the film. One mention of how beautiful the dance moves looked, and Aishwarya said: "Aww.

..

Thank you so much." Talking about her role, she said: "This was an extremely challenging role for me.

To shoot it in Hindi and Tamil at the same time was quite a task. But the experience was so wonderful that if Mani sir asks me, I am ready to do it all over again.

" According to the 36-year-old, her role was a discovery and a mystery. "Ragini is a strong woman and very relatable to the modern Indian woman.

She speaks her mind. I say discovery because we kept discovering fantastic locations and got to see so many places.

We used to trek every morning to be on the sets' "The role remained a mystery because I was playing the leading lady and there I was with no make-up, no fancy clothes and all drenched in the rain with mud all over. But that's what Mani sir expects from us, to keep it all as real as it can get," she said.

Aishwarya says they used to give shots with "snakes a whisper away" and that they "must have donated blood to 300 leeches". "All in all, it was an incredibly original experience.

It was almost like being on a 'Fear Factor' show," she added. The movie, co-produced by Reliance BIG Pictures and Madras Talkies, is expected to release June 18.

Indo-Asian News Service "After 'Raavan', it was like - 'Come on! Bring on 'Robot' (now 'Endhiran')," she said. 'Raavan' is Ratnam's much-awaited project and also stars Abhishek Bachchan, southern superstar Vikram and Bhojpuri star Ravi Kishan.

The movie has been simultaneously shot in Hindi and Tamil, with a slightly different cast. Aishwarya plays Ragini, a classical dance teacher.

The first look into the movie shows her dancing gracefully in a song where she has been picturised getting cosy with Vikram, who plays her husband in the Hindi version of the film. One mention of how beautiful the dance moves looked, and Aishwarya said: "Aww.

..

Thank you so much." Talking about her role, she said: "This was an extremely challenging role for me.

To shoot it in Hindi and Tamil at the same time was quite a task. But the experience was so wonderful that if Mani sir asks me, I am ready to do it all over again.

" "Ragini is a strong woman and very relatable to the modern Indian woman. She speaks her mind.

I say discovery because we kept discovering fantastic locations and got to see so many places. We used to trek every morning to be on the sets' "The role remained a mystery because I was playing the leading lady and there I was with no make-up, no fancy clothes and all drenched in the rain with mud all over.

But that's what Mani sir expects from us, to keep it all as real as it can get," she said (less)

"I tried it once, but it was such a flop because I was in the water and they were holding the placard behind the camera and suddenly Vikram enters the frame and he started acting his bit. Then I had to bank on my memory because Vikram came in front, blocking the placard.

"I don't know how to go with these cheating tactics. So prompting doesn't work.

I tried, but it didn't work because of the waterfall. You can't hear a thing.

So I literally had to rely on memory," she said. Aishwarya plays the female protagonist in both versions of Mani Ratnam's much-awaited movie that is titled "Raavan" in Hindi and "Raavanan" in Tamil.

For the Hindi version, she has teamed up with southern star Vikram, who plays her husband, and her real life partner Abhishek, who is seen as her tormentor. Is your Tamil as good as Hindi? She did it, but without prompting.

Aishwarya Rai will be seen in the Hindi as well as Tamil versions of "Raavan" that is releasing Friday, but says she didn't use any prompting for either and relied on memory for her dialogues in both the languages. "I can't take prompting.

First of all, I don't know the art of someone holding a placard and me reading it," Aishwarya, 36,??said in an exclusive interview. "I tried it once, but it was such a flop because I was in the water and they were holding the placard behind the camera and suddenly Vikram enters the frame and he started acting his bit.

Then I had to bank on my memory because Vikram came in front, blocking the placard. "I don't know how to go with these cheating tactics.

So prompting doesn't work. I tried, but it didn't work because of the waterfall.

You can't hear a thing. So I literally had to rely on memory," she said.

Aishwarya plays the female protagonist in both versions of Mani Ratnam's much-awaited movie that is titled "Raavan" in Hindi and "Raavanan" in Tamil. For the Hindi version, she has teamed up with southern star Vikram, who plays her husband, and her real life partner Abhishek, who is seen as her tormentor.

Is your Tamil as good as Hindi? "No, no it was memorising and delivering. But if you keep it in front of me, I would be able to pick it up and do it again," she said.

Asked whether she could give equal energy to both the Tamil and Hindi versions of the film, Aishwarya said: "As an actor I have tried giving as much, if not more, when I am working in the Tamil version because I would not want to be accused of trying to give more to one language than the other. Both were equally important to me as I have genuinely worked on two films.

" The former beauty queen says though she and Abhishek don't take their personal relationship to the sets of a movie, their natural chemistry reflects on camera. "We, of course, separate our personal life in front of the camera.

But when Abhishek and me are framed together, you naturally see the connection. Even if it was another Hindi actor, may be you would see a more natural connection than you would see between Vikram and me but that is not because of anything else but probably the familiarity of seeing people together.

" Talking about Vikram, she said: "Vikram and I were new to each other. After doing 'Iruvar', a lot of films in the south were offered to me with a lot of different actors, him included.

My schedules didn't allow me to do south films. I am doing two films this year, 'Raavan' and 'Endhiran'.

"Vikram is senior to both Abhishek and me in terms of experience. Having said that, what's wonderful about working with Mani is that all the actors who come to the table are literally like students who are working for the first time.

So no one got down to recognise anyone's seniority or experience or familiarity or personal relationship like Abhishek and me." In the Tamil version, Vikram is playing the antagonist Beera, while Prithviraj will be seen as Aishwarya's cop husband.

"Mani would always go with the Hindi version first. The beauty of cinema or experience we already have has built an ability to suddenly transport us into a so-called almost fresh Tamil film.

Vikram had brought his best to the fore without this assumption that Abhishek has just done it before him. As he is also playing Dev (her husband) in the Hindi version, Mani never brought these two chapters (Beera in Tamil and Dev in Hindi) at the same time, except one fight scene where Vikram didn't have to switch between Dev and Beera.

"Prithviraj has done a very commendable job as Dev in the Tamil version. Specially because Vikram is a Tamil-speaking actor who has done Hindi, Prithviraj, a Malayalam-speaking actor, has done Tamil; so we have all challenged ourselves beyond the norm and really worked hard to make this film.

" But she refused to answer who's better as Beera - Abhishek or Vikram! She did it, but without prompting. Aishwarya Rai will be seen in the Hindi as well as Tamil versions of "Raavan" that is releasing Friday, but says she didn't use any prompting for either and relied on memory for her dialogues in both the languages.

"I can't take prompting. First of all, I don't know the art of someone holding a placard and me reading it," Aishwarya, 36,??said in an exclusive interview.

"I tried it once, but it was such a flop because I was in the water and they were holding the placard behind the camera and suddenly Vikram enters the frame and he started acting his bit. Then I had to bank on my memory because Vikram came in front, blocking the placard.

"I don't know how to go with these cheating tactics. So prompting doesn't work.

I tried, but it didn't work because of the waterfall. You can't hear a thing.

So I literally had to rely on memory," she said. Aishwarya plays the female protagonist in both versions of Mani Ratnam's much-awaited movie that is titled "Raavan" in Hindi and "Raavanan" in Tamil.

For the Hindi version, she has teamed up with southern star Vikram, who plays her husband, and her real life partner Abhishek, who is seen as her tormentor. Is your Tamil as good as Hindi? "No, no it was memorising and delivering.

But if you keep it in front of me, I would be able to pick it up and do it again," she said. Asked whether she could give equal energy to both the Tamil and Hindi versions of the film, Aishwarya said: "As an actor I have tried giving as much, if not more, when I am working in the Tamil version because I would not want to be accused of trying to give more to one language than the other.

Both were equally important to me as I have genuinely worked on two films." The former beauty queen says though she and Abhishek don't take their personal relationship to the sets of a movie, their natural chemistry reflects on camera.

"We, of course, separate our personal life in front of the camera. But when Abhishek and me are framed together, you naturally see the connection.

Even if it was another Hindi actor, may be you would see a more natural connection than you would see between Vikram and me but that is not because of anything else but probably the familiarity of seeing people together." Talking about Vikram, she said: "Vikram and I were new to each other.

After doing 'Iruvar', a lot of films in the south were offered to me with a lot of different actors, him included. My schedules didn't allow me to do south films.

I am doing two films this year, 'Raavan' and 'Endhiran'. "Vikram is senior to both Abhishek and me in terms of experience.

Having said that, what's wonderful about working with Mani is that all the actors who come to the table are literally like students who are working for the first time. So no one got down to recognise anyone's seniority or experience or familiarity or personal relationship like Abhishek and me.

" In the Tamil version, Vikram is playing the antagonist Beera, while Prithviraj will be seen as Aishwarya's cop husband. "Mani would always go with the Hindi version first.

The beauty of cinema or experience we already have has built an ability to suddenly transport us into a so-called almost fresh Tamil film. Vikram had brought his best to the fore without this assumption that Abhishek has just done it before him.

As he is also playing Dev (her husband) in the Hindi version, Mani never brought these two chapters (Beera in Tamil and Dev in Hindi) at the same time, except one fight scene where Vikram didn't have to switch between Dev and Beera. "Prithviraj has done a very commendable job as Dev in the Tamil version.

Specially because Vikram is a Tamil-speaking actor who has done Hindi, Prithviraj, a Malayalam-speaking actor, has done Tamil; so we have all challenged ourselves beyond the norm and really worked hard to make this film." But she refused to answer who's better as Beera - Abhishek or Vikram! She did it, but without prompting.

Aishwarya Rai will be seen in the Hindi as well as Tamil versions of "Raavan" that is releasing Friday, but says she didn't use any prompting for either and relied on memory for her dialogues in both the languages. "I can't take prompting.

First of all, I don't know the art of someone holding a placard and me reading it," Aishwarya, 36,??said in an exclusive interview. "I tried it once, but it was such a flop because I was in the water and they were holding the placard behind the camera and suddenly Vikram enters the frame and he started acting his bit.

Then I had to bank on my memory because Vikram came in front, blocking the placard. "I don't know how to go with these cheating tactics.

So prompting doesn't work. I tried, but it didn't work because of the waterfall.

You can't hear a thing. So I literally had to rely on memory," she said.

Aishwarya plays the female protagonist in both versions of Mani Ratnam's much-awaited movie that is titled "Raavan" in Hindi and "Raavanan" in Tamil. For the Hindi version, she has teamed up with southern star Vikram, who plays her husband, and her real life partner Abhishek, who is seen as her tormentor.

Is your Tamil as good as Hindi? "No, no it was memorising and delivering. But if you keep it in front of me, I would be able to pick it up and do it again," she said.

Asked whether she could give equal energy to both the Tamil and Hindi versions of the film, Aishwarya said: "As an actor I have tried giving as much, if not more, when I am working in the Tamil version because I would not want to be accused of trying to give more to one language than the other. Both were equally important to me as I have genuinely worked on two films.

" The former beauty queen says though she and Abhishek don't take their personal relationship to the sets of a movie, their natural chemistry reflects on camera. "We, of course, separate our personal life in front of the camera.

But when Abhishek and me are framed together, you naturally see the connection. Even if it was another Hindi actor, may be you would see a more natural connection than you would see between Vikram and me but that is not because of anything else but probably the familiarity of seeing people together.

" Talking about Vikram, she said: "Vikram and I were new to each other. After doing 'Iruvar', a lot of films in the south were offered to me with a lot of different actors, him included.

My schedules didn't allow me to do south films. I am doing two films this year, 'Raavan' and 'Endhiran'.

"Vikram is senior to both Abhishek and me in terms of experience. Having said that, what's wonderful about working with Mani is that all the actors who come to the table are literally like students who are working for the first time.

So no one got down to recognise anyone's seniority or experience or familiarity or personal relationship like Abhishek and me." In the Tamil version, Vikram is playing the antagonist Beera, while Prithviraj will be seen as Aishwarya's cop husband.

"Mani would always go with the Hindi version first. The beauty of cinema or experience we already have has built an ability to suddenly transport us into a so-called almost fresh Tamil film.

Vikram had brought his best to the fore without this assumption that Abhishek has just done it before him. As he is also playing Dev (her husband) in the Hindi version, Mani never brought these two chapters (Beera in Tamil and Dev in Hindi) at the same time, except one fight scene where Vikram didn't have to switch between Dev and Beera.

"Prithviraj has done a very commendable job as Dev in the Tamil version. Specially because Vikram is a Tamil-speaking actor who has done Hindi, Prithviraj, a Malayalam-speaking actor, has done Tamil; so we have all challenged ourselves beyond the norm and really worked hard to make this film.

" But she refused to answer who's better as Beera - Abhishek or Vikram! She did it, but without prompting. Aishwarya Rai will be seen in the Hindi as well as Tamil versions of "Raavan" that is releasing Friday, but says she didn't use any prompting for either and relied on memory for her dialogues in both the languages.

"I can't take prompting. First of all, I don't know the art of someone holding a placard and me reading it," Aishwarya, 36,??said in an exclusive interview.

"I tried it once, but it was such a flop because I was in the water and they were holding the placard behind the camera and suddenly Vikram enters the frame and he started acting his bit. Then I had to bank on my memory because Vikram came in front, blocking the placard.

"I don't know how to go with these cheating tactics. So prompting doesn't work.

I tried, but it didn't work because of the waterfall. You can't hear a thing.

So I literally had to rely on memory," she said. Aishwarya plays the female protagonist in both versions of Mani Ratnam's much-awaited movie that is titled "Raavan" in Hindi and "Raavanan" in Tamil.

For the Hindi version, she has teamed up with southern star Vikram, who plays her husband, and her real life partner Abhishek, who is seen as her tormentor. Is your Tamil as good as Hindi? "No, no it was memorising and delivering.

But if you keep it in front of me, I would be able to pick it up and do it again," she said. Asked whether she could give equal energy to both the Tamil and Hindi versions of the film, Aishwarya said: "As an actor I have tried giving as much, if not more, when I am working in the Tamil version because I would not want to be accused of trying to give more to one language than the other.

Both were equally important to me as I have genuinely worked on two films." The former beauty queen says though she and Abhishek don't take their personal relationship to the sets of a movie, their natural chemistry reflects on camera.

"We, of course, separate our personal life in front of the camera. But when Abhishek and me are framed together, you naturally see the connection.

Even if it was another Hindi actor, may be you would see a more natural connection than you would see between Vikram and me but that is not because of anything else but probably the familiarity of seeing people together." Talking about Vikram, she said: "Vikram and I were new to each other.

After doing 'Iruvar', a lot of films in the south were offered to me with a lot of different actors, him included. My schedules didn't allow me to do south films.

I am doing two films this year, 'Raavan' and 'Endhiran'. "Vikram is senior to both Abhishek and me in terms of experience.

Having said that, what's wonderful about working with Mani is that all the actors who come to the table are literally like students who are working for the first time. So no one got down to recognise anyone's seniority or experience or familiarity or personal relationship like Abhishek and me.

" In the Tamil version, Vikram is playing the antagonist Beera, while Prithviraj will be seen as Aishwarya's cop husband. "Mani would always go with the Hindi version first.

The beauty of cinema or experience we already have has built an ability to suddenly transport us into a so-called almost fresh Tamil film. Vikram had brought his best to the fore without this assumption that Abhishek has just done it before him.

As he is also playing Dev (her husband) in the Hindi version, Mani never brought these two chapters (Beera in Tamil and Dev in Hindi) at the same time, except one fight scene where Vikram didn't have to switch between Dev and Beera. "Prithviraj has done a very commendable job as Dev in the Tamil version.

Specially because Vikram is a Tamil-speaking actor who has done Hindi, Prithviraj, a Malayalam-speaking actor, has done Tamil; so we have all challenged ourselves beyond the norm and really worked hard to make this film." But she refused to answer who's better as Beera - Abhishek or Vikram! (less)

Sources close to production house say that Vikram wears a short cut hair and a moustache for the role. However, his look in the Tamil version called ?Raavanan? is entirely different and induces fear.

The strange thing about the whole exercise is that Vikram, who plays two different roles in the Tamil and Hindi versions of the film, shot for them simultaneously at the same venues. Of course, the talented actor worked extra hard for it and after shooting for the Hindi version would rehearse his lines and act for the Tamil version during nights to get it perfect.

As Mani Ratnam is famous for being a hard task master, nothing short of perfection would have worked with him. Abhishek Bachchan had also been offered to play the role of Dev (which Vikram plays in Hindi) in the Tamil version of ?Raavan? by director Mani Ratnam, but the handsome actor was not confident of enacting the role properly and hence refused the offer.

In fact, Abhishek Bachchan told Mani Rathnam that he found emoting in Hindi easier than in Tamil or any other language in which he was not comfortable. However, Aishwarya Rai, his real life wife, did not have any such problem and hence plays the character of Sita in both Tamil and Hindi versions of the film.

In fact, Abhishek Bachchan told Mani Rathnam that he found emoting in Hindi easier than in Tamil or any other language in which he was not comfortable. However, Aishwarya Rai, his real life wife, did not have any such problem and hence plays the character of Sita in both Tamil and Hindi versions of the film.

-- k k rai Send comments: 0comments (less)

"There are three main characters, me, Abhishek and Aishwarya. I've done a lot of tortuous sequences in the past.

But this one takes the cake and the ache. And Aishwarya suffered all the wounds, pain, fever and insect bites heroically in the forests.

For all the dangerous scenes she hardly ever used a duplicate. She was totally up to the task," said Vikram.

The 44-year-old actor endured quite a bit of pain too. "Bruises, wounds, sprained ankle.

..

you name it. During the climactic fight I had a catch in my back.

I couldn't walk, let alone fight. I had my physiotherapist with me to relieve my muscle pain," he said.

But Vikram can't stop praising Aishwarya, specially her dancing skills. "I always felt Madhuri Dixit was the best dancer ever.

But then I saw how Aishwarya held her own in Devdas . I thought it was fantastic.

It was really nice to see her dance. I just forgot my own steps and kept staring.

Every hero from the south wants to work with her at some point in his career..

.I got my opportunity finally.

"It's wonderful that I'm making my Hindi debut with her..

.She has some kind of an enduring aura.

Over the years she has really evolved as an actor," Vikram said. In the Hindi version, he will be seen in a positive role as Aishwarya's husband while in Tamil he will play Beera, a negative character being essayed by Abhishek in the Hindi version.

"I had to do two characters. But she had to play the same character twice in two languages one after another.

For example, if she had to climb a rock with me, she'd do it, climb down and then do it again with Abhishek." And what about Abhishek, who helped Vikram with his Hindi? "Abhishek is one of my best friends.

I am known to be the prankster. But with Abhishek around, I had to withdraw from the brat race," he laughed.

Playing Aishwarya's noble husband in the Hindi version and then the dark outlaw, who kidnaps her in the Tamil version, was not easy. "And we had to do it in two consecutive shots one after another.

It was very exciting for me..

.Though I'm known to change my look, but going from the husband's look to the outlaw's look after six-seven months didn't seem feasible.

So, we decided to do both versions simultaneously. "When you see Raavan in two languages, you won't recognise me as the same person in both.

I had to change my body language and get-up completely." Vikram has taken his time making an entry into Hindi films.

"That's because my work in the south has been time-consuming. All my Tamil films take one to two years.

I like to take my time over my projects. I didn't want to enter Hindi cinema until I was ready.

" "The work in Mumbai is so exciting. When I saw Rang De Basanti, Lagaan, 3 Idiots and My Name Is Khan , I wanted to be part of them.

I wish we could make films like that in Tamil..

.Most Tamil films are rustic, rural, rugged and violent.

Many of them are set in Madurai, which is known to be an aggressive city." Vikram's wife Shailaja is a psychology teacher and the couple have two children.

"My daughter is 12 and my son is eight. My son is totally hooked to cinema.

He wants to be an actor. But I'd rather he concentrated on his studies.

I'm sure he'll do great in movies some day. I'm also moving towards direction with every movie.

It's subliminal..

. But I'm learning on the sets all the time," Vikram said.

Now Vikram's family is fighting over which version to watch first on release. "Tamil or Hindi is a toss-up.

But I'm not leaving Tamil cinema for Hindi. I've four films to shoot in Tamil.

I've already started my next Tamil film, a psycho-thriller, where I've three roles. I've a film about a stage actor from the 1930s.

..

Even if I do Hindi films I want to be Chennai-based..

.always.

" (less)

"I did jump. There was a professional diver to train me how to do it," Abhishek, who has teamed up with wife Aishwarya Rai in the movie, told IANS in an interview.

"When we went up there, it was 90 feet or something. So the insurance people said that we can't allow him to do it.

You can't put your lead actor's life at risk," he said. "Mani said no, I am not going to risk my actor jumping off that (cliff).

Actually, the current of that river is very intense. There are rocks at the bottom.

"In the meantime, a five-year-old boy came and dived into the water. We were shooting it at Hogenakkal (waterfall on the Cauvery river), where these local kids jump off for money.

So five-six people jumped at the end of the day and finally the shot was taken," he said. "This is the most challenging film I have ever done in my life.

I haven't done such a physically and emotionally challenging film in my life. And it's not about going to tough locations or tough scenes.

The film drains you and you feel so good when you go home at night because you feel that you have done something. Getting a movie like 'Raavan' is so rare.

You don't get such a role today," Abhishek said. The director simultaneously shot 'Raavan' in Tamil and Hindi at various locations, including the Athirapally forests in Kerala, Ooty in Tamil Nadu, Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh, Kolkata, and the Malshej Ghats in Maharashtra.

The film has lots of action scenes and stunts performed by the actors. Ratnam completed the film despite health problems (less)

While Jha's Raajneeti is inspired by the Mahabharata , Ratnam's Raavan is said to be loosely based on the Ramayana . Apart from their huge starcast, big budgets and share of controversies, both the movies have been in the news for their story base.

The Mahabharata is about family feuds, the struggle of virtue against vice and a dynastic struggle for the throne. Set in a modern political milieu, Raajneeti , releasing Friday, too is a yarn about family politics, exploitation of relationships and the political war to attain supreme power.

Rumours were rife that Katrina Kaif's character in the movie had an uncanny resemblance to Congress Party chief Sonia Gandhi. But director Jha dismissed the speculation and said: "There is so much hullabaloo about the character being played by Katrina (Kaif), but I want say here that her role has no connection with Sonia Gandhi.

..

the character Katrina represents is one of the characters of the Mahabharata ." Raajneeti , which takes a behind-the-scenes look at the workings of Indian politics, features an ensemble line-up, including the likes of Nana Patekar and Naseeruddin Shah, who embody Lord Krishna and Bhishmapitamah respectively.

Ajay Devgn represents Karna and plays Manoj Bajpai's loyal friend who would do anything for him. "I am playing Virendra Pratap Singh.

My role is almost like Duryodhana in the Mahabharata ," said Manoj. Model-turned-actor Arjun Rampal's character is inspired by Bhim.

"When Prakash ji came to me for Raajneeti , he said clearly that the movie was inspired from the Mahabharata and will have every actor playing different characters from it..

. for that matter my character in the movie is that of modern Bhim," said Arjun.

The film, which also stars heartthrob Ranbir Kapoor, is produced by UTV for around $21 million (Rs 98 crore). It is being distributed by Prakash Jha Productions, Walkwater Media and UTV Motion Pictures with over 2,100 prints worldwide.

Raajneeti will be followed by Raavan , which releases June 18. It is loosely inspired by the Ramayana .

If reports are to be believed, Abhishek Bachchan's character Beera in the action thriller recalls Raavan , the demon king, and Aishwarya Rai's Ragini is inspired from Sita. Tamil superstar Vikram, who makes his Bollywood debut with the movie, portrays a modern day Rama, Nikhil Dwivedi is the contemporary Lakshman and Govinda plays Lord Rama's devotee Hanuman, who helps the hero in crossing hurdles and finding his wife.

Ratnam, however, claims his film will have a new twist as it doesn't follow the plot of the epic. As in the movie, Abhishek kidnaps Aishwarya who is married to Vikram; as the story progresses, the lady reportedly develops a soft corner for her abductor.

A bilingual, the Tamil version of Raavan stars Vikram in the negative role, Prithviraj, Karthik and Prabhu Ganesan. Aishwarya plays Sita in both the versions.

Co-produced by Reliance Big Pictures and Madras Talkies, Raavan has been made at a budget of Rs.45 crore (less)

It is being released in Hindi and Tamil simultaneously all over the world. Abhishek Bachchan plays the character of ?Beera? in the Hindi version, while same is enacted by Vikram in the Tamil version.

Aishwarya Rai is common in both the versions and enacts the same role of ?Ragini?, who is a music teacher. -- k k rai Send comments: 0comments (less)

"Aishwarya and Abhishek are not going for the Venice Film Festival as reported in some media outlets. The festival falls on the same dates on which they have previously committed.

Aishwarya is going for an event for Longines (as she is the brand ambassador), while Abhishek will be busy with a shoot for Omega in Italy," said a source close to the actors. "There are other film festivals too - Doha and Pusan - where Abhishek and Aishwarya are being invited, to showcase their film or even for individual honours.

But the duo will decide which ones to attend according to their schedules," added the source (less)

Both the versions were shot simultaneously. Vikram was constantly running in and out of the two completely different characters, makeup and languages, sometimes within half an hour.

Says a source, "It got really taxing for him. While Aishwarya Rai Bachchan played the same character in two languages, Vikram had to go from Raavan in Tamil to Rama in Hindi after every shot.

At one point he almost lost the plot." One day the film's dress designer Sabyasachi had dropped in on location to discuss Vikram's look and clothes.

Vikram was informed by Mani Ratnam's assistant that he needed to sit with Sabyasachi to discuss his look with him for the film. When the two of them met, both began to give their viewpoints to each other about how the character played by Vikram would dress up in the film.

Says Vikram: "Within half an hour of discussing the character's look, we both realised that something was terribly wrong. I wanted my looks to be simple and minimalist so that I didn't have to change much from the way I am.

I suggested to Sabyasachi to keep my skin-tone black. On the other hand, Sabyasachi was keen on a suave and clean look.

And was very confused as to why I was given such a strange brief." Laughs Vikram.

"I suggested a dhoti. Sabyasachi got really worked up and told me it was no longer funny, and asked me if I was really sure about my character Dev dressing like a rugged rustic character.

That's when both of us realised the confusion. I was talking about the looks of Veera (the outlaw character), my character in the Tamil version, and Sabyasachi was talking about Dev (the cop), the character I'm playing in the Hindi version.

" Explains Vikram, "In the Hindi version it's Abhishek Bachchan who is the outlaw character. And the fact that I'm playing two opposite characters in the two versions had caused the confusion.

" (less)

"I can't take prompting. First of all, I don't know the art of someone holding a placard and me reading it, " Aishwarya, 36, told in an exclusive interview.

"I tried it once, but it was such a flop because I was in the water and they were holding the placard behind the camera and suddenly Vikram enters the frame and he started acting his bit. Then I had to bank on my memory because Vikram came in front, blocking the placard.

"I don't know how to go with these cheating tactics. So prompting doesn't work.

I tried, but it didn't work because of the waterfall. You can't hear a thing.

So I literally had to rely on memory, " she said. Aishwarya plays the female protagonist in both versions of Mani Ratnam's much-awaited movie that is titled "Raavan" in Hindi and "Raavanan" in Tamil.

For the Hindi version, she has teamed up with southern star Vikram, who plays her husband, and her real life partner Abhishek, who is seen as her tormentor. Is your Tamil as good as Hindi? "No, no it was memorising and delivering.

But if you keep it in front of me, I would be able to pick it up and do it again, " she said (less)

"I can't take prompting. First of all, I don't know the art of someone holding a placard and me reading it," Aishwarya, 36, said.

"I tried it once, but it was such a flop because I was in the water and they were holding the placard behind the camera and suddenly Vikram enters the frame and he started acting his bit. Then I had to bank on my memory because Vikram came in front, blocking the placard.

"I don't know how to go with these cheating tactics. So prompting doesn't work.

I tried, but it didn't work because of the waterfall. You can't hear a thing.

So I literally had to rely on memory," she said. Aishwarya plays the female protagonist in both versions of Mani Ratnam's much-awaited movie that is titled "Raavan" in Hindi and "Raavanan" in Tamil.

For the Hindi version, she has teamed up with southern star Vikram, who plays her husband, and her real life partner Abhishek, who is seen as her tormentor. Is your Tamil as good as Hindi? "No, no it was memorising and delivering.

But if you keep it in front of me, I would be able to pick it up and do it again," she said. Asked whether she could give equal energy to both the Tamil and Hindi versions of the film, Aishwarya said: "As an actor I have tried giving as much, if not more, when I am working in the Tamil version because I would not want to be accused of trying to give more to one language than the other.

Both were equally important to me as I have genuinely worked on two films." The former beauty queen says though she and Abhishek don't take their personal relationship to the sets of a movie, their natural chemistry reflects on camera.

"We, of course, separate our personal life in front of the camera. But when Abhishek and me are framed together, you naturally see the connection.

Even if it was another Hindi actor, may be you would see a more natural connection than you would see between Vikram and me but that is not because of anything else but probably the familiarity of seeing people together." Talking about Vikram, she said: "Vikram and I were new to each other.

After doing 'Iruvar', a lot of films in the south were offered to me with a lot of different actors, him included. My schedules didn't allow me to do south films.

I am doing two films this year, 'Raavan' and 'Endhiran'. "Vikram is senior to both Abhishek and me in terms of experience.

Having said that, what's wonderful about working with Mani is that all the actors who come to the table are literally like students who are working for the first time. So no one got down to recognise anyone's seniority or experience or familiarity or personal relationship like Abhishek and me.

" In the Tamil version, Vikram is playing the antagonist Beera, while Prithviraj will be seen as Aishwarya's cop husband. "Mani would always go with the Hindi version first.

The beauty of cinema or experience we already have has built an ability to suddenly transport us into a so-called almost fresh Tamil film. Vikram had brought his best to the fore without this assumption that Abhishek has just done it before him.

As he is also playing Dev (her husband) in the Hindi version, Mani never brought these two chapters (Beera in Tamil and Dev in Hindi) at the same time, except one fight scene where Vikram didn't have to switch between Dev and Beera. "Prithviraj has done a very commendable job as Dev in the Tamil version.

Specially because Vikram is a Tamil-speaking actor who has done Hindi, Prithviraj, a Malayalam-speaking actor, has done Tamil; so we have all challenged ourselves beyond the norm and really worked hard to make this film." But she refused to answer who's better as Beera - Abhishek or Vikram! Check out Aishwarya Rai���s homepage (less)

"I did jump. There was a professional diver to train me how to do it," Abhishek, who has teamed up with wife Aishwarya Rai in the movie, said.

"When we went up there, it was 90 feet or something. So the insurance people said that we can't allow him to do it.

You can't put your lead actor's life at risk," he said. "Mani said no, I am not going to risk my actor jumping off that (cliff).

Actually, the current of that river is very intense. There are rocks at the bottom.

"In the meantime, a five-year-old boy came and dived into the water. We were shooting it at Hogenakkal (waterfall on the Cauvery river), where these local kids jump off for money.

So five-six people jumped at the end of the day and finally the shot was taken," he said. "This is the most challenging film I have ever done in my life.

I haven't done such a physically and emotionally challenging film in my life. And it's not about going to tough locations or tough scenes.

The film drains you and you feel so good when you go home at night because you feel that you have done something. Getting a movie like 'Raavan' is so rare.

You don't get such a role today," Abhishek said. Ratnam's Raavan is said to be a modern interpretation of the epic Ramayana .

It also stars southern superstar Vikram, who plays a cop married to Aishwarya. The director simultaneously shot Raavan in Tamil and Hindi at various locations, including the Athirapally forests in Kerala, Ooty in Tamil Nadu, Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh, Kolkata, and the Malshej Ghats in Maharashtra.

The film has lots of action scenes and stunts performed by the actors. Ratnam completed the film despite health problems.

"Once you work with him, you will be in awe of him because of the talent he brings to the table. The minute he says cut, he turns into a dear friend.

He is someone very close to me. I really feel a strong bond with him.

But in front of the camera, you don't have to work to give him the respect - it just comes..

. He is truly just the best," said Abhishek.

It was Ratnam who gave Abhishek his first hit in Yuva and they later worked together in Guru . Talking about his character, Abhishek said: "Beera is the most fun character I have played.

Fun because when we work on a character, we draw an outline and then fill in the blanks. But Beera is so unpredictable that you can get away with everything.

Mani said do whatever you have done. Make it a convincing performance.

"I believe if you can look the character, 50 per cent of your job done. I think when you get the body language correct, half of your work is done.

And if you have understood the body language, your dialogues after that would just come." Ratnam loves shooting on real locations to extract the best from his actors, said Abhishek.

"On the first day, he puts us under the waterfall for two hours and, trust me, you are in character. Mani loves to shoot at location.

You will think, 'where have we come?' The jungles of Kerala, the snakes and leeches..

. then you realise that he puts you into the situation where in a day or two you start reacting instinctively as your character would react because you are actually facing that.

"You don't need to act that much, you are just reacting naturally. So when you go to locations like that, it brings out the character automatically.

" (less)

Who was the reason Aishwarya Rai joined the movies? How do Ash and Abhishek rate each other as actors? And who was really in control on the sets of 'Raavan'? Well, the answers to all those questions were revealed by the 'Raavan' team in a video conferencing interaction on June 11. Aishwariya, Abhishek, Mani Ratnam and Vikram spoke to journalists in Dubai, Mumbai, Chennai, New York and Delhi through Cisco's Telepresence technology, and here's what they had to say.

Is 'Raavan' really a modern-day retelling of the Ramayan? Ash, dressed in a white and peach chikan embroidery salwar kameez, was quick to quip, 'It's not the Ramayan, it's the Ravayan!' She added, 'Mani Ratnam is the one who conceived the movie, and we've approached it from his point of view. But you know in most Indian stories, somewhere you'll find parallels with the epics.

' Why Ash and Abhishek for the roles of Ragini and Beera in 'Raavan'? Mani Ratnam took this one and said, '50 per cent of your job gets done by casting right.' And Abhishek quickly added, 'I'm the only one who was badly behaved enough to play this role!' What was it like doing all those dangerous stunts? Southern superstar Vikram, who plays Dev in the movie, said, 'I'm still reeling from it.

But by far the worst thing I did was the Hindi dubbing.' Abhishek added, 'I was happy when we were doing stunts because that meant that we were not doing scenes.

Even though I couldn't sit for four days after doing the stunts. I also learnt while doing the stunts that snakes can swim, rat snakes can attack you, and leeches can get in very uncomfortable places! But seriously, Mani Sir would never let us do anything that he wasn't sure about the safety aspect of.

' What was it like shooting in two different languages? 'Raavan' was being shot simultaneously in Hindi and Tamil, with Aishwarya playing the same part in both movies, and Vikram playing the hero in the Hindi version and the villain in the Tamil version. So, Ash and Vikram would first shoot a scene in Hindi and then shoot the same thing all over again in Tamil.

Was there a lot of confusion on the sets with the two languages and the two versions? Abhishek said, 'I was the only one who knew what was going on. I was in control!' Ash admitted that the language shifts were tough, but that Mani Ratnam guided them all the way through.

The cast on Mani Ratnam Abhishek and Ash both made said that they really admired the filmmaker. In fact, they credited him with their career being where it is.

Abhi said, 'He's given me a huge confidence boost. He knows my potential better than I do.

He's always given me career-defining work. Ash revealed, 'Mani Ratnam is the reason I joined movies.

I used to be confused but after working with him I was sure that this was what I wanted to do. He whets your appetite as an actor and as a creative person.

Creatively, it gives you a lot of satisfaction working with him, and it spoils you too!Vikram added, 'Since my college days, I used to think ' 'I'll retire once I work with Mani Ratnam.' He treats every film like it's his first film, there's so much passion.

' Ash-Abhishek on each other While the real-life couple said that they don't discuss work at home, they did share what they thought of each other as actors. Aishwarya said, 'We don't rate each other as actors, we just like working together.

What I like about him is that he's a very free actor, he doesn't limit himself to safe. Abhishek continued, 'I think 'Raavan' is Ash's best performance to date.

On a difficult shoot like this, it was easy to become a whiner. But she was so strong.

She's a very interactive and very supportive co-star.' Were four different endings shot for 'Raavan'? Abhishek clarified, 'There's just one ending, and that was the only one shot.

' Is 'Raavan' really a modern-day retelling of the Ramayan? Ash, dressed in a white and peach chikan embroidery salwar kameez, was quick to quip, 'It's not the Ramayan, it's the Ravayan!' She added, 'Mani Ratnam is the one who conceived the movie, and we've approached it from his point of view. But you know in most Indian stories, somewhere you'll find parallels with the epics.

' Why Ash and Abhishek for the roles of Ragini and Beera in 'Raavan'? Mani Ratnam took this one and said, '50 per cent of your job gets done by casting right.' And Abhishek quickly added, 'I'm the only one who was badly behaved enough to play this role!' Who was the reason Aishwarya Rai joined the movies? How do Ash and Abhishek rate each other as actors? And who was really in control on the sets of 'Raavan'? Well, the answers to all those questions were revealed by the 'Raavan' team in a video conferencing interaction on June 11.

Aishwariya, Abhishek, Mani Ratnam and Vikram spoke to journalists in Dubai, Mumbai, Chennai, New York and Delhi through Cisco's Telepresence technology, and here's what they had to say. Is 'Raavan' really a modern-day retelling of the Ramayan? Ash, dressed in a white and peach chikan embroidery salwar kameez, was quick to quip, 'It's not the Ramayan, it's the Ravayan!' She added, 'Mani Ratnam is the one who conceived the movie, and we've approached it from his point of view.

But you know in most Indian stories, somewhere you'll find parallels with the epics.' Why Ash and Abhishek for the roles of Ragini and Beera in 'Raavan'? Mani Ratnam took this one and said, '50 per cent of your job gets done by casting right.

' And Abhishek quickly added, 'I'm the only one who was badly behaved enough to play this role!' What was it like doing all those dangerous stunts? Southern superstar Vikram, who plays Dev in the movie, said, 'I'm still reeling from it. But by far the worst thing I did was the Hindi dubbing.

' Abhishek added, 'I was happy when we were doing stunts because that meant that we were not doing scenes. Even though I couldn't sit for four days after doing the stunts.

I also learnt while doing the stunts that snakes can swim, rat snakes can attack you, and leeches can get in very uncomfortable places! But seriously, Mani Sir would never let us do anything that he wasn't sure about the safety aspect of.' What was it like shooting in two different languages? 'Raavan' was being shot simultaneously in Hindi and Tamil, with Aishwarya playing the same part in both movies, and Vikram playing the hero in the Hindi version and the villain in the Tamil version.

So, Ash and Vikram would first shoot a scene in Hindi and then shoot the same thing all over again in Tamil. Was there a lot of confusion on the sets with the two languages and the two versions? Abhishek said, 'I was the only one who knew what was going on.

I was in control!' Ash admitted that the language shifts were tough, but that Mani Ratnam guided them all the way through. The cast on Mani Ratnam Abhishek and Ash both made said that they really admired the filmmaker.

In fact, they credited him with their career being where it is. Abhi said, 'He's given me a huge confidence boost.

He knows my potential better than I do. He's always given me career-defining work.

Ash revealed, 'Mani Ratnam is the reason I joined movies. I used to be confused but after working with him I was sure that this was what I wanted to do.

He whets your appetite as an actor and as a creative person. Creatively, it gives you a lot of satisfaction working with him, and it spoils you too!Vikram added, 'Since my college days, I used to think ' 'I'll retire once I work with Mani Ratnam.

' He treats every film like it's his first film, there's so much passion.' Ash-Abhishek on each other While the real-life couple said that they don't discuss work at home, they did share what they thought of each other as actors.

Aishwarya said, 'We don't rate each other as actors, we just like working together. What I like about him is that he's a very free actor, he doesn't limit himself to safe.

Abhishek continued, 'I think 'Raavan' is Ash's best performance to date. On a difficult shoot like this, it was easy to become a whiner.

But she was so strong. She's a very interactive and very supportive co-star.

' Were four different endings shot for 'Raavan'? Abhishek clarified, 'There's just one ending, and that was the only one shot.' Southern superstar Vikram, who plays Dev in the movie, said, 'I'm still reeling from it.

But by far the worst thing I did was the Hindi dubbing.' Abhishek added, 'I was happy when we were doing stunts because that meant that we were not doing scenes.

Even though I couldn't sit for four days after doing the stunts. I also learnt while doing the stunts that snakes can swim, rat snakes can attack you, and leeches can get in very uncomfortable places! But seriously, Mani Sir would never let us do anything that he wasn't sure about the safety aspect of.

' (less)

..

everyone was there facing the weather. We were all friends in the project.

Everyone was there for one another. We could joke and say it was like an adventure sport, or a video game while we were making our way through the most impossible conditions.

But we knew what the truth was. Were you prepared for the severe hardships when you read the script? It was still a bit of shock and surprise when we had to face the climatic conditions in the jungles.

On top of that Mani loves to make on-the-spot changes. He improvises all the time.

He doesn’t want to strictly follow the written word. He’s a master of creating magical moments out of the seemingly ordinary.

What he does is incredible. Just the pleasure of working with him again (after Iruvar) was amazing.

But for a lady to be climbing those slippery rocks ..

..

Really (laughs), we didn’t know how slippery those rocks would be. There was this huge waterfall where we shot a lot.

One never thought one would leap down those heights in and around the waterfall. Of course we were wired.

But once you’re going down there’s no control. The rocks were so mossy, we had no control over our movements.

We were climbing so close to the waterfall we could feel its power. It was the power of Nature in all its glory.

How could you focus on emoting while doing such dangerous stunts? That’s magic of the camera, the magic of cinema. As for getting the emotions right, you know Mani Ratnam.

Do you think he would relent until he got the emotions he wanted? We’d go through the most incredibly impossible scene. Then he’d come up to us and say, ‘I’ve got a better idea.

Let’s do the whole thing again.’ I was like, ‘Are you for real? Do you know what we’re doing? And we’ve another version to capture before the light fades.

’ I’d do it in Hindi and then do it all over again in Tamil. Was the scale of your emotions higher in Tamil? I haven’t seen the Tamil film.

No time! The nuances alter from one language to the same. But the emotions were the same.

Some of the lines were changed to show a difference in culture. What would seem theatrical in Hindi is natural in Tamil.

But I didn’t consciously move into a different zone in the two languages. Our camereman Santosh Sivan was so innovative.

The changes in lighting and mood were done by him. He was having a party while we were trying to get it right in two languages.

He doesn’t only create fabulous images. He creates a magic in the language of the film.

You can be sure that Mani and Santosh will together bring it all together finally. You know, Manikandan was doing the cinematography earlier.

But you can’t tell where and when Santosh took over. You actually dubbed your own lines in Tamil? Oh yes, as far as dubbing is concerned I’ve come a long way.

I remember during my first film Iruvar in Tamil, I panicked at the language. Now of course I am far more confident.

But two films simultaneously in Hindi and Tamil meant pressure full-on. Until we were on the sets none of us knew what pressures we were getting into.

After a while Mani was giving me scenes on the sets. Then he’d humour me saying, ‘Come come let’s do it.

’It was the toughest thing I’ve ever done. I’d be standing there, having just completed a harrowing scene with Abhishek, and then without a minute’s pause I’d have to do the same scene with Vikram.

We were all passionate about the project to the point of being obsessive. Everyone in the crew was there in the jungles throughout.

We would tell one another that we were on a picnic or a safari adventure. But we knew what we were going through.

Would you do it again if you have to? While we were shooting Raavan we felt the situation was impossible and we didn’t know how we’d get through it. But now that we did .

..

yes, I’d do it again! Just before the film’s release we all met up and we kept looking at each other thinking the same thing. ‘Is it all done already?’ And we kept saying, ‘We can do it any time again.

’ And Mani was like, ‘You guys are crazy.’ You feel ill with serious viral infections during the film? It just got widely reported.

Even Abhishek and Vikram fell ill. These things happen when working under tough conditions.

Mani got it. His wife Suhasini visited us.

And she too got it. Such things do happen specially when you have to remain drenched from head to toe.

During childhood we were taught to keep our head dry. And here I was getting drenched from early morning till late night.

There was no point in drying myself because I was soaked in seconds. Curiously you shot with two of the finest directors Mani Ratnam and Sanjay Leela Bhansali almost simultaneously, Mani completely outdoors and Sanjay fully on the sets.

And both so fulfilling in their own way. Let me tell you, I consider myself blessed.

I’ve worked repeatedly with both. And both have taken my acting abilities seriously.

Check out Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s homepage (less)

Perhaps, after jumping into the river from a high cliff, Abhishek Bachchan (Raavan) was making scary expressions towards Aishwarya, and this had the stunning beauty?s face becoming pale from fear, as shown in the trailer. The trailer has been released by the director just before the scheduled audio launch of the flick which is scheduled on April 24 in Hindi.

The music for the flick has been rendered by ace music director A R Rahman and the rights have been bought by T series. However, the music release of the film in Tamil and Telugu versions is yet to be decided as the negotiations with different companies are on in this regard.

Sources close to production house say that it is most likely to be released in the month of May and Sony company is ahead in negotiations at the moment in this matter. Abhishek Bachchan plays the lead character of Raavan in Hindi version of the movie opposite Aishwarya Rai, while southern superstar Vikram plays the same role in Tamil version of the flick.

The movie is a modern day adaptation of epic ?Ramayana? and has Mani Rathnam?s vision in it. Aishwarya Rai is said to have done the dubbing for the film in Tamil in her own voice and this is for the first time that she did it besides doing it in Hindi.

The movie also stars Govinda, Priyamani, Sonu Sood, Nikhil Dwivedi, Ravi Kissen, etc, in important roles. Abhishek Bachchan, the handsome hunk of bollywood who wowed the audiences with his histrionics in ?Guru? and ?Yuva? and plays the lead character in Mani Rathnam?s upcoming magnum opus ?Raavan? opposite Aishwarya Rai, makes scary faces on a bike after jumping from a cliff into a river and all this is shown in the first look of the film as released in a 40 seconds trailer.

The first look of the film also has Aishwarya Rai, who plays the character of Sita in the flick, fear writ large on her face, while emerging in the trailer. Perhaps, after jumping into the river from a high cliff, Abhishek Bachchan (Raavan) was making scary expressions towards Aishwarya, and this had the stunning beauty?s face becoming pale from fear, as shown in the trailer.

The trailer has been released by the director just before the scheduled audio launch of the flick which is scheduled on April 24 in Hindi. The music for the flick has been rendered by ace music director A R Rahman and the rights have been bought by T series.

However, the music release of the film in Tamil and Telugu versions is yet to be decided as the negotiations with different companies are on in this regard. Sources close to production house say that it is most likely to be released in the month of May and Sony company is ahead in negotiations at the moment in this matter.

Abhishek Bachchan plays the lead character of Raavan in Hindi version of the movie opposite Aishwarya Rai, while southern superstar Vikram plays the same role in Tamil version of the flick. The movie is a modern day adaptation of epic ?Ramayana? and has Mani Rathnam?s vision in it.

Aishwarya Rai is said to have done the dubbing for the film in Tamil in her own voice and this is for the first time that she did it besides doing it in Hindi. The movie also stars Govinda, Priyamani, Sonu Sood, Nikhil Dwivedi, Ravi Kissen, etc, in important roles.

-- k k rai Send comments: 0comments (less)

Rahman. Raavan is produced by Madras Talkies in association with Reliance Big Pictures and distributed internationally by Reliance Big Pictures and IM Global.

" Raavan will enchant audiences with its stirring drama and entrancing musical sequences," says Marco Mueller. "We are proud to be hosting the festival premiere of this wonderful film, which will be presented at the 2010 Mostra in both the Hindi and the Tamil versions.

" As in previous editions, together with the award the director will be presented with a Reverso Jaeger-LeCoultre watch, a one-of-a-kind model with a commemorative engraving (less)

In fact, Abhishek Bachchan and Vikram would discuss the ways to make their similar roles of Raavan in Hindi and Tamil versions more dynamic by taking inputs from each other. This became possible as both versions of the flick shot simultaneously on the same set and even actors were more or less the same.

For instance, Aishwarya Rai plays the same character of Sita in both the versions. Even Vikram plays role in both versions.

Only difference is that while in Tamil, Vikram plays ?Raavan?, in Hindi he will be seen in Ram?s avatar. Even the story of the two versions is the same and adapted from the ancient epic of Ramayana.

The movie will have twists in keeping with modern adaptation of it as envisaged by the veteran filmmaker Mani Ratnam. ?Raavan? has a big canvas and big actors playing main roles in it.

It?s a big budget flick slated for a worldwide release on June 18. The movie also stars bollywood star Govinda, Ravi Kissen, Nikhil Dwivedi and others in prominent roles.

The film was recently showcased at the Cannes film festival in France. Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan were present at the festival to promote the film.

However, unfortunately the flick will not be screened at upcoming IIFA award function scheduled in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo in the first week of June.The film has once again the magical combination of ace music director A R Rahman and director Mani Ratnam.

They had earlier created such big hits like ?dil se? number and this time too it will not be any different. In fact, some numbers like ?Veera Re?, ?Killi thok de? ,etc, have already become popular with the masses.

The film was recently showcased at the Cannes film festival in France. Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan were present at the festival to promote the film.

However, unfortunately the flick will not be screened at upcoming IIFA award function scheduled in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo in the first week of June. -- k k rai Send comments: 0comments (less)

Even Prithviraj, who played the character of Dev in the Telugu version, did not belong to that state. However, all these speculations were put to rest when the movie got a terrific response from the audience.

?Raavanan? was made by Mani Ratnam and is said to a modern adaptation of ?Ramayana?, though from ?Raavan?s point of view. But it failed to click in Tamil Nadu and the audience cold- shouldered it.

On the other hand, Hindi version of the flick starring Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai was worst affected. Critics felt that Abhishek Bachchan was not mature enough to play such kind of role.

However, Big B defended his son by blaming the poor editing of the film to be the main cause of its debacle at the box office. Amitabh Bachchan was of the view that Abhishek Bachchan?s character of ?Beera? had become incomprehensible to public due to its bad editing.

But trade pundits are not in agreement with it and put the blame on a linear story and Abhishek?s poor performance. Even Mani Ratnam?s concentration was more on visuals than story.

However, Big B defended his son by blaming the poor editing of the film to be the main cause of its debacle at the box office. Amitabh Bachchan was of the view that Abhishek Bachchan?s character of ?Beera? had become incomprehensible to public due to its bad editing.

-- k k rai Send comments: 0comments (less)

Vikram was constantly running in and out of the two completely different characters makeup and languages, sometimes within half an hour. Says a source, ?It got really taxing for him.

While Aishwarya Rai Bachchan played the same character in two languages Vikram had to go from Raavan in Telugu to Rama in Hindi after every shot. At one point he almost lost the plot.

? One day the film?s dress designer Sabyasachi Chakrabarty had dropped in on location to discuss Vikram?s look and clothes.Vikram was informed by Mani Ratnam?s assistant that he needed to sit with Sabyasachi to discuss his look with him for the film.

When the two of them met both began to give their viewpoints to each other about how the character played by Vikram would dress up in the film. Says Vikram, ?Within half an hour discussing the character?s look and we both realised that something was terribly wrong.

I wanted my looks to be simple and minimalist so that I didn?t have to change much from the way I am. I suggested to Sabyasachi to keep my skin- tone black.

On the other hand Sabyasachi was keen on a suave and clean look. And was very was confused as to why was I was giving such a strange brief.

? Sabysachi felt Vikram?s look couldnt be dark, and told Vikram that if he was so keen on a dark look then maybe he could try and do something dark but formal. Laughs Vikram.

?I suggested a dhoti. Sabyasachi got really worked up and told me it was no longer funny and asked me him if I was really sure about my character Dev dressing like a rugged rustic character.

That?s when both of us realised the confusion. I was talking about the looks of Veera (the outlaw character) my character in the Tamil version and Sabyasachi was talking about Dev (the cop) the character I?m playing in the Hindi version.

? Explains Vikram, ? In the Hindi version its Abhishek Bachchan who is the outlaw character. And the fact that I?m playing two opposite characters in the two versions had caused the confusion.

? Though exhausted by the effort Vikram thoroughly enjoyed the unprecedented challenge of playing two characters at the same time in two languages. Vikram one of the foremost Tamil actors, will dub his own lines for the Hindi version of Raavan (less)

We are very proud to honour the work of the great Indian director Mani Ratnam." The festival premiere of "Raavan" was attended by the director, Aishwarya Rai, Abhishek Bachchan, Vikram and A.

R. Rahman.

Both the Hindi and Tamil versions will be screened at Venice Film Festival. "Mani Ratnam used to make movies only in his native tongue Tamil, but has been one of the handful of filmmakers to successfully reach out to the all-India market," Muller said.

In recent years the award has been given to filmmakers Takeshi Kitano, Abbas Kiarostami, Agnes Warda and Sylvester Stallone. "Raavan" tells the story of a bandit leader who kidnaps the wife of a policeman who killed his sister.

The film stars Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai and Vikram. The music has been composed by A.

R. Rahman.

?? Acclaimed Indian director Mani Ratnam will be honoured with Jaeger-LeCoultre Glory to the Filmmaker Award at the Venice Film Festival to be held in September. Announcing this at Cannes, just before the launch of Mani Ratnam's film "Raavan", Venice Film Festival director Marco Muller said: "Mani Ratnam is one of the greatest innovators in contemporary Indian cinema.

He helped introduce the auteur concept to contemporary Bollywood. We are very proud to honour the work of the great Indian director Mani Ratnam.

" The festival premiere of "Raavan" was attended by the director, Aishwarya Rai, Abhishek Bachchan, Vikram and A.R.

Rahman. Both the Hindi and Tamil versions will be screened at Venice Film Festival.

"Mani Ratnam used to make movies only in his native tongue Tamil, but has been one of the handful of filmmakers to successfully reach out to the all-India market," Muller said. In recent years the award has been given to filmmakers Takeshi Kitano, Abbas Kiarostami, Agnes Warda and Sylvester Stallone.

"Raavan" tells the story of a bandit leader who kidnaps the wife of a policeman who killed his sister. The film stars Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai and Vikram.

The music has been composed by A.R.

Rahman. ?? Acclaimed Indian director Mani Ratnam will be honoured with Jaeger-LeCoultre Glory to the Filmmaker Award at the Venice Film Festival to be held in September.

Announcing this at Cannes, just before the launch of Mani Ratnam's film "Raavan", Venice Film Festival director Marco Muller said: "Mani Ratnam is one of the greatest innovators in contemporary Indian cinema. He helped introduce the auteur concept to contemporary Bollywood.

We are very proud to honour the work of the great Indian director Mani Ratnam." The festival premiere of "Raavan" was attended by the director, Aishwarya Rai, Abhishek Bachchan, Vikram and A.

R. Rahman.

Both the Hindi and Tamil versions will be screened at Venice Film Festival. "Mani Ratnam used to make movies only in his native tongue Tamil, but has been one of the handful of filmmakers to successfully reach out to the all-India market," Muller said.

In recent years the award has been given to filmmakers Takeshi Kitano, Abbas Kiarostami, Agnes Warda and Sylvester Stallone. "Raavan" tells the story of a bandit leader who kidnaps the wife of a policeman who killed his sister.

The film stars Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai and Vikram. The music has been composed by A.

R. Rahman.

?? Acclaimed Indian director Mani Ratnam will be honoured with Jaeger-LeCoultre Glory to the Filmmaker Award at the Venice Film Festival to be held in September. Announcing this at Cannes, just before the launch of Mani Ratnam's film "Raavan", Venice Film Festival director Marco Muller said: "Mani Ratnam is one of the greatest innovators in contemporary Indian cinema.

He helped introduce the auteur concept to contemporary Bollywood. We are very proud to honour the work of the great Indian director Mani Ratnam.

" The festival premiere of "Raavan" was attended by the director, Aishwarya Rai, Abhishek Bachchan, Vikram and A.R.

Rahman. Both the Hindi and Tamil versions will be screened at Venice Film Festival.

"Mani Ratnam used to make movies only in his native tongue Tamil, but has been one of the handful of filmmakers to successfully reach out to the all-India market," Muller said. In recent years the award has been given to filmmakers Takeshi Kitano, Abbas Kiarostami, Agnes Warda and Sylvester Stallone.

"Raavan" tells the story of a bandit leader who kidnaps the wife of a policeman who killed his sister. The film stars Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai and Vikram.

The music has been composed by A.R.

Rahman. ?? Acclaimed Indian director Mani Ratnam will be honoured with Jaeger-LeCoultre Glory to the Filmmaker Award at the Venice Film Festival to be held in September.

Announcing this at Cannes, just before the launch of Mani Ratnam's film "Raavan", Venice Film Festival director Marco Muller said: "Mani Ratnam is one of the greatest innovators in contemporary Indian cinema. He helped introduce the auteur concept to contemporary Bollywood.

We are very proud to honour the work of the great Indian director Mani Ratnam." The festival premiere of "Raavan" was attended by the director, Aishwarya Rai, Abhishek Bachchan, Vikram and A.

R. Rahman.

Both the Hindi and Tamil versions will be screened at Venice Film Festival. "Mani Ratnam used to make movies only in his native tongue Tamil, but has been one of the handful of filmmakers to successfully reach out to the all-India market," Muller said.

In recent years the award has been given to filmmakers Takeshi Kitano, Abbas Kiarostami, Agnes Warda and Sylvester Stallone. "Raavan" tells the story of a bandit leader who kidnaps the wife of a policeman who killed his sister.

The film stars Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai and Vikram. The music has been composed by A.

R. Rahman.

?? (less)

Sriram, Rajiv Menon and Santosh Sivan have turned the screen into visual opulence, spinning the script into a radiantly moving imagery. No quarrels on this point.

But a film has to transcend that barrier between the eye and the mind. Otherwise, it will quite possibly remain a string of lovely shots no better or worse than an advertisement campaign complete with classy costumes, beautiful faces, scenic spots and merry jingles.

Sadly, for all that buzz Ratnam’s latest movie, Raavanan (also shot in Hindi and dubbed into Telugu), created, it has ended as one long promotional propaganda for the forests of God’s Own Land. Why, Kerala, of course, where the film was shot.

Cinematographers V. Manikandan (who had to leave midway) and Santosh Sivan let their lenses caress the region’s lush greenery, mighty waterfalls, sweeping rivers and awesome cliffs, mixing and mingling these into a canvas of sheer magnificence.

Misty vistas, rain-drenched hamlets and moss-kissed rocks take our breath away. It is against this series of fabulous picture postcards that Ratnam’s story of Rama, Raavana and Sita, with a Hanuman and even a Lakshman, unfolds, sometimes in irritatingly jerky sequences.

In the first 15 minutes of Raavanan one is battered with several episodes, one merging into the other and each disappearing in the wink of an eye. The plot, though, is predictable, despite the director’s attempt to give it a twist here and a twist there.

Veeraiya (portrayed by Vikram) is a forest brigand, a kind of sandalwood smuggler Veerappan, who rules, using reward and retribution as his weapons (other than revolvers, but, of course). His sense of justice matches his illiteracy and upbringing (as an unpolished, uncouth country bumpkin, but with a heart that understands an emotion called love).

People mostly adore him, some out of fear or necessity. The others hate him, and among them is a chocolate boy of a cop, Superintended of Police, Dev Prakash.

An encounter specialist -- whose immaculately made-up face and figure deceptively hide an almost evil mind -- he is bent on finishing Veeraiya. And for that he would go to any length: he storms into the marriage of the bandit’s sister, Vennila (Priyamani), wounds Veeraiya and looks the other way when his men take her away to the police station to rape and ravish her for a whole night.

It is then that Veeraiya kidnaps Dev’s wife, Ragini (Aishwarya Rai), and takes her into the deepest of jungles, holding her hostage and finally succumbing to her exceptional beauty and fiery disposition. In a kind of Stockholm Syndrome, Ragini begins to inch towards her captor, ultimately realising that Veeraiya is not as ruthless and steely as she had imagined, but compassionate and even extraordinarily magnanimous.

His generosity is amply evident during a superbly choreographed do-or-die fight on a wooden footbridge between Veeraiya and Dev, who in his desperation to find his wife has been turning the forest into battleground with his gun-toting men and sniffer dogs. The tale is told in bursts of explosions, the background score dead intrusive, and the editing turning the movie into one mad rush of images.

Yet, the film appears far too long, almost to the point of being a big yawn. Characters have really not been fleshed out: forest officer Gnanaprakasam (Karthik) essaying the modern-day Hanuman appears more like a circus clown, while Dev seems terribly shallow.

We never understand him: his brutality, his singular resolve to gun down Veeraiya, and his distrust of Ragini (that provokes him to ask her to go through a lie-detector test!) are never convincingly explained. If it is the call of duty that incites Dev to try and kill Veeraiya, the outlaw’s dark side is at best narrated in the passing.

Performances in general do not add up either to lift the Ratnam work. Prithviraj is miscast, and he remains more of a mannequin than the hard policeman he plays.

Rai continues to be the gorgeous looker that she has always been. Yes, she has a got a trifle bolder here, and has allowed a few marks to scar her spotless appearance.

But as the woman tormented by her doubts about her husband’s goodness and intentions, and her growing affection for her tormentor, Rai fails -- and completely. Her Tamil sounds laboured.

Mercifully, Mani Ratnam is blessed with one saving grace. Vikram is excellent, despite a script that helps him very little.

His strong screen presence, and his ability to get into Veeraiya’s skin (with a set of peculiar mannerisms) and emote with conviction largely helped “Raavanan” to score the two stars here. Otherwise, Ratnam’s latest effort seems soulless and adrift under a canopy of dense foliage (less)

Both the versions were shot simultaneously. Vikram was constantly running in and out of the two completely different characters, makeup and languages, sometimes within half an hour.

Says a source, "It got really taxing for him. While Aishwarya Rai Bachchan played the same character in two languages, Vikram had to go from Raavan in Telugu to Rama in Hindi after every shot.

At one point he almost lost the plot." One day the film's dress designer Sabyasachi Chakrabarty had dropped in on location to discuss Vikram's look and clothes.

Vikram was informed by Mani Ratnam's assistant that he needed to sit with Sabyasachi to discuss his look with him for the film. When the two of them met, both began to give their viewpoints to each other about how the character played by Vikram would dress up in the film.

Says Vikram: "Within half an hour of discussing the character's look, we both realised that something was terribly wrong. I wanted my looks to be simple and minimalist so that I didn't have to change much from the way I am.

I suggested to Sabyasachi to keep my skin-tone black. On the other hand, Sabyasachi was keen on a suave and clean look.

And was very confused as to why I was given such a strange brief." Sabyasachi felt Vikram's look couldn't be dark, and told Vikram that if he was so keen on a dark look then maybe he could try and do something dark but formal.

Laughs Vikram. "I suggested a dhoti.

Sabyasachi got really worked up and told me it was no longer funny, and asked me if I was really sure about my character Dev dressing like a rugged rustic character. That's when both of us realised the confusion.

I was talking about the looks of Veera (the outlaw character), my character in the Tamil version, and Sabyasachi was talking about Dev (the cop), the character I'm playing in the Hindi version." Explains Vikram, "In the Hindi version it's Abhishek Bachchan who is the outlaw character.

And the fact that I'm playing two opposite characters in the two versions had caused the confusion." Though exhausted by the effort, Vikram thoroughly enjoyed the unprecedented challenge of playing two characters at the same time in two languages.

Vikram, one of the foremost Tamil actors, will dub his own lines for the Hindi version of Raavan (less)

Some might say it is good, some might say it is bad. But please do not judge the movie by what others say, Please go and watch the movie," Vikram, who acted as Dev and Veera in the Hindi and Tamil versions said.

The actor who made his debut in Bollywood with the film was reacting to queries from reporters here when asked about Amitabh Bachchan's tweet that editing glitches having ruined his son Abhishek's role in the Hindi version. Malayalam actor Prithviraj, who acts as Dev opposite Aiswaraya Rai in the Tamil version, said he did not subscribe to Bachchan's views, but respects it as his personal view.

The two actors were here to promote the film. Vikram said the film, which has been shot in dense forests and tough locales is 'poetry' and should be seen as interpretation of a master craftsman.

Vikram was delighted to share that the Tamil version of the film was doing well. The Hindi audiences could not have connected to its theme, he said when asked about the Hindi version not faring too well.

Prithiviraj said he was introduced as a Malayalam actor at the London premiere of the movie and that he was proud to have represented the Malayalam film industry on such a platform. The Hindi and Tamil versions have been released in 65 theatres on June 18 despite distributors and producers directive against it as it would affect the collections of Malayalam films.

The Film Distributors association had wanted the film to be released after two weeks (less)

The group had sent handbills to cinema owners, saying that the boycott of the IIFA event by Indian artistes had brought disrepute to Sri Lanka and therefore retaliation was just and appropriate. On Thursday, a day before the release of Raavanan, Shanthi cinema in Eastern Batticaloa, which was planning to screen the much-hyped film ,was torched.

The hall’s manager Kandasamy Murugesu said that three people came to his theatre on Monday and told him he should not screen films from Tamil Nadu. “I informed the Kattankudi police and three days later there was an arson attack,” a daily quoted him as saying.

The manager said he would not bow to this threat, would continue to screen films produced in Tamil Nadu, and asked for police protection. Check out more pics of Raavan (less)

He helped introduce the auteur concept to contemporary Bollywood. We are very proud to honour the work of the great Indian director Mani Ratnam.

" The festival premiere of Raavan was attended by the director, Aishwarya Rai, Abhishek Bachchan, Vikram and A.R.

Rahman. Both the Hindi and Tamil versions will be screened at Venice Film Festival.

"Mani Ratnam used to make movies only in his native tongue Tamil, but has been one of the handful of filmmakers to successfully reach out to the all-India market," Muller said. In recent years the award has been given to filmmakers Takeshi Kitano, Abbas Kiarostami, Agnes Warda and Sylvester Stallone.

Raavan tells the story of a bandit leader who kidnaps the wife of a policeman who killed his sister. The film stars Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai and Vikram.

The music has been composed by A.R.

Rahman (less)

He helped introduce the auteur concept to contemporary Bollywood. We are very proud to honour the work of the great Indian director Mani Ratnam.

" Both the Hindi and Tamil versions will be screened at Venice Film Festival. "Mani Ratnam used to make movies only in his native tongue Tamil, but has been one of the handful of filmmakers to successfully reach out to the all-India market," Muller said.

In recent years the award has been given to filmmakers Takeshi Kitano, Abbas Kiarostami, Agnes Warda and Sylvester Stallone. 'Raavan' tells the story of a bandit leader who kidnaps the wife of a policeman who killed his sister.

The film stars Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai and Vikram. The music has been composed by A.

R. Rahman.

Indo-Asian News Service Acclaimed Indian director Mani Ratnam will be honoured with the Jaeger-LeCoultre Glory to the Filmmaker Award at the Venice Film Festival to be held in September.Announcing this at Cannes, just before the launch of Mani Ratnam's film 'Raavan', Venice Film Festival director Marco Muller said: "Mani Ratnam is one of the greatest innovators in contemporary Indian cinema.

He helped introduce the auteur concept to contemporary Bollywood. We are very proud to honour the work of the great Indian director Mani Ratnam.

" Both the Hindi and Tamil versions will be screened at Venice Film Festival. "Mani Ratnam used to make movies only in his native tongue Tamil, but has been one of the handful of filmmakers to successfully reach out to the all-India market," Muller said.

In recent years the award has been given to filmmakers Takeshi Kitano, Abbas Kiarostami, Agnes Warda and Sylvester Stallone. 'Raavan' tells the story of a bandit leader who kidnaps the wife of a policeman who killed his sister.

The film stars Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai and Vikram. The music has been composed by A.

R. Rahman.

Indo-Asian News Service Acclaimed Indian director Mani Ratnam will be honoured with the Jaeger-LeCoultre Glory to the Filmmaker Award at the Venice Film Festival to be held in September.Announcing this at Cannes, just before the launch of Mani Ratnam's film 'Raavan', Venice Film Festival director Marco Muller said: "Mani Ratnam is one of the greatest innovators in contemporary Indian cinema.

He helped introduce the auteur concept to contemporary Bollywood. We are very proud to honour the work of the great Indian director Mani Ratnam.

" Both the Hindi and Tamil versions will be screened at Venice Film Festival. "Mani Ratnam used to make movies only in his native tongue Tamil, but has been one of the handful of filmmakers to successfully reach out to the all-India market," Muller said.

In recent years the award has been given to filmmakers Takeshi Kitano, Abbas Kiarostami, Agnes Warda and Sylvester Stallone. 'Raavan' tells the story of a bandit leader who kidnaps the wife of a policeman who killed his sister.

The film stars Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai and Vikram. The music has been composed by A.

R. Rahman.

Indo-Asian News Service (less)

For one-and-a-half years, I have been speaking to him in broken, half-baked Hindi, " Vikram told. Also starring Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai, the bilingual in Hindi and Tamil, is releasing Friday worldwide (less)

"Aishwarya and Abhishek are not going for the Venice Film Festival as reported in some media outlets. The festival falls on the same dates on which they have previously committed.

Aishwarya is going for an event for Longines (as she is the brand ambassador), while Abhishek will be busy with a shoot for Omega in Italy," said a source close to the actors. "There are other film festivals too - Doha and Pusan - where Abhishek and Aishwarya are being invited, to showcase their film or even for individual honours.

But the duo will decide which ones to attend according to their schedules," added the source (less)

"Normally Mani would not have heard of his leading lady not being present for the function. However, when it comes to Abhishek and Aishwarya, Mani lets all his rules fall to the ground," a source said.

"He clearly told Aishwarya that it would be okay even if she didn't attend the function." But Aishwarya would hear none of it.

The source said, "To Aishwarya, being present at the music function with Vikram, her co-star of the Tamil Raavan, is as important as it was for her to be seen next to Abhishek at the equivalent function for the Hindi Raavan last month." In fact, being present at the Tamil music release of Raavan is crucial for Aishwarya since she has another major Tamil release, Shankar's Endhiran, coming up soon after.

"It is very important for Aishwarya to show a sense of solidarity with the Tamil film industry and among her South India fans. And not just that, she wouldn't have missed Mani Ratnam's event in Chennai for anything in the world," the source said.

Ash was in Greece with her husband Abhishek, who is shooting for Abhinay Deo's Game there. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, who was enjoying a holiday in Greece, decided to cut short her trip to attend the May 14 music release of the Tamil version of Raavan in Chennai.

She did so in spite of director Mani Ratnam insisting that it was fine if she didn't make it to the function. "Normally Mani would not have heard of his leading lady not being present for the function.

However, when it comes to Abhishek and Aishwarya, Mani lets all his rules fall to the ground," a source said. "He clearly told Aishwarya that it would be okay even if she didn't attend the function.

" But Aishwarya would hear none of it. The source said, "To Aishwarya, being present at the music function with Vikram, her co-star of the Tamil Raavan, is as important as it was for her to be seen next to Abhishek at the equivalent function for the Hindi Raavan last month.

" In fact, being present at the Tamil music release of Raavan is crucial for Aishwarya since she has another major Tamil release, Shankar's Endhiran, coming up soon after. "It is very important for Aishwarya to show a sense of solidarity with the Tamil film industry and among her South India fans.

And not just that, she wouldn't have missed Mani Ratnam's event in Chennai for anything in the world," the source said. Ash was in Greece with her husband Abhishek, who is shooting for Abhinay Deo's Game there.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, who was enjoying a holiday in Greece, decided to cut short her trip to attend the May 14 music release of the Tamil version of Raavan in Chennai. She did so in spite of director Mani Ratnam insisting that it was fine if she didn't make it to the function.

"Normally Mani would not have heard of his leading lady not being present for the function. However, when it comes to Abhishek and Aishwarya, Mani lets all his rules fall to the ground," a source said.

"He clearly told Aishwarya that it would be okay even if she didn't attend the function." But Aishwarya would hear none of it.

The source said, "To Aishwarya, being present at the music function with Vikram, her co-star of the Tamil Raavan, is as important as it was for her to be seen next to Abhishek at the equivalent function for the Hindi Raavan last month." In fact, being present at the Tamil music release of Raavan is crucial for Aishwarya since she has another major Tamil release, Shankar's Endhiran, coming up soon after.

"It is very important for Aishwarya to show a sense of solidarity with the Tamil film industry and among her South India fans. And not just that, she wouldn't have missed Mani Ratnam's event in Chennai for anything in the world," the source said.

Ash was in Greece with her husband Abhishek, who is shooting for Abhinay Deo's Game there. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, who was enjoying a holiday in Greece, decided to cut short her trip to attend the May 14 music release of the Tamil version of Raavan in Chennai.

She did so in spite of director Mani Ratnam insisting that it was fine if she didn't make it to the function. "Normally Mani would not have heard of his leading lady not being present for the function.

However, when it comes to Abhishek and Aishwarya, Mani lets all his rules fall to the ground," a source said. "He clearly told Aishwarya that it would be okay even if she didn't attend the function.

" But Aishwarya would hear none of it. The source said, "To Aishwarya, being present at the music function with Vikram, her co-star of the Tamil Raavan, is as important as it was for her to be seen next to Abhishek at the equivalent function for the Hindi Raavan last month.

" In fact, being present at the Tamil music release of Raavan is crucial for Aishwarya since she has another major Tamil release, Shankar's Endhiran, coming up soon after. "It is very important for Aishwarya to show a sense of solidarity with the Tamil film industry and among her South India fans.

And not just that, she wouldn't have missed Mani Ratnam's event in Chennai for anything in the world," the source said. Ash was in Greece with her husband Abhishek, who is shooting for Abhinay Deo's Game there.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, who was enjoying a holiday in Greece, decided to cut short her trip to attend the May 14 music release of the Tamil version of Raavan in Chennai. She did so in spite of director Mani Ratnam insisting that it was fine if she didn't make it to the function.

"Normally Mani would not have heard of his leading lady not being present for the function. However, when it comes to Abhishek and Aishwarya, Mani lets all his rules fall to the ground," a source said.

"He clearly told Aishwarya that it would be okay even if she didn't attend the function." But Aishwarya would hear none of it.

The source said, "To Aishwarya, being present at the music function with Vikram, her co-star of the Tamil Raavan, is as important as it was for her to be seen next to Abhishek at the equivalent function for the Hindi Raavan last month." In fact, being present at the Tamil music release of Raavan is crucial for Aishwarya since she has another major Tamil release, Shankar's Endhiran, coming up soon after.

"It is very important for Aishwarya to show a sense of solidarity with the Tamil film industry and among her South India fans. And not just that, she wouldn't have missed Mani Ratnam's event in Chennai for anything in the world," the source said.

Ash was in Greece with her husband Abhishek, who is shooting for Abhinay Deo's Game there (less)

"Aishwarya and Abhishek are not going for the Venice Film Festival as reported in some media outlets. The festival falls on the same dates on which they have previously committed.

Aishwarya is going for an event for Longines (as she is the brand ambassador), while Abhishek will be busy with a shoot for Omega in Italy ," said a source close to the actors. "There are other film festivals too - Doha and Pusan - where Abhishek and Aishwarya are being invited, to showcase their film or even for individual honours.

But the duo will decide which ones to attend according to their schedules," added the source (less)

Directed by Mani Ratnam, "Raavan" is a Hindi-Tamil bilingual and also stars Tamil superstar Vikram, who makes his Bollywood debut with the Hindi version. A co-production of Reliance BIG Pictures and Madras Talkies, the film will Friday hit about 2,200 screens worldwide.

On Sunday, Amitabh tweeted, "Shah Rukh, Abhishek probably spoke to you about the London premiere of 'Raavan', see you, Gauri and the kids there. Good that you are coming.

" Shah Rukh is here to shoot for his home production "Ra One". Overwhelmed with the response here, Abhishek, 34, who is playing a negative role in "Raavan", told journalists: "It's wonderful.

Look at the reception we’ve got. We are feeling on top of the world and so happy that we came to London to premiere the film.

" In the Hindi version, Aishwarya plays Ragini, a dance teacher who is married to a cop, played by Vikram. In the course of events, she is abducted by Beera (Abhishek) and held hostage at his jungle hideout.

The Tamil version is titled "Raavanan" and Vikram plays the antagonist Beera in it, while Prithviraj will be seen as Aishwarya's cop husband. Check out Shah Rukh Khan’s homepage (less)

The film also has Govinda, Ravi Kishen and Nikhil Dwivedi in pivotal roles. The film has a Tamil version too, wherein Vikram essays the part of ?Raavan? and Aishwarya Rai continues in the role of Sita ( Ragini).

This version is known as ?Raavanan? and will be releasing simultaneously with Hindi ?Raavan?. -- k k rai Send comments: 0comments (less)

Wouldn’t they rather see them as a twosome? “I don’t think like that and fortunately, neither does Aishwarya. We’d like to break convention and spring a surprise.

It would be boring to do the same thing over and over again,” he asserts. “The whole world knows that we are married and we don’t have to rub that in.

After marriage, we did Sarkar Raj and now Raavan , in which we were not romantically paired, and it was a high for both of us as artistes.” Not comfortable Like Vikram, who plays Dev in Hindi version and Veera in the Tamil version, Abhishek was to play Dev in Tamil, apart from Beera in Hindi.

But after a while, doubts began to creep in. “I realised I wouldn’t be comfortable doing a Tamil movie.

Besides, Beera was so larger-than-life that just playing him was enough of a challenge,” he points out. He adds that he didn’t want to just cram his lines and repeat them mechanically in front of the camera.

Acting, he insists, is all about emoting. “So I told Mani to give me a year to learn Tamil.

He couldn’t wait that long, so I asked to be excused,” he informs. The one role he did was difficult enough.

After sliding down a rocky cliff, he couldn’t sit properly for four days. Then, there were the blood-sucking leeches and the mind-numbing cold.

“But still, given the opportunity, I’d do it all over again,” he enthuses. Abhishek is already committed to another film with Ratnam.

“ My dates are ready , I’ll never ask Mani for a script or say no to him. Your confidence soars after a Mani Ratnam film,” he insists.

Ranbir Kapoor has decided to become a daddy by the time he is 32. What about Abhishek? He says, “I don’t believe in setting such benchmarks in my persona.

I believe in destiny, things happen when God blesses you.” (less)