Portraits: white sari

Showing posts with label white sari. Show all posts

Monday, 13 July 2026

Shahrukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai in Mohabbatein

They only worked Devdas as complete co-stars; in Josh they were paired with other, Mohabbatein was essentially an extended guest appearance by Ash and every other film was a cameo appearance, but why do we list Shahrukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai as a definitive Bollywood on-screen couple? Their massively successful songs, appearances and photoshoots together. And the fractured friendship that rifted the two apart despite a running success at the box office. Alas. We'll probably never seen them together again. The memories will linger.

Year	Film	Box Office Success	Main Cast	Director	Music
2000	Josh	Hit	SRK, Aishwarya Rai, Chandrachur Singh	Mansoor Khan	Anu Malik
2000	Mohabbatein	Super Hit (Highest Grosser of 2000)	Amitabh Bachchan, SRK, Aishwarya Rai	Aditya Chopra	Jatin-Lalit
2002	Devdas	Super Hit (Highest Grosser of 2002)	SRK, Aishwarya Rai, Madhuri Dixit	Sanjay Leela Bhansali	Ismail Darbar
2002	Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam	Average to Hit	Salman Khan, SRK, Madhuri Dixit, Aishwarya Rai	K.S. Adhiyaman	Nadeem-Shravan + Others
2002	Shakti: The Power	Average	Karisma Kapoor, Nana Patekar, SRK, Aishwarya Rai	Krishna Vamsi	Ismail Darbar + Others
2016	Ae Dil Hai Mushkil	Hit	Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma, Aishwarya Rai, SRK (Cameo)	Karan Johar	Pritam

Sunday, 22 February 2026

Aishwarya Rai in Khakhee (2004)

Aishwarya Rai in Khakhee (2004). A fantastic film with novel twists and turns, an all-star cast with only Aishwarya Rai as the leading lady... one of Ash's better performances despite a relatively short screentime.

The right script and an able director, Rai has been unstoppable. Trouble now is most young, contemporary directors are in awe of her - her epic beauty and fame and the unmistakable star wattage that makes her one of the few female superstars in India. But a director cannot be intimidated or eclipsed by that same aura.

Its a problem and a fate that is familiar to Bollywood watchers. Both Madhuri Dixit and Sridevi faced the same when the captain of the ship was so in awe of the leading lady, their films and performances suffered. When a young director meets the dazzling leading lady, they can't ask for a retake, correct them, edit them... The jaw drop of agreeing to everything a star does, that imbalance of ego and id makes for a lesser movie.

When a senior director or filmmaker works with Ash, she famously becomes a student and following the direction (hello!) of the maker, her performance and look is elevated. All her performances with makers of note Mani Ratnam, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Mansoor Khan, Yash/Adi Chopra.... are better as they don't fear asking Rai to re-do a scene, song or step.

Saturday, 20 September 2025

Aishwarya Rai at her engagement

January 2007, Aishwarya Rai, 34, seen leaving the Bachchan residence after an engagement party...

Saturday, 24 May 2025

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan at Cannes 2025: A sartorial relief!

After last year's truly disastrous red carpet appearances --and I say this as a huge Ash fan--this year, was a welcome relief. Channeling vintage glamour, Indian elegance and rarefied stardom that's exclusively under the aegis of Aishwarya, all serious, hardcore fans breathed a sigh of relief. Thank GOD it wasn't a an assault like the ill-conceived and poorly executed costume fiasco of 2024/2023...

Ash needs a stylist and designer not in awe of her galactic beauty. No matter what her shape, size, she's truly blessed/cursed with those looks.