The word ‘no’ has incredible power

Elegance is an attitude, says the tagline of the latest collection of Longines watches, and who better than Aishwarya Rai to launch this collection. Rai, who is in the Capital after a gap of almost three years now, was her usual self.
“I really do not need to workout as much now,” she said in response to a question on her fitness mantra. “My hectic schedule keeps me on my toes,” she added with her trademark giggle.
She refuted rumours of any plans to shift permanently to Hollywood. “I always stick to a planned schedule,” she said. “I had three Hollywood projects at hand and some from Bollywood. Since getting suitable dates are a major problem in Hollywood, I decided to complete all my overseas projects at one go. So, I have wrapped up all my international projects last year and this year I am only focusing on the projects in Bollywood,” she explained.
Besides Umrao Jaan and Dhoom 2, Aishwarya will also be seen in Akbar-Jodha and Sarkar 2.
There was little scope for the former Miss World to escape questions about her alleged relation with Abhishek Bachchan. But, she handled the question with tact. In her reply to a question of any pranks played by Bachhcan junior (who is a famed prankster on the sets), Rai replied, “I don’t know if he is a prankster, but he sure is a brat.”
Aishwarya was also in the news recently for performing all her stunts in Dhoom 2. “It was awesome,” she says giggling again. “My favourite stunt was the one shown in the promo where I jump off the cliff. I wish I could have indulged in some more, they really were fun.”
Bollywood has almost always been the domain of men. Male actors continue to get bigger paychecks than their female counterparts. “Everyone has their own perspective on that,” Rai said. “All I can say is tha I am thankful to the people in this industry. They have been very open-minded to the way I chose to chart my course. Whether it was my professional choices or where I pushed the envelope, they have always been supportive. The word ‘no’ has incredible power and I am glad the industry has taken that answer from me.”
“It takes great courage to say ‘no’ to someone but it takes greater conviction to stand by one’s own decision.”

Published in Hindustan Times Next on October 18, 2006