Shaheen Parkar (MID-DAY; November 4, 2014)

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan recently visited filmmaker Vipul Shah’s house in Andheri with mom- in- law, Jaya Bachchan in tow. This has fuelled speculation that Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is considering a new film project. The saas-bahu duo was said to have spent a good two hours at Shah’s place.

Says an onlooker, “Their presence created a buzz. Everyone was wondering who they had come to meet as several Bollywood celebrities reside in the vicinity. Later, we realised where they both were headed.”

The source adds that the security guards of the building were asked to keep the elevator stationed at the filmmaker’s floor to avoid anybody else getting into it. While celebrating her 41st birthday on Saturday with the media, Ash had stated that she was doing more films besides Sanjay Gupta’s Jazbaa, but would prefer that the filmmakers concerned make an announcement about it first.

Ash has worked in Shah’s Action Replayy (2010) while her father-in-law, Amitabh Bachchan, has been
part of his films like Aankhen (2002) and Waqt: The Race Against Time (2005).

About the visit, Shah says, “It was sweet of them to come. It was a personal thing, though. It is always great to work with Aishwarya and it will be superb if I can also work with Jayaji.”

Shoot in the city
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan seems excited about returning to the big screen post motherhood with Sanjay Gupta’s Jazbaa. However, the bigger reason for her excitement is that the film will be shot entirely in Mumbai, allowing her to be close to daughter Aaradhya.

Says the beauty queen-turned-actor, “I have never left Aaradhya alone even for a day. Jazbaa being shot here in the city makes me happy.” The film goes on the floors in January and has Irrfan and Shabana Azmi playing pivotal roles in it.

The actress is set to go on a signing spree with several offers coming her way. She says, “Many scripts have come my way. I am in the process of finalising some of them.” — Bharati Dubey