Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; April 15, 2016)

When Aishwarya Rai Bachchan walked into the trailer launch of her upcoming film, the Sarabjit biopic, at 12:15 pm on Thursday, she looked like a Barbie doll in a pink, Aiisha Ramadan dress paired with silver peeptoes. With a 'namaste', she asked the assembled media to give two standing ovations — to the late Sarabjit Singh and his sister Dalbir Kaur and to the actor who plays her father in the film, Darji, and passed away on April 2. "Let us stand in two-minutes silence," she asserted. The cameramen turned towards the audience to capture the moment.

Sarabjit, an Indian farmer, crossed the border and was convicted by the Supreme Court of Pakistan on charges of terrorism and spying and sentenced to death in 1991. His sister, Dalbir Kaur, played by Ash, launched a worldwide crusade for his release till his death in 2013, after he was attacked in prison.

On a roll, she sidelined the compere, asking for a round of applause for screenplay and dialogue writer Utkarshini Vashishtha, lauded the music team, praised cinematographer Kiran Deohans, and ordered more applause for the long list of producers.

Not appearing too keen to share the mike with co-stars Randeep Hooda, Richa Chadha and Darshan Kumaar or even director Omung Kumar, she chatted away till a question on the Panama Paper leaks cropped up. Aishwarya and Amitabh Bachchan's names have cropped up in the 'secret list' which features 500 prominent Indians. "The statement has been made to all of you already. Hope you all are aware about it," she retorted. When a reporter from a news agency probed, wondering what statement she was referring to, Ash snapped, "Why are you acting so desperate? You are the only one asking for it!"

Another question on the box office clash between Sarbjit and Ribhu Dasgupta's TE3N, with the Big B, was answered with an "I cannot say anything" expression. However, she was happy to drone about the "challenges" she faced, saying, "It's not often that an actor gets a platform to share each and every detail about their character." She spoke about losing weight, wearing fat suits, meeting Sarabjit's real family... But when asked about the film being banned in Pakistan she began to mumble, but Omung stepped in to say that there was no reason to ban the film.

The chat fest wound up at 1:30 pm with Ash staying back to meet fans. She even sat on stage to click selfies but then asked for her director's hand to get back to her feet. A security guard beat Omung to the gallant knight act and Ash continued chatting...

Shaheen Parkar (MID-DAY; April 13, 2016)

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan made a backdoor entry and exit from a five-star hotel in Vakola on Monday night where she was present to collect her NRI of the Year award. The actress apparently was in no mood to face any unwanted questions.

Says a source, “The actress arrived just before she was to receive the award and left the venue soon after. While the rest of the winners including Sania Mirza walked the red carpet, Ash preferred to give it a skip seeing the hordes of media present.”

Adds the source, “While making a backdoor exit with her staff and bouncers, some of the media folk managed to spot her car. They rushed towards her making her halt in her tracks. She then spoke about how thrilled she was to receive the award and about her colourful outfit, but when a poser about the Panama Papers cropped up, she made a hasty exit.”

Ash’s name had cropped up in the recent Panama Paper leaks as director and shareholder of an offshore company before it was said to have been wound up in 2008.

At the event, Ash was seen bonding with Sania Mirza who also bagged an award. Ash was heard talking about her daughter Aaradhya as well as her upcoming films, Sarbjit and Ae Dil Hai Mushkil to Sania.

The same evening the star also attended another awards event where she was honoured with the Global Indian of the Year award.