Aishwarya Rajesh goes to Bollywood

Aishwarya Rajesh, the dusky powerhouse performer, is going places. She has bagged a plum Bollywood offer opposite Arjun Rampal, in a film directed by national award-winning filmmaker Ashim Ahluwalia of Miss Lovely fame. This is owing to her performance in Kaaka Muttai, the critically acclaimed superhit film, which gave her career a huge break. The new movie titled Daddy is inspired by a real- life incident. An excited Aishwarya talks to DC in an exclusive.

“One day I got a call from director Ashim’s office, asking if I would be interested in working in their upcoming Hindi flick Daddy, with Arjun as the lead hero. It came to me as a complete shock! Apparently, one of the assistant directors of Ashim had watched Kaaka... and suggested my name. Later, both Arjun and Ashim saw a few of my scenes from the movie. Initially, I couldn’t say yes, as I was committed to a few films in Tamil, and they wanted the dates immediately.

Also, Bollywood is a different ball game. But, at the same time I didn’t want to let  the opportunity go, and agreed for the audition,” Aishwarya quips. Thrilled, she adds, “You know what? I did the audition at midnight 12.15 and sent the video. Within 15 minutes a person called and introduced himself as Arjun Rampal and said, ‘This was the girl we were looking for’. I thought someone is making a prank call. After few minutes only, I realised it was indeed Arjun!” (laughs)

The Aaradhu Sinam actress says that later she came to know that they had auditioned several girls and finally approached her — “They wanted someone like Shabana Azmi for  the female lead, since the story is based on real-life incidents. They also gave me the full narration. I flew to Mumbai, signed on the dotted line and the film took off the same day and I completed two days of shoot as well.” Is she fluent in Hindi? “For an artiste, understanding the nuances of the character she essays is very important. I am learning Hindi and am confident that I can pull it off,” Aishwarya smiles. Ask her about bold scenes, and she grins, “If the script demands it, I would definitely do such scenes. But, I would say no to the ones that are forced!”