aishwaryarai movies interviews Virgin Media
Bringing the exuberant musical style of Bollywood to mainstream cinema, Gurinder Chadha's Bride & Prejudice is set to make lead actress Aishwarya Rai a global phenomenon. We met up to find out more...
VM: Aishwarya, you are Bollywood's biggest female star - how was your debut step into mainstream cinema with Bride & Prejudice?
Aishwarya Rai: It was a great experience, but it is important to say my approach at the start wasn't to make a comparison. I always treat each experience differently, work on it for what it is, with that particular film maker and that unit, irrespective of which language, or country, or type of movie it is. Even in Bollywood, there are all sorts of different types of film-making, movies in other regions, in Tamil and Bengali, two languages in which I have worked. Those experiences are different from the ones in Bombay, so this movie to me was just another new experience. It has been a wonderful time working with Gurinder, she is a great director who I've admired. It has been new, and different, and individual - but overall a fabulous experience.
VM: Were you pleased with the results, Gurinder?
Gurinder Chadha: Absolutely, Aish is so diverse. I think it is important to remember this was Aish's first movie in English which is remarkable, it's an incredibly hard task and she handled it with extreme elegance. When we started working on the film I was really shocked how well she dealt with that, I think it has really surprised and impressed Indian audiences also.
VM: Aish, is it true you had to put on twenty pounds to play the role? Did Gurinder have a lot of requirements for your portrayal of your character Lalita?
Aishwarya Rai: Yes, I did have to put on some weight. Gurinder was very keen for Lalita to be a very normal looking girl, not somebody who fusses about how they look - a girl next door type. That was easy for me to achieve, a pleasure actually!
Gurinder Chadha: [laughing] Yes, actually I wasn't happy with the way Aish looked, I didn't think she was attractive enough, I said I wanted her to look more like me, pile on a few stone, get fat, and then we'll be alright! Joking aside, Aish handled the challenge impressively, I did want the character to be someone viewers could relate to and not be too vain. Aish managed to contain some of her striking beauty so we got away with it!
