| So finally ‘Umrao Jaan’, the much-awaited modern epic is here. And plenty has been said of it - much like for most other ‘re-inspirations’ too. But the one thing that everyone is unanimous about is the screen chemistry of Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan.
In fact, every time the beautiful lady does a delectable ‘twirl’, AB Jr’s eyebrow does a skyward swirl too. Of course, his was the easier part, sitting and watching Ash dance.
But ask him about it and he disagrees about it being all that simple.
Says Abhi about the ‘difficult’ task, "Luckily I did not have to dance; which I’m sure, will come as a great relief to the audiences as well. But sitting and watching was challenging in itself."
"The first day, I was informed, I just had to sit on a gadda and watch the enactment of a mujra with a ‘courtesan’ performing in front of me. I said ‘that’s easy!’ But the second day, it was the same thing and it started getting to me; when I had to sit in a new posture with a new expression."
"Now how long can you just sit and watch somebody dance? It became challenging to sit in different ways alone."
Aishwarya herself laughs about the episode. "Yes, he complained to JP Dutta that in all his films, though the female character has been very dignified, every story has been male dominated. And here it’s all about shayari, ada, jhumka, duppatta, jhoomars; we also teased him about all the women around him - Shabana, Ayesha, Divya - all very strong women. We ended up teasing him so much he was ready to scream. In fact, at one point he shouted, 'Bring out the guns I’m tired of sitting. I need to go get my army uniform.' It was hilarious."
Well, like they say, some guys get tired just sitting and watching ‘the most beautiful woman in the world’ dance for hours. Actually, to be fair, it can be a little tough on the derriere.
- IndiaTimes.com |