Aishwarya Rai pays surprise
visit to father on his b'day
By Subhash K. Jha
Mumbai,
Nov 21 (IANS) Aishwarya Rai took time off from her busy shooting
schedule in Kochi for Mani Ratnam's "Ravana" to
fly back to Mumbai for dad Krishnaraj Rai's 70th birthday.
Krishnaraj
got the surprise of his life when Aishwarya showed up for
a very special family reunion on his birthday Thursday. Son-in-law
Abhishek Bachchan was also expected to attend the occasion,
but couldn't do so.
"It's
exactly what he (Krishnaraj) wanted. To be with his closest
ones. There was no party because he couldn't take it. Only
the immediate family and, of course, his daughter's in-laws
- Jaya and Amitabh Bachchan - who were expected to drop in
to wish him," a close family friend said.
Abhishek
and Aishwarya are in the jungles of Kochi shooting for Mani
Ratnam's tentatively titled "Ravana".
Abhishek
told IANS on phone from Kochi: "I'd have loved to be
there because Aishwarya's parents are not just my in-laws.
They're a second set of parents that god has blessed me with.
Unfortunately, much as I tried I couldn't get away from here
even for a few hours."
It's
a known fact that Ratnam likes to shoot in complete isolation
and at a stretch without any interruption. But when the maverick
moviemaker came to know that it was Aishwarya's father's 70th
birthday, he quickly gave his leading lady the consent to
zip back to Mumbai to be with her ailing dad on this special
day.
"Although
Aishwarya has been her thoroughly professional self throughout
the time when her father has been undergoing treatment for
a serious sickness, her heart has been in Mumbai with her
father. When Mani heard it was her father's birthday, he let
her go without a second thought," said a source.
Aishwarya
also took the opportunity to fulfil a long-standing commitment
for an endorsement before flying back to Cochin to resume
shooting.
Indo-Asian
News Service
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