I Am A Silent Rebel - Aishwarya Rai Bachchan

You would think she has got it all. But look again, and we realise Aishwarya Rai Bachchan didnt really tread the safest path, and nobody explains it better than the actress herself. Disregarding the term comeback, Aishwarya tells us why it is frivolous to take her for granted, then, now and forever.

- Srividya Menon

I didn’t expect her to be what she turned out, after an hour-and-a-half with one of the busiest stars today. Dressed in everyday attire, excusing herself in between the interview to attend to her daughter, laughing easy, hugging longer than expected of her, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan unsurprisingly impressed me from the word go. She didn’t mince her words, but took time to painfully explain every context. That is perhaps what makes her, or what motherhood makes her - a stickler for details and constantly aware. She hasn’t chosen the easy path, yet manages to be comfortably conventional. Talking at length about her choice of movies right from her debut, Aishwarya, we realise, never went away. She was here, waiting to gauge a new level of admiration a notch higher.

Doing a movie after five years, you chose Jazbaa – an intense movie with motherhood and action as its basic theme.

It’s so interesting that the answer lies in your question. Different is something I have looked for from the very beginning. I thought I made that statement when I decided to start my movie career with Mani Ratnam’s Iruvar. It’s not planned, isn’t intentional. But I have been spoiled for choices.

Was Jazbaa always supposed to be your first movie after so long a hiatus?