Happy Birthday to Aishwarya Rai---blog by RK Mukherjee

From the blog by Ram Kamal Mukherjee. Interesting article about Ash. I felt sorry for Vivek after reading this.

Thursday, Nov 01, 2007
I hope Ash gets sometime away from her busy schedule to read this letter. I am taking this opportunity to come clean on certain misconceptions which people have about me and my relationship with Ms Aishwarya Rai. I read a mail where someone mentioned I hate Aishwarya because Vivek Oberoi is my friend. That's a complete false allegation. I would like to come clear on what went wrong between Ash and me. My association with 'brand' Aishwarya Rai began when I was working as a special correspondent in Stardust. Not knowing anything about her past problem with the publication, I approached Aishwarya Rai through her agent Simone Sheffield for an interview. She was shooting for Gurinder Chadda's film Bride and Prejudice and I received an email from Simone, turning down my request.

Life in a magazine can be quite chilled out so I was in an unhurried mood and not bogged down by deadlines. I took it as a challenge, to try my luck. Professionally, at that point in time Ash’s career was going through a lull phase. Aamir Khan and Bobby Bedi were spitting venom on Ash for her 'unprofessional' attitude during the Mangal Pandey episode. Ash was looking for a platform, which would allow her to speak as the entire industry was supporting Bobby Bedi. Ash asked Simone to speak on her behalf. Till then I had never met her, all our interactions happened via the telephone.

Finally, the first time I met Ash was during the private screening of Khakee. She didn't know me my face, when my editor Sonali Jaffar (who shared a very good rapport with Ash too) introduced me to her. Ash was courteous enough to hug me and she came across as a very warm and affectionate person. I vividly remember that she whispered in my ears, "Thank you so much for everything!" Thereafter, I interacted with Ash many a time, but I realized that she was a bit difficult to track down.

Getting an interview with Aishwarya was a tiring job. She would give dates and then cancel at the last moment. She would call and make the journo wait for hours outside her van. I still remember that she was shooting her first (and last) film with Vivek Oberoi in Filmcity.

I wanted her to spare 20 minutes for an interview, but she made me wait for five hours. Now, let me admit that I went without any appointment, so she made it very clear that she won't be able to take out time for me. I was in a desperate state so I went to meet her again on the very next day.

Since it was the last day to submit the interview, my editor Sonali insisted that I try to pin her down. But Sonali had full faith in me (and not very much in Ash) so I could hardly refuse. After pack-up (which was actually eight hours of waiting time) she agreed to do the interview and I thanked my stars.
Before giving any interview, Ash would crib about the previous interview, flaws in the article and the dated photographs, which were not shot properly even to begin with. "Ram, please write the sentences the way I speak. I mean when I read my interview it should not sound that I am reading someone else's interview," she said. But very few people had the guts to tell her that her 'politically correct' statements were really boring enough to put Rip Van Winkle to sleep again!

But after meeting her couple of times, I did tell her. "Ash, you are so cool when are not being an actress. I mean people should know the fun-loving, real Ash!" She would smile and insist I write whatever she said, and not protest about it. Well, she was obliging me with an interview, not all journos got so lucky.

But, I must admit that Ash agreed to be present at the Stardust Awards, (knowing full well that Salman Khan was performing in the show) and it was a kind of ‘favor’, which she did as a 'pay back' gesture. When our publisher Nari Hira wanted to honour Hema Malini with the Role Model Award for that year, I thought Ash would be the right person to read the citation for Hemaji.

Again, I had to go through the tedious process of mailing Simone a detailed itinerary about the event. Finally, when I received the consent letter, everyone in our team was happy.But her perfectionist streak revealed itself as she meticulously rehearsed her lines and then on the final day made a grand entry with her boyfriend Vivek Oberoi. As soon as she entered, she said, "I am not going to sit with the audience. These television channels will take one stock expression misuse it." I got the message, that she was not willing to watch Salman Khan's act on stage. Fair enough!

Later, I joined Mumbai Mirror and everyone believed me to be Ash's favorite. Well, I was for a long time. Everything was fine till the release of Sujoy Ghosh's Home Delivery. I remember Vivek was keen Ash attend the premiere show at Cinemax. It was definitely a big film for Vivek, but the film got a terrible response at the premiere show itself. Vivek was still waiting for Ash. "She is taking a private jet from somewhere in Rajasthan and coming," was all that Vivek said. Ash was shooting Umrao Jaan with Abhishek Bachchan.

I was never really close to Vivek. But that day, I really felt rotten about Vivek, who was expecting Ash. She didn't turn up, and when asked she said, 'I couldn't, I tried!' (Let me tell you one thing, when Ash was getting booed from all quarters for her costume at the Cannes Film Festival, she called Vivek and he took the next flight out.)

Thereafter, Vivek tried many a time to call her, but she would not take his calls. Suddenly she became inaccessible to all. But when Midday published the story of 'Ash-Vivek Split!' on the day Home Delivery released, it came like a bolt from the blue. It seems the editor Sarita Tanwar had the story with her for two weeks and she was waiting for Ash to either deny or accept it. But Ash refused to comment and she maintained her 'dignified' silence. Finally, the truth was that, she had dumped Vivek!

My editor insisted I should talk to Ash and get her version, but Ash refused to talk about it. She didn't want to get quoted as she has her own ideology of not talking about her personal life, (which I admire and respect). Finally, I had to take a stand, as a journalist. I wrote a 'source' story in the publication, which was based on certain facts. The first day, I wrote Vivek's version, and the next day I wrote Ash's version. Even after that she thought that I am biased, and I took Vivek's side. Though she later denied that she was dating Vivek, and he was hallucinating about the relationship, but again, she never spoke on record about any of her relationship, barring Salman Khan!

Then, I wrote an article about Salman Khan's camp calling her 'panvati' (bad omen) in Vivek's life. Let me be honest and admit that it was an article, which spoiled my relationship with Ash. It was just a journo and star relationship, which ended abruptly. I am only upset about the fact that she didn't even bother to come clean about Vivek Oberoi. There are so many facts and incidents, which cannot be shared in a public platform, but I know for a fact that Ash will be answerable to herself for what she did to someone who stood beside her at the cost of his own career.

Today, she turns 34. She has been one of the most beautiful faces of Indian cinema. She has made us proud of her achievements and no doubt she is one of the strongest 'brands' in the film industry today. I think a certain section of journalists (including yours truly) were malevolent to her when they addressed her as 'mangalik'. Are we justified in saying this about a successful career woman in the in 21-st century?

I have stopped bothering about Ash, now the least I can do is wish her happiness and prosperity. She will remain the way she is. Call it 'fake', 'superficial', 'calculative' and 'manipulative', but no one can ignore the fact that she is a newsmaker. She is someone who can pull crowds even after delivering a series of flops. She is a true star, even at 34!