The B Team

After celebrating their third wedding anniversary in New York , Abhishek and Aishwarya Bachchan were in Mumbai on Saturday, just for a day. The stopover — before flying to Greece — was for the music launch of their upcoming film Raavan. “I’m going to Greece for the shoot of Game and Aishwarya has agreed to come along,” says Abhishek, looking dapper in a black suit. His star wife looked elegant in an intricately designed Sabyasachi sari. However, the spotlight was on Mani Ratnam’s Raavan, arguably the most awaited release of 2010.

The couple make it clear that the film has no connection to the epic. “The only connection is the title. But then you can draw parallels once the film has released,” says Aishwarya, adding it was the most taxing role of her career. It wasn’t any different for Abhishek, who recounted the entire experience with a touch of humour. “The first day, Mani put us under the waterfall for two hours and, trust me, we were in character. After that, we were made to jump off cliffs, dance in the forest with snakes and leeches around. After a point, we stopped acting, we were just reacting naturally.”

Despite all the trouble they had, they insist Ratnam is the best. “Once you work with him, you will be in awe of him because of the talent he brings to the table. The minute he says cut, he turns into a dear friend,” says Abhishek, who plays Beera, whose nickname is Raavan. Aishwarya portrays Ragni, a strong, feisty woman who is paired opposite Tamil superstar Vikram. “Beera is the most fun character I have played. When we work on a character, we draw an outline and then fill in the blanks. But Beera is so unpredictable that you can get away with everything,” says Abhishek. He then pauses for a moment and says, “Although it is great to work with one of the finest actors (Aishwarya) in the country, Mani Sir judged Vikram and me on the basis of her performance. He would constantly tell us, ‘If she can hang upside down from a tree, why can’t you?’” Probably, this was one of the reasons why Abhishek chose not to do the Tamil version: “I’ve had my hands full with the character of Beera. And I don’t speak Tamil the way Aishwarya does.”