So Where Does Aishwarya Rai Rank These Days?
Aishwarya Rai
The lukewarm response to her recent Hollywood release Pink Panther-II has had Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (35) conceding her position as the most popular face of Bollywood.
In the West to the new international craze 24-year-old Freida Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire), who according to reliable sources has been signed for two films — one with Woody Allen and the second with Julian Schnabel.
Freida, who is said to have earned over two million pounds, overtaking Bollywood beauties like Aishwarya Rai, Kareena Kapoor and Katrina Kaif is also, according to a world film distributor, being wooed to walk the red carpet at Cannes in May 2009.
On the Bollywood front, Kareena Kapoor (28) has nudged Aishwarya Rai Bachchan out of the Filmfare Top-10 Power list.
But a producer from Chennai confirms that Ash is still the highest paid Indian heroine and has reportedly been paid a fee of Rs six crore for Shankar’s “Robot“, where she is cast opposite Rajnikant.
The actor is said to have received a cheque of Rs one crore as signing amount, that is also a first. Usually it is only the leading men who receive such a big sum as a signing amount. Reportedly, Rajnikant himself is said to come with a price tag of Rs 25 crore for the same film. He will also get a share in the profits since “Robot” will be released in Hindi and Tamil.
Also, Aishwarya has signed some more films recently with likes of Vipul Shah’s “Action Replay” wherein cast includes Akshay Kumar and Randhir Kapoor and another movie named “Ravana” wherein Aishwarya acts as Sita along with hubby Abhishek Bachchan. We’re sure, it’s just a phase and Aishwarya will soar back to top ranking with these movies.