It can’t be anything but destiny. Aishwarya Rai who will be playing Mumtaz Mahal in Ben Kingsley’s film on the Taj Mahal, brought in her 34th birthday in Agra with her real-life Shah Jahan.

“You make it sound so dramatic and romantic,” she said on the eve of her birthday.

“It’s nothing like that. I’m bringing it in with Abhishek, ma and pa. Abhishek was shooting an ad in Agra, so, I joined him with Ma (mom-in-law Jaya Bachchan). And now Pa (father-in-law Amitabh Bachchan) has also joined us. So, you could say it’s a perfect birthday by the Taj Mahal, though not quite at the Taj Mahal-have you seen the crowds over there?-we can’t risk going to the Taj Mahal, but a stone’s throw away,” said Ash.

On Nov 1, her birthday Aishwarya was on top of the world. “My birthday in Agra was just too special. Someone up there has answered all my prayers.” It’s been a hectic time for Aishwarya.

“I came back from the US from shooting Pink Panther in time for Karwa Chauth. God knows how the TV cameras got our shots, probably from neighbour’s premise. We’re just leading our lives normally. I don’t know why or how the press has this hunger to know about us,” said Aishwarya.

“This is my first birthday after marriage and therefore a very special occasion. But that apart, you know me. Spending time with the people I love is my greatest joy. I’m in a very happy place. And I don’t mean Agra.

“Just being with three people who mean so much to me makes my life complete. God has been kind. There’s great fulfillment in love and in being loved, by not just my husband but his parents who are now my parents. We’re one family and we all love one another,” she said.

After her marriage the glow on her face would make the sunglass industry thrive, there was laughter again. “Well if you say I glow, it’s the glow of happiness. I couldn’t have asked for more.”

She’ll be heading straight to Karjat after her birthday for the last two days’ shooting of Ashutosh Gowariker’s Jodha-Akbar. Ash says she is excited about doing the Taj Mahal film with Ben Kingsley.

“On the first day of shooting The Last Legion with him he walked up to me he said, ‘I’ve this idea.’ And he told me about the Shah Jahan-Mumtaz Mahal film that he’d like to do. You know, how many Taj Mahal scripts have come my way.

“I told Ben there have been many occasions when this subject has come to me. But there was something exceptionally interesting about the way he approached the subject. And yes, the whole process of discussing the subject with him was participative. After The Last Legion I kind of put it in the back of my mind. But earlier this year he confirmed it was on,” said the pretty actress.

At the moment it’s Jodha-Akbar that occupies Aishwarya’s mind. “You know me. Once I get into a subject I’m totally into it. But yes, I’m looking forward to working with Sir Ben again.”

What does she want for her birthday? She thinks a while and says, “Just blessings and good wishes. Apart from that God has given me everything.”

Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai will play Mumtaz Mahal in a film to be co-produced by British actor Sir Ben Kingsley.
Kingsley himself will play the role of the Mughal emperor Shahjahan in the flick.

The movie is on the building of the Taj Mahal. The romance will also include Shah Jahan’s abject isolation for years in a prison cell,” Kinglsey is quoted by Time of India.

Kingsley added that he had spoken to Ash about the project while filming The Last Legion with her.

“She very generously agreed to do the movie with me. My production house is working with a screenwriter on the project. I have very clear ideas about how I want to approach the subject.” Kingsley is quoted as saying.

The movie will be shot in Agra and Fatehpur Sikri. The shooting will begin next year.

It may be recalled that Sir Ben Kingsley was one of the hosts of The Seven New Wonders of the World event in July in Lisbon when Bipasha Basu announced Taj Mahal as one of the new wonders.

Kingsley is best known for his performance as Mahatma Gandhi in Sir Richard Attenborough’s award winning film ‘Gandhi’ (1982).
Aishwarya Rai is presently shooting Pink Panther 2 in Boston, USA.

Bollywood hottie Bipasha Basu is all set to make her presence felt in Hollywood.

Bipasha caught the attention of many people throughout the world when she hosted the New Seven Wonders of the World event in Lisbon in July with Hollywood stars Hilary Swank and Ben Kingsley. After that, Bipasha signed Simone Sheffield as her manager in Hollywood. Simone is already the international manager of Aishwarya Rai .

Talking about Bipasha’s foray into Hollywood, Simone told a Mumbai-based tabloid that Bipasha will work in two English movies to be made by prominent Hollywood studios.

Simone further adds that Bipasha has got another Hollywood offer on the table but things are not yet finalized because the male star of the film is still to be decided.

While Simone refuses to reveal anything about these projects, there is a rumour going around that Bipasha is being considered for a plum role in the future episodes of famous TV series ‘Lost’.

Of late, Bollywood beauties have begun catching a lot of attention in Hollywood. Aishwarya Rai is already working in Pink Panther 2. Mallika Sherawat will be seen as a Muslim woman in Unveiled. Celina Jaitely also signed a Hollywood project recently.

British actor Ben Kingsley, taking the wedding plunge for the fourth time, has married 34-year-old Brazilian actress Daniela Barbosa de Carneiro.

The rites were performed Monday in front of about a dozen guests at Eynsham Hall, a few miles from the 63-year-old actor’s Oxfordshire home, The Telegraph reported Friday.

Lunch on the lawn followed the low-key ceremony.

The couple had been dating for a year after being introduced by friends in Hollywood.

Instead of going on a honeymoon, Kingsley’s new wife will accompany him to the Canadian set of his new film The Love Guru, The newspaper said in an interview with The Telegraph, Kingsley addressed the gap in their ages.

It is a perfectly balanced relationship, which like scales, includes its swings, he said. Without sounding pompous, she looks like a combination of ancient Egypt and ancient Rome. I love mythology and Shakespeare and so does she.

We have that connection. She has that deep appreciation for ancient mythology. She embodies it, which is so attractive.

Ben Kingsley is to marry new love Daniela Barbosa.

The “Gandhi” legend, who announced his relationship with the actress to the world when they attended a Hollywood premiere last year, has revealed the pair are engaged.

Ben, who has been married three times before, said: “I’m very happy. Marriage is going to happen, but I don’t know when. I call her my fiancee because she is.”

Daniela, 32, who uses the stage name Daniela Lavender, has appeared in BBC TV drama “Casualty” and also had a role in Sacha Baron Cohen’s “Ali G Indahouse.”

Ben’s marriage to German aristocrat Alexandra Christmann lasted 15 months, before her extra-marital affair with estate agent Sammy Brauner was revealed in candid photographs.

The 63-year-old actor was previously married to director Alison Sutcliff, and before that to actress Angela Morant.

Penelope Cruz and British veteran actor Sir Ben Kingsley are to star in a big-screen adaptation of the steamy Philip Roth novella “Dying Animal”, it was reported Wednesday.

Cruz, nominated at last month’s Oscars for her performance in “Volver”, will join Kingsley and Patricia Clarkson in the film, which will begin shooting in Vancouver next month, Variety reported.

The film tells the story of a student who engages in a torrid affair with her professor and then returns to confront him years later.

Tom Rosenberg, of producers Lakeshore, said the company had made adapting Roth’s works for cinema a priority.

“He’s one of the great American writers, and this one is squarely an adult story, with the kind of erotic scenes that hark back to the films of the 1970s,” Rosenberg told Variety.