Ajay's last turn on the big screen was in Khakee. First, it was to shoot for Mani Ratnam's Yuva, then he was signed by Aparna Sen for her Gulel and now it's Rituparno Ghosh making his foray into Hindi films with Raincoat. While Ajay is reluctant to reveal details about his role in Ghosh's film, his Bengali director is more than willing to share the story of his film.

"It's about two estranged lovers," says Ghosh. "She is married, he is not. Ajay plays a defeated person who arrives in Kolkata for some work and ends up meeting Aishwarya. It's about their relationship." For those searching for the Raincoat , Ghosh assures that it plays a significant role in the film.

As for casting Ajay, the filmmaker points to the actor's versatility. "He's such a good actor," explains Ghosh. "I think so far we have mostly seen him in tough-guy roles. I want to show his sensitive side."

Rituparno Ghosh is all ready to treat Kolkata. A month from now, during the Dussehra festival, Kolkata will witness a different kind of festivity - Aishwarya Rai and Ajay Devgan will be in town to attend the release function of Rituparno Ghosh's Raincoat. The film, which opens on Oct 22, is not Ghosh's first supremely sensitive Hindi film, it is also the first avant-garde in which both the stars have worked. Neither Ajay nor Aishwarya are strangers to this genre of cinema. Aishwarya's stunningly lucid Chokher Bali took the art world by storm. Raincoat is a critical film for Aishwarya. It will hit the screen two weeks after the worldwide release of her first international project Bride and Prejudice, and a week before debutante director Leena Bajaj's Shabd, which is Aishwarya's first film with a female director. Will Raincoat shield her from the acid rain that a section of the press showered on her after the box office debacle of Kyun! Ho Gaya Na.



In a way, Chokher Bali prepared me for Raincoat, said Aishwarya. There is not similarity between the two films, but in both the scripts I had to play the role of a women who is bereft but brave and extremely modern within her conservative settings. In both films I felt myself growing as an actress.

Ghosh said, I don't think audiences will get to see Ash and Ajay in a film like Raincoat again. I enjoyed shooting with them and now I'm having a ball directing Abhishek and Soha in Antar Mahal. The role was first offered to Kareena Kapoor, who said an enthusiastic 'yes'. And then she simply refused to take my calls, I tried everything. SMS, phone calls. When nothing worked, I approached Aishwarya and she immediately agreed to work in my film. I don't know what Kareena would've done with the Bihari housewife's role in Raincoat! But what Ash has done is beyond all my expectations,

Whats up with her hair?

Raincoat pehanaa thaa na isilye aisa hogaya re Chitz

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kekekeke

she looks old now. see her neck? also her hands are wrinkled.

May be she shld take a leaf from Madonna's life

Yesterday citytimes had a complete foto-accompanied description of what all the 46 year old Madonna does to keep herself looking young still!

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Abhi zamanna hai Mallika Sherawat aur Rakhi Sawant kaa.. Aish ka time khatam hogaya. Lets see how she performs in Raincoat.. after a flop in Kyon? Ho Gaya Na.