Bahurani was ethereal in ‘Jodhaa-Akbar’: Amitabh
Noreen Aslam

MUMBAI—Doting father-in-law Amitabh Bachchan feels ‘bahurani’ Aishwarya Rai, a celebrity in her own right, fits perfectly in Bollywood’s most glamorous household. “In Uttar Pradesh, the daughter-in-law is addressed as ‘bahurani’. In our house, that is how we address Aishwarya Rai. It is a most endearing expression and completely fulfilling in describing her presence in our home,” the Big B told said in an interview.
The aging superstar cannot stop raving about his daughter-in-law’s performance in Ashutosh Gowariker’s period romance “Jodhaa-Akbar”. “I have often used the word ‘ethereal’ in some of my interviews earlier to describe a special moment or a person. For Aishwarya in J-A, I’d want to use that again for I lack the knowledge of finding an adequate substitute.” The star of the Seventies, Eighties and Nineties derived his strength from his family, especially his parents. “Yes, our parents have been our life and strength. They shall remain with us... I think of them and remember them every step of my day,” the actor said.
Q: What did you think of Aishwarya in “Jodhaa-Akbar”, and of the film?
A: I have often used the word “ethereal” in some of my interviews earlier, not in this context, but to describe a special moment or a person. For Aishwarya in “Jodhaa-Akbar”, I’d want to use that again for I lack the knowledge of finding an adequate substitute.
“Belonging to the heavens” or “from the celestial sphere” would sound too mushy and too much like a doting father-in-law. But it would be pretty close to it. The movie was grand, large, symbolic and pertinent. It was full of moments of immense uplifting aesthetic beauty. But the one moment that almost made me stand up and scream my appreciation in the theatre was that brilliant sequence in the qawwali ‘Khwaja, mere Khwaja’, when Akbar, hit by an almost other-world connection, gets up and joins the Sufi singers trancelike, moving in servile submission. This great emperor, this ruler of the land, one with the common man, is succumbing to that unknown force, which no human has ever been able to decipher. Ahh...! I get goose bumps. I have not felt like that since that historic moment in the movie “2001- Space Odessey” when the ape-man in prehistoric times discovers a bone and accidentally finds its use as a weapon to destroy another and in the excitement of his discovery flings it in the air. The bone is caught in slow motion as it moves in the atmosphere and... cut to ... a futuristic space station, moving equally, in high speed, to the strains of Johann Strauss’s “Blue Danube”. Brilliant!!
Q: Aishwarya has blended beautifully into the Bachchan portrait. What are your thoughts about your “bahu” a year after the wedding?
A: In Uttar Pradesh, the daughter-in-law in the house is addressed as “bahurani”. In our house, that is how we address Aishwarya. It is a most endearing expression and completely fulfilling in describing her presence in our home. What other thoughts do you expect me to have after what I have told you. All other niceties remain in the private and personal domain.