Aishwarya Rai puts brother before Mani Ratman

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan might be a thorough professional but she doesn’t mind giving priority to family commitments occasionally, which resulted in director Mani Ratnam going ahead with the shooting of Raavana without her. The actress wasn’t present on the sets of Raavana in Lonavla on Monday as she was celebrating Bhai Dooj in Mumbai.

A source from the unit says, “Mani sir was scheduled to shoot a train scene at Lonavla station on Monday and Tuesday with Aishwarya and South actor Vikram. Although Mani sir had permission to shoot only for two days at the station, Aishwarya couldn’t make it on one of the days because of a family ritual. Without wasting time, Mani sir continued to shoot the scene with Vikram and a few portions of some action scenes and packed up early in the evening. Aishwarya and her husband Abhishek Bachchan reached Amby Valley near Lonavla late on Monday night.”

“Mani Ratnam, his wife Suhasini and DOP Santosh Sivan spent the night at Amby Valley along with Abhi-Ash. Next morning, they went to Lonavla station where Aishwarya shot with Vikram. The train sequence started at Lonavla and went up to Karjat. The film’s cast and crew went to and fro four times on Tuesday,” adds the source.
Aishwarya’s spokesperson says, “Aishwarya is a thorough professional and she was on the sets when required.”