Pregnant Pause

Director Rajkumar Santoshi,who had recently announced his film,Ladies and Gentlemen,with Rai-Bachchan and her husband,Abhishek,in the lead,says,“It is a film that I had written keeping her in mind. For now,the movie has been postponed to next year. She is a talented and beautiful artiste and this period should be treated as her maternity leave.”

Others in the film industry,too,have rubbished claims that Rai-Bachchan’s brand value may suffer financially when she takes some time off for her family. Ashutosh Gowariker says,“Marriage did not decrease Aishwarya’s brand value,and I don’t see why motherhood will decrease it in any way.” The actress’s spokesperson,too,repeats that she has worked with some of the country’s best filmmakers after marriage,such as Gowariker,Ram Gopal Varma,Mani Ratnam and Shankar.

Considering that Rai-Bachchan is one of the industry’s top actresses,it’s not surprising that a reported Rs 30 crore is riding on Heroine alone. However,given that figures for other announced projects have not been given out,it’s difficult to say how much money in total is riding on the actress. Nevertheless,it is safe to say that she has generated enough goodwill in the industry for it to continue backing her.

It’s also become clear that pregnancy won’t affect how the actress is viewed when it comes to endorsement deals. KV Sridhar,national creative director of Leo Burnett,points out,“Aishwarya is not a pin-up girl or a swimsuit calendar girl; she’s more in the class of Maharani Gayatri Devi,whose appeal only grows with age. Yes,there might be fewer people who will put up posters of her,but that doesn’t mean her brand value will decrease. Advertisers may not make her do anything too active,but as her pregnancy advances,they can always find creative ways to include her in their campaigns.” Although Longines,the luxury watch brand that Rai-Bachchan endorses,is yet to release a statement,the actress’s endorsement deal with French cosmetics giant,L’Oreal,seems safe.

Sridhar says there’s only one way in which the actress might suffer a setback: “If she stays away from the public eye as she focuses on her family,then that might cause a problem,since the public and advertisers always wants celebs to be in the news. ”

So far,Rai-Bachchan’s position seems solid,as evidenced by Wednesday’s announcement of Viacom18 Motion Pictures’ new film,with her in the lead,which is slated to start in 2012.

(With inputs from Dipti Nagpaul-D’Souza)