When Aishwarya Rai said she rejected film offers before Miss India: ‘I would have to be answerable to my kids’

During an appearance on Rendezvous With Simi Garewal, Aishwarya talked about what went into her decision to become an actor. “Well, the pros were that I was not really gambling because, by the grace of God, I was being invited to join the industry even before. It seems very secure, so the pros were plenty. The cons were doing something that no one in my family had done, I would be setting a precedent, I would be setting a kind of example, which I have to be answerable to,” she said.

“The con was, I was an example to a lot of impressionable minds out there who would be thinking, ‘Well, if she could do it, just chuck her studies and go on to pursue a world of glamour’, they would probably be telling their parents that too. I would have to be answerable. Like I say, this is very basic… I would have to be answerable to my kids. Something I think about and sometimes I just tease my parents. I am like, what am I going to tell them? If they turn around and tell me, ‘Mum, I want to chuck my studies because this is something I want to do’, I am going to take a long sigh and think before I advise them because I am going to be in the hot seat,” she added.

Aishwarya and her husband Abhishek Bachchan welcomed their daughter Aaradhya in 2011. She will be seen next in Mani Ratnam’s Ponniyin Selvan, a cinematic adaptation of the Tamil epic novel of the same name. The film features an ensemble cast, including Vikram, Jayam Ravi, Karthi, Trisha Krishnan, R Sarathkumar, Prakash Raj and others. Its first part will hit the screens on September 30.