Aishwarya is hurt in freak accident at outdoor shoot

Late in the night, Aishwarya was flown to Hinduja Hospital in Mumbai. Among those waiting for her at Mumbai’s Santacruz airport was Vivek Oberoi. The incident occured at about 5:45 pm while Rai and her co-star Tusshar Kapoor were watching Akshay Kumar rehearse a shot. The driver apparently lost control over the vehicle, and it skidded and hit Aishwarya, who was watching the rehearsals from the side of the road. She was knocked down in a thorny bush, suffered a minor fracture on her leg and bruises on her hands and feet.

Khakee’s producer Keshu Ramsay, speaking on the phone from Nashik, said: ‘‘She was sitting in a corner with Tusshar when a Gypsy skidded over the mud on the road. The driver lost control and it hit Aishwarya.’’ He added: ‘‘She is absolutely out of danger and we have chartered a helicopter to fly her over to Mumbai.’’

Sources said Aishwarya was rushed to Dr V.R. Kakatkar’s nursing home in Nashik around 6 pm. They said her leg had been plastered. Her condition was stable and she was out of danger, they added. She was flown to Mumbai late on Wednesday night.

The shooting schedule for the film, directed by Rajkumar Santoshi, was expected to extend to April 10, and the actress was due to shoot till April 5. The film, a police story, also stars Amitabh Bachchan, Ajay Devgan and Jaya Prada.