Why Ash is tickled pink

International acclaim, a doting husband and a plum role in a Hollywood film... Bollywood beauty Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan still knows how to turn heads. The actress talks to Abdulla Mahmood about how she balances marriage and a busy acting schedule.

Address former Miss World Aishwarya Rai by her maiden name and she's quick to retort, "I'm now Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan", reminding you that she is now married to Abhishek Bachchan, scion of the renowned Bachchan family.

A change in her marital status has hardly affected the 35-year-old actress's appeal. Aishwarya recently made it onto the list of the Top 50 Most Desirable Woman in the World according to the annual AskMen.com poll.

One factor that contributes to her ever-growing popularity worldwide is her ability to balance her films. She opts for plum roles in Bollywood and chooses interesting projects in the West. Her line-up of international projects includes Bride & Prejudice, Mistress of Spices, The Last Legion and Provoked. However, none of these were mainstream Hollywood flicks.

Now Aishwarya plays one of the key roles in Hollywood blockbuster, The Pink Panther 2 (sequel to The Pink Panther) - starring Steve Martin as the bumbling Inspector Jacques Clouseau. The light-eyed beauty doesn't, however, play the lead actress as Emily Mortimer will reprise the role of Jacques' girlfriend, Nicole Nuveau.

"I found the character offered to me in The Pink Panther 2 very interesting and it suited my sensibilities. I play Sonia, a criminology expert who helps Steve Martin's character in solving the case in the film," says Aishwarya.

The actress also feels elated to be acting alongside funnyman Martin. "It's an honour for me to act with Steve Martin, who is one of Hollywood's finest talents. I thoroughly enjoyed working with him. In fact, the entire experience of working under Herald Zwart's direction has been an enriching experience," she says.

Acting in such international projects and multiple Indian films should keep the actress busy and one can't help but wonder how Aishwarya manages to balance her professional life with her personal life?

"The best part about marriage to Abhishek is that he is also an actor and understands the requirements of the profession. Sometimes I have to be away for long shoots overseas, but the good thing is that we always try to keep in touch with each other and, if time permits, we even catch up with each other. Besides, we make it a point to be together during important occasions in our personal and professional lives," says Aishwarya.

Abhishek may be a successful actor in his own right. He, however, pales in comparison with his beautiful wife as far as international fame is concerned. So are there moments of awkwardness or bruised professional egos cropping up between the couple? Aishwarya brushes aside any such issues. "We knew each other very well before marriage and there is no room for any such thoughts in our lives. We are happy for each other and there are many occasions where I may just represent Abhishek as his wife rather than an actress and vice-versa."

Yes, Aishwarya and Abhishek certainly got an opportunity to know each other very well before marriage, as they did four back-to-back films together (Bunty Aur Babli, Umrao Jaan, Dhoom 2 and Guru), before they got married in April 2007.

The time spent together must have helped foster a commitment towards each other. They continue to act together even after marriage with Sarkar Raj last year and now Mani Ratnam's much-anticipated Raavana followed by director Abhinav Deo's new thriller. "I am always happy to be paired with Abhishek in a film, simply because it gives us an opportunity to spend more time together. However, that doesn't mean that we will blindly sign up for any film that stars us.

I am eagerly looking forward to our next film," says the actress.

As if Hollywood and Bollywood weren't enough to keep her hands full, Aishwarya managed to make time for Tamil blockbuster, Endhiran (earlier titled Robot) starring South Indian superstar, Rajnikant. The film required that she shoot in the exotic locales of Peru, Brazil and US. "I couldn't resist the offer of acting opposite Rajnikant after missing out on several films that tried to team us together in the past. I am glad that I am finally doing the film with Rajnikant, even if it meant staying away from my family for a while," she says.

That leads us to the final question: amidst these professional commitments, when will the actress start a family? "It's bound to happen at the right time - in just the way my marriage took place," she replies.

At the rate she's going, it won't be a surprise if Aishwarya manages to balance family, children and films in the future while continuing to look like a million bucks!