CELEBRITY HUB

Jun 9, 2008

Aishwarya-Rai-Sketch

The Bachchan family is busy rehearsing for a perfect world tour from July. But daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai says even if things "go a bit (amiss) here and there" on stage, it only makes the stars real and human.

"You do all that is required professionally to put up an entertaining evening for your fans and well-wishers. But very honestly, my attitude is that I would like to keep it real," the actress said during an interview in Bangkok where she is attending the 9th International Indian Film Academy awards event.

"I love the fact that if things go a bit here and there, it makes us so real and human," said the former Miss World.

The Bachchan family is planning a world tour titled The Unforgettable from July that will go on till next year.

"It's incredible, the connection with fans, because they never allow you to see them let you down or you letting them down. It is great when it is real and human. That's the difference between in-person interaction through our stage shows as opposed to that on celluloid and an audience sitting in a theatre and watching," she said.

The tour will have Amitabh Bachchan, his son Abhishek, Riteish Deshmukh and Preity Zinta. While Akshay Kumar will join them for the inaugural evening in Toronto July 18, Madhuri Dixit will perform in the US and Shilpa Shetty in Britain. "We are excited about the guest stars as it makes it novel. In my experience it has never happened before. We are getting guest acts and it is going to be fun for the audiences as well."

She also said that they are trying to live up to the expectations of fans.

"The tour is something extensive and we have been working on it for a while. Through the fan mails and interactions with well-wishers, we get to know what people are looking forward to, apart from the most endearing part of our cinema - song and dance."

She also added that audience is the true star. "Their energy throughout the evening is unbelievable. We don't perform continuously as different artistes are performing and we have our acts, but the audiences are up on their feet throughout and that's what keeps the energy of the whole show."

On the fans who have been following her everywhere, she said: "Our people are very, very loving as you have seen over here. At a stage show it is an entire venue and at a film shoot it is smaller. But our people give us an audience at all the different locations. There is a statistics - one in six is Indian. We are everywhere."

She feels The Unforgettable tour will continue the momentum that Indian cinema has gained in recent times.

"It is going to continue the ongoing momentum and going to keep it as strong as it already is. Like always, I keep reiterating that media plays an important role in our lives and in our attempt to reach the people. We are thankful to the media for giving us that kind of reach."