"Saying no to Shankar & Rajini can be a problem"

Aishwarya Rai opened up to the media first time on her upcoming Tamil project – 'Robot' to be directed by the renowned craftsman Shankar. She would star against Superstar Rajinikanth. Readers might remember that most of the heroine roles in Rajini's last few projects starting from Nilambari in 'Padayappa' were offered to Aishwarya Rai, only to be turned down owing to the date issues of the actress.

Talking on Shankar and Rajinikanth, Aishwarya Rai expressed, "They are super entertainers, independently and together; it can be a problem saying no to them. I did get an enquiry last year when I was away on Pink Panther. This time I am happy that we could work out our schedule."

On heroines getting sidelined in a Rajini movie, Aishwarya was quick to refute the claim, "I don't think it's a fair statement. You can't but be fascinated by this phenomenon called Rajini sir. He is so super fascinating and intriguing to his audience. I don't think it's a deliberate attempt by any director to sideline any actor / character working along with him."

She went on to add, "Rajini Sir is such a wonderful human being. He has been so close to the family too. I am glad and honored to be working with him"

With Shankar finally managing to rope in Aishwarya Rai into his dream project, the expectations on 'Robot' would now touch sky high. The project to be produced by Ayngaran and Eros International has A.R.Rahman for music and will be the second film for Aishwarya Rai under Shankar's direction after 'Jeans'.