Aishwarya Rai ‘hid it well’ after her split from Salman Khan, recalls Shabd co-star Saadia Siddiqui (Image credit: Instagram)
Sadia Siddiqui recalled working with Aishwarya Rai in the 2005 film Shabd, and recalled how the actress remained calm and professional despite going through one of the most turbulent phases in her personal life after her highly publicized breakup with Salman Khan.Sadia said while talking to Siddharth Kannan
Aishwarya
She never allowed her personal struggles to influence her work on set, describing her as fully prepared and deeply committed to her craft.
Aishwarya and
Salman
He fell in love during the shooting of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s blockbuster Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and soon became one of the most talked-about couples in Bollywood, with speculation rife about the marriage. However, in 2002, Aishwarya confirmed that the relationship was over, saying that Salman was finding it difficult to come to terms with the breakup.
The controversy escalated in 2003 when actor Vivek Oberoi, who was briefly linked to Aishwarya, held a widely discussed press conference in which he claimed that Salman had threatened him over the phone.
Aishwarya later married Abhishek Bachchan in 2007, while Salman Khan remained single.
“You hid it well.”
Asked if she felt Aishwarya’s emotional turmoil on the sets of Shabd, Saadiya said she did not see it reflected in the actor’s work.
“Actually, I didn’t have a single scene with Aishwarya, so I never got close enough to know what she was going through. I don’t know her personally at all,” she said.However, she added that from what she observed, Aishwarya remarkably maintained her composure.“But from everything I observed, she hid it well. She was always perfectly prepared, knew all her lines, read the script well and worked with complete professionalism.”
“I don’t think she let her personal life affect her work at all.”
“She was very professional”
Sadia went on to praise Aishwarya’s preparation and dedication to her character.“I read the script a few times and she was discussing how to play the scene and the psychology of her character. I was so excited to meet her for the first time,” she recalls.Recalling her first impression of the actress, Saadia said: “I still remember seeing her standing there wearing jeans and a t-shirt and saying, ‘She is really beautiful.’”
“It was a beautiful experience.”She added that Aishwarya looked “stunning” in Shabd and credited cinematographer Asim Bajaj for portraying her beautifully on screen.
Sadia recalls Sanjay Dutt Unique acting process
Sadia, who also shared screen space with Sanjay Dutt in Shabd, recalled an interesting behind-the-scenes moment from their first scene together.“My first scene with Sanjay Dutt was in the kitchen. Before shooting, I asked him: Should we draw lines?” Leena Yadav came to me and said, “You draw your own lines.”
“He’s not comfortable practicing.”She admitted that she was surprised at first but soon realized that every actor has a different working style.“That was the first time I’d heard that. Some actors don’t open up easily with another actor. Maybe that’s simply the way they work. I’m also a very private person. It takes time to trust people, but once I’m on set, that’s my job. Some actors know exactly how they want to perform and would rather you focus on your own preparation.”
The scene went well in the end.”When asked about reports that Sanjay sometimes uses cue cards in his dialogues, Sadia said, “Not in the scene I did with him. It definitely didn’t happen with me. Could it happen otherwise? I don’t know.”
About Shabd
Shabd was released in 2005 and was directed by Leena Yadav, starring Sanjay Dutt, Aishwarya Rai and Zayed Khan in the lead roles. The psychological drama revolves around a writer whose obsession with his fictional story begins to blur the lines between fantasy and reality.
