Article Updated 02 November, 2005 02:04:11 PM IST   Ga-ga over Ash! By Vickey Lalwani ©2005 Bollyvista.com   Aishwarya Rai has played a key role in putting Bollywood on the world map. Filming is well underway, rather, almost done in Tunisia for international star Aishwarya Rai on 'The Last Legion', a Dino De Laurentiis presentation, produced by Martha and Raffaella De Laurentiis and directed by Doug Lefler. 'The Last Legion' is a seventy million dollar epic adventure independently financed by Quinta Communications’ Tarak Ben Ammar and British co-producers Chris Curling and Phil Robertson of Zephyr Films. "Her fans will be shocked and thrilled with this never before seen Aishwarya. She is simply marvelous," states Simone Sheffield, Rai's International Manager. Stunt Coordinator Steve Griffin ('Terminator 3', 'Titanic', 'Mummy Returns', 'Bad Boys’, ‘Charlie’s Angels', 'Bourne Identity') says of Rai, "When I was told that Aishwarya was to be the leading lady in ‘The Last Legion’, I did my homework on her. However, the information I found showed her as a pretty model, a waif of a person. This of course put my panic in motion. Because of another work related commitment Aishwarya was unable to join us until we had in fact already began filming in Tunisia. The first time she came for rehearsals it was enlightening in that because of her dance history I found she could move well and remember choreography very easily. We put a sword in her hand and she just flowed, the next thing was to get her aggression up to make it look like she would kill somebody. She needed little motivation and her acting was superb. I believe Aishwarya to be a natural born action hero". Fight Choreographer Dion Lam ('Spider-Man 2’, ‘The Matrix 1, 2 & 3’) says, "Aishwarya is faster than any other actress I have ever taught. Very smart and intelligent. If she continues to do action films Aishwarya will eventually become a true super-hero woman. I look forward in working with her in the future". Sword Master and Fight Choreographer Richard Ryan (Troy) says, "I had the great pleasure to train Aishwarya to handle a sword while in full motion of attack. Aishwarya has a natural facility for picking up (fight) choreography, and has good kinesthetic awareness, which helps enormously. Her handling of the sword is very good, especially so for someone with no previous experience. Although she learns choreography quickly, she applies herself thoroughly to understanding the intention of what she is doing within the choreography and is prepared to repeat and re-rehearse techniques and movements." Costume Designer Paolo Scalabrino (‘Gangs of New York’, ‘Troy’, ‘Seven Years in Tibet’) "My first impression of Aishwarya in our initial meeting in London was ‘what a very beautiful, feminine delicate lady she is’. However, when she turned up for work one month later (August 10th), I found a toughened, well-toned (down 4 inches) and determined actress. I discovered a different person. You could see she had put lots of physical energy and mental training in to address the role." The production has moved from Tunisia to Slovakia to complete the filming.   close   Print this Article http://www.bollyvista.com   http://www.bollyvista.com/article/a/34/5784