Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan says his daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai will continue acting in films, bucking the trend of actresses quitting the industry after marriage, reports said on Thursday.
Rai’s marriage last week to actor Abhishek Bachchan, captivated film-crazy Indians, who wondered if the former Miss World would continue her career.
“Jaya and I have insisted that Aishwarya must continue with her acting career,” Bachchan told the Times of India, referring to his actress wife who disappeared from the screen after marriage and resurfaced nearly two decades later.
Bachchan said he would be comfortable acting and dancing with Rai, with whom he and his son shared a superhit dance number in the 2005 blockbuster “Bunty aur Babli”.
The family faced criticism for Rai and Abishek’s fiercely private wedding, to which only a select few were invited. But the actor defended the decision, saying that if he had to invite all his friends, the number of guests would have crossed 20,000.
“Certain people, who were important and intimate and needed to be called, were called,” he said.
Top star Shah Rukh Khan, who was not invited and with whom Bachchan has a running popularity battle, called to congratulate the couple, Bachchan said.
Bachchan said celebrations were also kept low-key because his mother is critically ill.
