Aishwarya Rai

Aishwarya will not be able to spend much time with her hubby Abhishek in Kochi where they are currently shooting for Mani Ratnam’s forthcoming film Ravana.

Though Ash spent a quiet birthday with her husband in the forests of Kochi and is currently enjoying her solitude but soon she will be flying off to Kulu Manali to be with Rajnikanth.

Ash will dashing to Kulu and Manali on November 14 to join the crew of her sci-fi film Endhiran, previously titled Robot, which has the Tamil superstar playing the lead. The shooting of Endhiran began in the exotic Machu Picchu valley of Peru on September 8 this year. The second leg saw the crew traveling to Goa for a 10-day shooting schedule and Kulu Manali marks the third phase of shooting for the film.

“The third leg of shooting begins in Kulu Manali on 14th of this month. Rajnikanth and Aishwarya both are busy with their respective film projects but they will come to Kulu on the same date. Rajnikanth is currently doing his animation project Sultan in Hyderabad and Aishwarya is shooting for Mani Ratnam in the forests of Kochi. The third leg will most probably be of the same duration as the second leg,” says a source.

The shooting of Endhiran has become a closely guarded affair as the director is leaving no stones unturned to keep the details of the shoot a secret.

During the Peru schedule, stills of the film from the sets were leaked and it flooded the internet sites. Since then, Shankar is taking precaution and he has hired extra security guards for the Goa shoot so that no outsider gets to click any picture. The same routine is expected to be followed during the Kulu schedule, the source adds.

Most expensive Indian film?
Directed by S Shankar, Endhiran is based on the work of the late writer Sujatha’s novels En Iniya Iyanthira and Jeeno Shankar. Shankar has previously directed Rajnikanth in the super-hit Sivaji: The Boss.

The film has a mammoth budget of rupees 140 crore, perhaps making it the most expensive film to be made in India to date. Endhiran is expected to release on April 14, 2010.