Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan is pregnant

Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan is pregnant with her first child in her marriage to fellow actor Abhishek Bachchan, it has been revealed.Amitabh Bachchan, her father-in-law, delivered the news to followers on Twitter, dispelling months of rumours.

He tweeted: "T 410 -NEWS NEWS NEWS !! I AM GOING TO BECOME A GRANDFATHER .. AISHWARYA EXPECTING .. SO HAPPY AND THRILLED !!!"

The couple have been married for four years, but have persistently batted away rumours that they are planning to start a family.

The 37-year old actress described her husband as potentially a "good father" in 2009, because of his role playing the parent of his own dad Amitabh in their film Paa.

Amitabh last year criticised the media for its speculation that his daughter-in-law and son were unable to conceive despite reportedly stalling her career in preparation.

Salman, Ash top online search poll

Ex-couple Salman Khan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan were the most searched celebrities online in the month of May, according to a recent survey.

Salman’s latest film, Ready, was named the most popular movie of the month. He’s also been in the news for his charity work.. He is followed by Shahid Kapoor at number two, Shah Rukh Khan at three, Akshay Kumar at four and Aamir Khan at five. The survey pegged Rai as number one after the announcement of her film Heroine at the Cannes Film Festival. Next in line is Katrina Kaif, followed by Kareena Kapoor. Rounding off the list are Sonam Kapoor at number four, and Zarine Khan at five.

Aishwarya Rai praises Cannes actresses

Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan has praised fellow L'Oreal spokeswomen Sonam Kapoor and Freida Pinto for their appearances at Cannes this year.

The actress will be marking ten years as the Indian ambassador for the make-up brand, The Times of India reports.

Speaking to the paper, she said: "I am happy that with Sonam and Freida, both beautiful women, being invited to the festival this year, India will have a stronger presence, which is a clear sign of the growing importance of the country."

Kapoor was reportedly asked to replace 37-year old Rai-Bachchan in 2009 after the latter was considered to old to connect with younger L'Oreal consumers.

At the time, she praised Rai-Bachchan's career and said that she would be happy to achieve a "tenth" of the same success.

Slumdog Millionaire's Pinto was also asked to represent the brand in 2009, after achieving fame in the Danny Boyle film.

L'Oreal clears air on Aishwarya Rai -replacement

Cosmetic major L'Oreal Paris on Saturday said reports on actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan being replaced as the face of L'Oreal Paris due to her not being a part of their New Year commercial, are 'untrue'.

"We are shocked and surprised to read in some sections of the media/press about Ms. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan being replaced as the face of L'Oreal Paris," said an official statement on Saturday.

"L'Oreal Paris strongly reiterates that this is absolutely untrue and that Ms. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan continues to be our valued spokesperson, as she has since 2000. While she remains an integral part of the L'Oreal Paris world wide Dream Team, she was unfortunately unavailable for our New Year commercial shoot due to prior commitments."

"She is one of the most iconic women of our times and is certainly the face of L'Oreal Paris internationally and in India for a range of products which include campaigns for Total Repair 5, Excellence Crème, Color Riche, Hydrafresh," read the statement.

According to reports, Ash was replaced by 'Slumdog Millionaire' actor Freida Pinto after the former Miss World refused to be a part of L'Oreal's 'Happy New Year 2011' campaign.

Aishwarya Rai to sue Elle magazine cover 'skin-whitening' scandal

Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is fuming over Elle magazine cover 'skin-whitening' scandal, reveal her pals.

Fans of the actress were left stunned last week after her skin appeared to have been digitally lightened on the cover of the magazine's new issue.

According to friends, the 37-year-old Bollywood star, who is widely believed to be the world''s most beautiful woman, is said to be considering suing the Indian version of the title over what has been deemed ''racist airbrushing''.

The actress herself has not commented on the situation, but friends of the 'Bride and Prejudice' star have said she is ''furious''.

"Aishwarya''s first reaction was disbelief," the Daily Mail quoted one of herpal as saying.

"She believed that these things don''t happen anymore. Not in this day and age when women are recognised for their merit, and not for the colour of their skin.

"She is currently verifying this skin-whitening allegation. If there is any proof of this, she might even take action," the pal said.

"She is clearly the global face of the contemporary Indian woman. The last thing she''d want is to have a global image coloured by a racial suggestion," another pal added.

Neither Elle magazine or Mrs Bachan were available for comment today.

The actress, a former Miss World who is married to fellow actor Abhishek Bachchan, is thought to be too preoccupied by her father, who is ill, to look into the matter further.

Elle in race row for whitening Ash's skin

Fashion bible Elle magazine has been caught in a race row after reportedly whitening the skin of Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan on its cover.

Readers reacted with anger after it was suggested that the fashion magazine might have digitally "bleached" the complexion of the former Miss World.

The 37-year-old, who has also starred in Bride & Prejudice and The Pink Panther 2, appears on the cover of this month's Indian edition of the magazine. However, her skin appears to be several shades lighter than her normal colour.

Inside the magazine, she is again pictured in a series of shots, all showing her with pale skin, reports the Daily Mail.

Fans have been posting angry comments online about the latest cover, with one saying: "It's annoying because it seems like lighter skin is always in fashion as if darker skin is something to be frowned upon."

Kareena Kapoor fills Rai Bachchan role

Kareena Kapoor will reportedly play the role initially planned for Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Bajirao Mastani.

According to the Times of India, Bhansali hoped to make the epic 18th century love story in 2003 with Bachcan and Salman Khan but the project was shelved when the couple's relationship ended.

Bhansali is allegedly reviving the project after casting Kareena Kapoor in the lead female role opposite Khan.

The story is based on Indian folklore about General Peshwa Bajirao and his wife Mastani.



'Guzaarish' producers defend smoking scene

The producers of Guzaarish have defended Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s smoking scene in the film, describing it as a script requirement.

Responding to a protest letter sent by the National Organisation for Tobacco Eradication (NOTE), producers UTV said: "The scene in which the character played by Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is shown smoking was merely a creative requirement for the script."

The organisation objected to posters for the Sanjay Leela Bhansali film featuring the scene in which the actress smokes.

"The poster of the film picks and chooses the same frame in their advertisement campaign. Actually this is a clandestine advertisement of a tobacco product," a NOTE spokesperson told PTI.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan: Is she plain lucky?

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has become quite the epitome of success despite her latest three flicks not doing so well at the box office. This star has more than proved her star status not only in India but also abroad as everyone who is interested in the world of glitz and glamour is well aware by now.

However the actress in her is not yet satiated and she is thus reportedly going in for a signing up on quite a few new projects these days. The most popular star wife Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has also proved that marriage is a jinx for any actress in B town and has got a lot of important projects in her kitty right after she tied the nuptial knot with Abhishek Bachchan.

These days there is news floating around that director Vishal Bharadwaj is planning to sign Aishwarya and Hrithik Roshan for his project on the Shakespearean play Hamlet.

Now this amazing play by the most coveted playwright like Shakespeare that too with the ace director like Vishal Bharadwaj and two of the most hot and happening stars of Bollywood like Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Hrithik Roshan as the lead pair, actually sounds quite the perfect combination for a super hit flick!

As is known Aishwarya and Hrithik have looked extremely convincing as a couple in Dhoom 2 and Jodha Akbar, not to forget the amazing pair in the just released Guzaarish, it really seems like a dream project is about to begin for this deadly hot duo.

Now with Ash getting such great offers even as she has crossed the 35 plus mark in her birthday count one really wonders –is she plain lucky to get to work with the best of directors in B town?

Longoria's husband 'also seeks divorce'

Eva Longoria's husband Tony Parker has reportedly counterfiled for divorce only two days after the actress began legal proceedings to dissolve their marriage.

TMZ claims that Parker filed the papers in Bexar County, Texas, citing that the marriage had become "insupportable because of discord or conflict of personalities".

The papers also claim that the marital conflict has resulted in there being no chance of reconciliation between the pair.

Longoria filed for divorce from the NBA star earlier this week following the alleged discovery of more than a hundred text messages on Parker's phone between himself and his teammate's wife Erin Barry.

The couple married in July 2007 and were forced to deny Parker's involvement in an affair with model Alexandra Paressant only five months later.

Eva Longoria & Tony Parker: Divorce Update

While many of their fans were caught off-guard when they filed for divorce, Eva Longoria and Tony Parker's split was a long time coming.

According to Parker’s rep, “Eva and Tony have been discussing their situation privately. He was aware that she would be filing for divorce in Los Angeles."

“Tony did not file for divorce in Texas and did not hire divorce attorneys in either Texas or California. He plans to continue to keep their discussions of this matter private."

Meanwhile, an inside source leaked that everything came crashing down between Eva and Tony when Longoria found that her hubby had been keeping information about Erin Berry (his teammate’s wife) a secret.

“Tony had Erin’s personal information stored in an electronic program that only he could access. But one day he forgot to close the program and that’s when Eva found it. It was a double shot for her because not only did she find all the information but Eva also realized immediately that Tony had taken steps to hide it from her. The fact that Tony had been hiding Erin’s information and their correspondence made Eva feel like he had been lying to her for months, and basically he had been.”

Eva Longoria Splitting Up with Basketball Hubby Tony Parker

For many days, rumors have been going around about Eva Longoria divorcing her husband. Just yesterday, the actress has finally confirmed that she and basketball star Tony Parker are finally splitting up. The Desperate Housewives star has filed a divorce yesterday in Los Angeles because of the rumors that his husband has cheated on her with another wife of an NBA player.

She filed the divorce with the reason of having irreconcilable differences. Longoria, however, said that she still loves her husband and she is very affected by all that’s happening at present. She opened up to her friend, Mario Lopez, that the reason behind the separation is because of the cheating of Tony and the NBA wife who, sadly, is their mutual friend.

According to sources, Longoria read a couple of inappropriate text messages between Tony and the woman. Everything was confirmed by another NBA wife friend who claimed that she spent a long time dealing with the weight of what she knows is happening.

Tony, on the other hand, is now rumored to be begging for forgiveness for his actions. Eva, sadly, does not seem too moved by his apologies. The ex-couple have been together for almost 7 years and was wed in a fairytale setting three years ago. Too bad their ending is not too fairytale sweet.