Why did Aishwarya Rai turn down films offers by Will Smith?

Judging by archives, Bollywood superstar Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Hollywood A-lister Will Smith have always wanted to work together, but some how never succeeded in their endeavours.

According to The Hindustan Times, WIll offered her his films like Hitch, Seven Pounds and Tonight He Comes but Aishwarya could not make time for even one of them due to different reasons. In an recently unearthed 2008 interview with IANS, Aishwarya revealed the real reason she turned down Seven Pounds. Back then, rumours had been rife that she chose to attend Karwa Chauth festivities back home in India, but that's far from the truth, as Aishwarya confirmed.

"That’s what they wrote in the US press... that I preferred to return to Mumbai to ‘starve’ myself for a religious occasion than to meet Smith for the film. That’s completely incorrect," she had said, adding, "The script reading for The Seven Pounds was just after Diwali when Dadimaa (Teji Bachchan)’s health dipped drastically. So I didn’t make that trip out to LA for the reading session with Will. Is that wrong? Not to me. I’d put family over career any day."

What's more, she also turned down another of Will's offer to shoot Ashutosh Gowariker's Jodhaa-Akbar - the rejected film in question was Tonight He Comes. "I had to say no to Will for Tonight He Comes. I feel awful about it, but I’ve my priorities very straight," she had said back in 2006. "I really do want to do the film with Will. When we met we really hit it off. Unfortunately, Will wants to make the film during the time when I’ll be shooting for Ashutosh Gowarikar’s Jodhaa-Akbar," she had added.

On a visit to India in 2005, Will himself had expressed interest in working with Aish, saying, "I really wanted to work with her... She has this powerful energy where she doesn’t have to say anything, do anything, she can just stand there. Anything she’s making, I’ll be there."

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