Filmmaker Mani Ratnam’s wife Suhasini Maniratnam also compared Aishwarya Rai Bachchan to Florence Nightingale in the same interview.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has worked with director Mani Ratnam on a number of films, including Iruvar, Guru, Raavan and PS I and II. In a new interview with ABP News, filmmaker Mani Ratnam’s wife Suhasini Maniratnam talked at length about Aishwarya and called her ‘a genuine person’ who cares for people around her. She also compared her with Florence Nightingale.
Mani Ratnam with Aishwarya Rai at a Ponniyin Selvan II promotional event.Mani Ratnam with Aishwarya Rai at a Ponniyin Selvan II promotional event.

What Suhasini said

Talking about Aishwarya’s qualities as a person in a new interview with ABP News, filmmaker Mani Ratnam’s wife Suhasini Maniratnam said, ‘When I see Aishwarya, I feel really happy. I know her personally, and while many see her for her beauty, I see her as a genuine person. She possesses qualities that the public may not always see. For example, if you become ill, she’ll be the first to come and take care of you. She’ll provide advice on what to eat, and she has that caring nature. Aishwarya Rai is like Florence Nightingale.’

Mani Ratnam on Aishwarya

At a promotional event for Ponniyin Selvan II earlier this year, Mani had also praised the actor and said, ‘Filmmakers are very, very selfish people, absolutely heartless, and selfish. The only thing they care for is the film. How much ever I love her (Aishwarya), I will ask her only if I think she is right for the role. Every time I have asked her, it is because I have believed that she was absolutely right for the role and she has been nice enough to say yes. So, she is not just a lucky charm for me, it is her talent and her personality that was right to portray this character’

Made in two parts, Ponniyin Selvan is an adaptation of Kalki Krishnamurthy’s 1955 Tamil novel. The film chronicles the story of the early days of Arulmozhivarman (essayed by Jayam Ravi), who is said to be one of the most powerful kings and eventually became the great Chola emperor Rajaraja Chola I. The first part released in September last year and the second part on April 28 this year, and was appreciated by critics and audiences alike.