Will Ash be Devgan's 'Raincoat'?

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal"><script language="javascript">doweshowbellyad=0; </script></div> <div align="left" style="position:relative; left: -2"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="left" border="0" width="36.5%"> <colgroup> <col width="100.0%" /> </colgroup> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" ffffff=""> <div class="Normal"><img src="/photo/890894.cms" alt="/photo/890894.cms" border="0" /></div> </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="Normal">After doing the <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">balle balle </span>Punjabi <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">kudi </span>act, garbed in sequined <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">kurtas </span>and <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Patiala suits </span>in Gurinder Chadha''s <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Bride and Prejudice</span>, it is time for Aishwarya Rai to go east.<br /><br />Playing the role of a <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Bihari </span>girl married and settled in Calcutta, Rai will sport minimalist make-up and Neeta Lulla-designed <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">sarees</span> in Bengali filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh''s forthcoming <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Raincoat</span>.<br /><br />As Rai recovers from international critics'' not-so-kicked response to <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">B&P</span>, she''s keeping fingers crossed that <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Raincoat </span>will help her smile at the Box Office. <br /><br />And another person who will be hoping the same apart from director Ghosh, (who earlier directed her in <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Chokher Bali</span>,) is Rai''s co-actor Ajay Devgan, who has not had great <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Company </span>since 2002, where debutant Vivek Oberoi got the kudos for an impressive portrayal.<br /><br /></div> </div><div class="section2"><div class="Normal"><script language="javascript">doweshowbellyad=0; </script></div> <div align="right" style="position:relative; left: -2"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="right" border="0" width="32.1%"> <colgroup> <col width="100.0%" /> </colgroup> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" ffffff=""> <div class="Normal"><img src="/photo/890896.cms" alt="/photo/890896.cms" border="0" /></div> </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="Normal">This year, Devgan''s last outing was Mani Ratnma''s <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Yuva</span>, where again Abhishek Bachchan walked away with all the credit and left Kajol''s better-half sulking. His other releases included adult comedy <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Masti</span>, where the triumvirate Vivek Oberoi-Aftab Shivdasani-Ritesh Deshmukh stole the show and Devgan remained in the background. <br /><br />With <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Raincoat</span>, Devgan and Rai have been paired for the fourth time. The only time that their pairing worked was in Sanjay Leela Bhansali''s magnum opus <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam </span>in 1999. Pitted as the conscientious and too-much-in-love-with wife kind of a husband, Devgan did the martyr act convincingly. <br /><br />Although his sensitive lawyer act, who takes his beautiful wife across seven seas to be reunited with her the real-life-cum-reel lover Salman Khan earned him applause, critics were not so kind. <br /><br />Most credited the film''s runaway success to Ash-Sallu onscreen chemistry, which was spilling over from their off-screen passion and good music and excellent cinematography.<br /><br /></div> </div><div class="section3"><div class="Normal"><script language="javascript">doweshowbellyad=0; </script></div> <div class="Normal" style="" text-align:="" center=""><img src="/photo/890898.cms" alt="/photo/890898.cms" border="0" /></div> <div class="Normal"><br />Then happened <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Hum kisi se kum nahin </span>in 2002, which was a box office dud, in spite of boasting of a star cast including Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt and Rai. <br /><br />A weak adaptation of Robert de Niro''s <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Analyse This</span>, it came as a cropper at the box office. Rai and Devgan''s next pairing was in Rajkumar Santoshi''s cop drama <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Khakee</span>, where again Bachchan as an ageing cop and Akshay Kumar as a crooked cop outshone Devgan''s cop-turned-baddie act. <br /><br />Reasonably so. Although Devgan and Rai were supposed to be reel lovers, it was Akki who managed to romance Aishwarya and did a convincing job of trying to woo her endless, even falling for her deceptive act. <br /><br />In the wake of such a chemical combination, <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Raincoat </span>will test whether the duo can get lucky on screen.</div> </div>