Will Aishwarya, Hrithik be third time lucky with ‘Guzaarish’? (IANS Preview)

NEW DELHI - After “Dhoom 2″ and “Jodhaa Akbar”, the sizzling pair of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Hrithik Roshan are once again set to wow the audiences with their intense chemistry in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s “Guzaarish”, a film that deals with the sensitive issue of euthanasia.

Produced by Bhansali and Ronnie Screwvala under the banner of SLB Films and UTV Motion Pictures, “Guzaarish” sees Hrithik playing a paraplegic patient, while Aishwarya plays his nurse. The film also stars Aditya Roy Kapoor, Monikangana Dutta and Nafisa Ali. The film’s soul-stirring music is already making waves.

The story is set in Goa, which is the home to accomplished magician Ethan Mascarenhas (Hrithik). Ethan gets severely injured when one of his magical tricks goes wrong, turning him into a paraplegic.

He becomes the Radio Jockey of an FM Station called Radio Zindagi. His show spreads magic and hope and laughter through his irrepressible wit and humor to every listener and caller.

Sofia D’Souza (Aishwarya) is his elegant nurse who has been accompanying him like a shadow for the past 12 years. Ethan’s life centres on Sofia and they share a silent tacit love, which is beautiful and spirited.

However, on the 14th anniversary of his accident, Ethan decides to take matters into his own hands and files an appeal in the court for mercy killing. This leaves Sofia in an impasse that challenges their relationship and their love.

Ethan takes the help of his best friend and lawyer Devyani Dutta (Shernaz Patel) to support his appeal. Devyani understands Ethan’s appeal and agrees to his reasoning and decides to support him in his cause. Ethan’s mother Isabel Mascarenhas (Nafisa) also supports him in his petition.

Though Ethan is consistently persuaded by his physician Dr. Nayak (Suhel Seth), a neurologist, to retract his case, the latter finally relents to Ethan’s appeal when he realizes that the friend in him is much stronger than the medic.

“It’s a very unique subject. It has been handled very, very sensitively, specially by the actors and their performances. We have taken care that it’s done gently, correctly because it’s a very important debate,” Bhansali told IANS.

While Aishwarya has worked with Bhansali in two films “Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam” and “Devdas”, this is the first time Hrithik teamed up with Bhansali, who is known as a short-tempered director. But the actor admits that there was no shouting or yelling on the set.

“It was fabulous working with Sanjay. I’ve never had such an experience. In the beginning, people told me that he is slightly mad, he screams, but once I started working with him, it was a different experience.

“Guzaarish” has also found itself embroiled in a copyright row. Novelist Dayanand Raajan has reportedly accused the writer of “Guzaarish” of lifting the theme of his new book and using it as the plot of the film.

He alleges that the plot line and characters of “Guzaarish” are similar to that of his yet-to-be published novel. He is threatening to file a case against the makers of the film over copyright issues.

Sanjay, Aishwarya and Hrithik are hoping to get a new lease of life with “Guzaarish” as their previous films failed to rake in revenues at the box office. Sanjay’s “Saawariya”, Hrithik’s “Kites” and Aishwarya’s “Raavan” proved to be major duds.