Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is in talks to play character loosely inspired by the late queen of Jaipur
It’s known that Ajay Devgn and Vidyut Jammwal star in Milan Luthria’s ambitious project, Baadshaho, which is set during the Emergency (1975-77). We now hear that Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is in talks to play a character loosely inspired by the late Maharani Gayatri Devi. The film is expected to go on floors, mid-2016.
Ash’s royal role
Says a source, “Ash will play the powerful Maharani Gayatri Devi, who had defeated the Congress Party’s candidate thrice and objected to the Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi. It was then that Indira had ordered the Income Tax department to take stock of the royal house’s income and assets. The IT-department, with the help of the Army, conducted raids inside the palace seeking hidden treasure. But after three months of relentless search, the army had to call off the excavation work.”
Stolen gold?
The Army brought with it heavy vehicles and the Delhi-Jaipur highway was closed for three days. It was rumoured that the vehicles contained treasure found during the excavation. However, it is uncertain if these trucks carried gold/ treasure or anything at all and this has remained an enduring legend about Jaigarh Fort since. “It is at this point in the story that Ajay and Vidyut come into the picture and the story gets fictionalised (see box).”
What happened before
It is popularly believed that a large treasure lies hidden inside Jaigarh Fort (near Amer) in Rajasthan and the excavation was ordered by the then PM Indira Gandhi. No treasure was found. Maharani Gayatri Devi had objected to the excavation work and the incident is even mentioned in Gayatri Devi’s autobiography — A Princess Remembers.
Who was Maharani Gayatri Devi?
She was the third Maharani of Jaipur from 1940 to 1949 through her marriage to the Maharaja of Jaipur, Sawai Man Singh II. Following her husband’s signature for the Jaipur State to become part of the Union of India and her stepson’s accession to the throne in 1970, she was later known as Maharani Gayatri Devi, Rajmata of Jaipur and was known to be a legendary beauty and something of a fashion icon in her adulthood. She died in 2009 in Jaipur, at the age of 90.
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