Aishwarya Rai thanks fans for good wishes

Minutes after an excited Amitabh Bachchan disclosed the news of daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai’s pregnancy on Twitter late Tuesday night, the family was flooded with congratulatory messages in both real and virtual worlds.

“Overwhelmed with your wishes and blessings. 2843 new tweets in half an hour! Thank you all! Your affection and love is so touching,” Big B tweeted later.

The news was greeted with enthusiasm within Bollywood circles as friends and colleagues came forward to congratulate the jubilant grandfather. “Congrats. Awesome news! Lets make way for the legacy to go forward,” tweeted actress Priyanka Chopra. Others to greet the family included actors R Madhavan, Dia Mirza, Riteish Deshmukh and Genelia D’souza.

This is Aishwarya Rai’s first baby with husband Abhishek Bachchan. The couple married four years ago and speculation about them starting a family has been on since last year when Rai was said to have put on weight.

On Wednesday evening, Ash and Abhi thanked their fans for the good wishes. “We are very happy and would like to thank all our well-wishers for their love, support and blessings,” the couple said.

Rai is currently shooting for Madhur Bhandarkar’s Heroine and industry insiders insist that her pregnancy will not disrupt the 45-day shooting schedule.

“While the major portion of the film’s shooting will be wrapped up in the next month and half, the closer shots and dubbing will commence later,” sources added.