Ash-Abhishek marriage talk in filmdom

Mumbai, Nov 30 (UNI) Bollywood is agog with talks of the impending, marriage of top actress Aishwarya Rai with Abhishek Bachchan, son of mega superstar Amitabh Bachchan, probably in February next year, but the families of both the stars have not come out openly either confirming or denying the alliance.

It all started when a section of the Press reported that Amitabh's brother Ajitabh came over from London for a family function and later took the horoscopes of Aishwarya and Abhishek to the family astrologer in Bangalore earlier this year.

It was found that both have ''mangal'' in their horoscopes. The astrologer had said that 2006 would not be auspicious for marriage as 2+6 totals 8, which is not good for them. But 2007, 2+7=9, will be a good time for marriage.

It is believed that due to the ''manglik'' aspect, Amitabh and his family members along with Aishwarya offered prayers at the Sankatmochan Mandir in Varanasi a few days back, to ward off the planetary influences. However, the pandits at the temple were not much forthcoming about the marriage part, but confirmed that special poojas were performed.

Moreover, in a recent television programme 'Rendevous with Simi Garewal', Aishwarya was asked by Simi about the talk of her marriage with Abhishek, to which she quipped, ''Talks are rife. When the time is right I will make an announcement.'' But the actress has still not made any announcement to this affect even though she has lately attended a number of family functions at the Bachchan bunglow 'Jalsa' in Juhu.

The couple have been romantically linked after the pre-release functions of the film 'Umrao Jaan' co-starring them and during the shooting schedule of Mani Ratnam's 'Guru', it became evident that she had developed a liking for Abhishek, film industry sources said.

The former ''Miss World'' and Abhishek had paired in 'Dhai Akshar Prem Ke' and 'Kuch Na Kaho'. But the box office failure of the films, probably did not fuel any rumours about their alliance.

Abhishek gained popularity after the success of 'Yuva' and 'Bunty aur Babli', and was acknowledged in film circles as Bollywood's ''most eligible bachelor'. Industry sources said both Aishwarya and Abhishek had developed rapport and closeness that made media speculate about their marriage.

Aishwarya's business manager Hari Singh when asked about the marriage plans, said ''This question is not under my jurisdiction.

It is a personal matter and the job of the secretary is only to manage the dates and other dealings of the star.'' UNI LS OBB PA KP1012