She has played a mystic, a con woman and a demure Bengali beauty in the past but Aishwarya Rai Bachchan who plays a modern day Sita in 'Raavan', says that it is the most challenging role of her career.
The 36-year-old actress stars opposite her husband Abhishek Bachchan in 'Raavan', director Mani Ratnam's upcoming film.
"This is the most challenging role of my career. What is unique about Mani is that he draws you in his world through the narration. Ragini is a unique woman and a strong character which I personally can relate to," said Aishwarya.
Draped in a cream colour saree with red embroidery, the actress was the host to introduce the film at it's music launch here on Saturday which also saw spirited performances by Abhishek Bachchan and A. R. Rahman among others.
The former beauty queen admitted that as Mani narrated the film to her, she was hooked on to play the role which she says is not that of a typical heroine.
"We shot with snakes, rabbits, leeches moving around us. This has been the best adventure experience," Aishwarya said.
Recalling her experiences working on the film, Aishwarya said Mani Ratnam had given her a fair idea of his 'Raavan' concept while shooting for 'Guru' three years ago.
"For the song Nanna re, I was dancing in full abandon in the rain. Little did I know that Mani was in the process of making a decision, that I will be his new character Ragini for Raavan," she said.
Talking about shooting in two different languages back to back, Aishwarya said that dealing with languages is a challenging task and keeps one's faculties charged up.
