Aishwarya Rai Bachchan walked on the red carpet last night at the Red Sea Film Festival 2025. She also engaged in a brief conversation with Hollywood actress, Dakota Johnson. But the highlight was her opening day session at the film festival. In an insightful conversation, the Ponniyin Selvan: I actress talked about how she doesn’t get insecure about doing less films and prioritizing her family.

Talking about how motherhood defines her life as much as her career, Aishwarya said, “I’m so busy taking care of Aaradhya, being with Abhishek, that I don’t get insecure if I don’t sign a film. Insecurities have never been a driving force for me.”

She further explained, “I don’t get insecure. I think that’s a very, very, very real aspect of who I am. Insecurities have never been a driving force, which a lot of the voices around can try and get in your head and can sometimes propel choices. That is something that has never been me. That’s a clarity also.” 

Aishwarya recalled what Mani Ratnam had told her before signing for her debut film, Iruvar. She said, “All my career choices, unknowingly but now in retrospect, I displayed from the beginning, because I mean if I came in from a pageant it was about ‘what’s the big launch when I come into movies’. And I remember Mani Ratnam telling me, ‘Iruvar is not really a launch film. It’s a movie. It’s a story. It’s not about launching Aishwarya.’ And I was like ‘Wow, that’s the movie that I want to do.’ Because that’s the movie that I want to be a part of.” 

She also reminisced post-Devdas anticipation among the audience about her next movie. She said, “I remember after Devdas, it felt like a crescendo, right? People were like, ‘So now what’s the next big film after that?’ Because how much bigger than Devdas can it become? And I did Chokher Bali with Rituparno Ghosh. I was like, ‘Wow! What a beautiful story. That’s the movie I want to do.’ So, in that sense, it isn’t the predictability. Or probably, that is the path one needs to take, I don’t know. But having come thus far in my journey, I’m grateful. I have all your love, I have all your support, I have the industry of talents.”

The actress credited Mani Ratnam for her formatting years. “I was very fortunate to work with my guru. I recognised that here was where I’d get an opportunity to learn a craft I wasn’t trained for,” Aishwarya said. She concluded her point by saying, “My attitude is still one of humility. I feel, ‘oh my God, I haven’t touched the tip of the iceberg’. There is so much to do in the world of artistry and cinema.

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