Aishwarya Rai promotes Paa

ABCL may well be named Aishwarya Rai Bachchan Corp Ltd, as Abhishek Bachchan's wifey has now been appointed as the marketing head of the film 'Paa'.

Aishwarya is reportedly in charge of publicity and marketing for the film, overseeing the merchandise production, the Paa-and-I campaign, and even father-in-law Amitabh Bachchan visiting schools and meeting kids. In case you didn't already know, 'Paa' marks the return of Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Limited (ABCL), which had crashed and burned during the nineties, forcing Big B into bankruptcy.

ABCL, which specialized in film production and event management was plagued by financial difficulties throughout the past decade. The company was responsible for a string of box office flops including Tere Mere Sapne (1996), Saat Rang Ke Sapne (1997), Mrityudaata (1997) and Major Saab (1998). ABCL also brought the Miss World Pageant to India but the move backfired, as the company got embroiled in controversy when it did not pay its dues. Big B did try to resurrect the company with the films 'Aks', 'Viruddh' and 'Family: Ties of blood', but barring the former, the films fell flat as well.

'Paa' is a big PR campaign in the form of a movie for the Bachchan family. ABCL has gone so far as to include Jaya Bachchan in the beginning of the film to introduce the characters, instead of having text credits. 'Paa' is directed by Balki, who made the delightful Cheeni Kum three years ago.