Abhi-Ash attend birthday party post midnight

It was an exhilarating Wednesday-night for Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Bachchan. Their new film together was premiered at the British Film Institute. The first Indian film to get the honour. The Bachchan and Ash's parents were present watching the film for the first time.

Said Aishwarya after the screening, "Just seeing their faces after the show, Abhishek and I knew we could sleep in peace tonight."

From Monday morning till Tuesday, Aishwarya Bachchan went sleepless for more than 24 hours. Late on Monday night-Tuesday morning she attended family-friend Kirron Kher's birthday party, and then headed for the airport to catch her flight to London for the premiere of Raavan.

When Aishwarya and Abhishek walked in hand-in-hand at 2 in the morning to wish Kirron Kher a happy birthday on Monday night, everyone presumed they were sauntering in refreshed and rejuvenated. Fact is, they headed straight for the Khers from a series of media events in Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai because there was no way they'd miss Kirron's birthday.

While Anupam Kher prefers to keep his distance, Kirron who turned 55 on Monday is very close to the entire Bachchan parivar. Her son Sikandar is known to hang out with Abhishek who calls the youngster his younger brother.

Given a choice Kirron wouldn't want any of the Bachchans to miss her birthday. This year the senior Bachchans are in Europe while Abhishek and Aishwarya are busy promoting Raavan and had made it clear that showing up for her birthday party was a near-impossiblity.

Says a source close to the couple, "Way past midnight the events and engagements for Raavan were still not over. But the couple decided that not dropping in for their Kirron Aunty's birthday especially when the senior Bachchans are away, would have been improper and hurtful." After the party the couple went to meet the Raavan crew which was at a special screening of the film.

Says a family friend, "Aishwarya is very careful about family duties. More so when Abhishek's parents are out of town. She knew she and her husband were representing the Bachchans at Kirron's party. She couldn't miss it, although she was without food, rest or even a dress-change the whole day."

Known to stretch the schedules beyond human endurance, Aishwarya Bachchan set a new record for herself over the past weekend in time management when she flew into Delhi on Sunday afternoon to join Abhishek media events, flew out of Delhi at 5 am solo on Monday morning to Hyderabad to join Vikram for media events for the Telugu version of Raavan, and flew back in the evening for more media interactions and Kirron Kher's birthday.

Just before she left for London, Aishwarya said, "It's been a really really hectic time for both me and Abhishek. We've been running around trying to develop a new technology for time management. Sadly we don't get time to spend together. That's why this trip to London is precious. Because the entire family will be together for our film. That's what I call bliss."