Mani matters for Abhishek-Aishwarya

Shooting of Mani Ratnam"s Raavan is currently going on after a gap of few weeks in the outskirts of Ooty. Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Bachchan may not be a part of this current shooting schedule but it is learnt that the couple is keeping tabs on Mani Ratnam"s health.

The Raavan production unit source tells us, “Both Abhishek and Aishwarya are in constant touch with director Shaad Ali, enquiring daily about Mani Sir"s health status and checking out whether he is over exerting himself or not. Abhishek"s good friend, Shaad was earlier an assistant director to Mani Ratnam before turning independent with films like Saathiya, Bunty Aur Babli and Jhoom Barabar Jhoom but he is back to working as Mani Sir"s assistant for Raavan.

“The couple is deeply concerned about Mani Sir"s health and doesn"t want him to rush into the making of the film because of the delay that has been caused due to the recent gap in the shoot following Mani Sir"s third stroke scare. Abhishek is also making sure through Shaad that Mani Sir has less worry on the sets by keeping most of the production work on sets ready."

Our source further added that both Abhishek and Aishwarya will join the shoot later this month. Presently, Mani Ratnam is shooting with other stars of the film including South star Vikram, Govind and Nikhil Dwivedi.

It may be recalled that Mani Ratnam was hospitalised in Chennai on April 14 following breathing difficulty and dizziness. He had also complained of discomfort in the chest. The 52-year-old director had earlier survived a heart attack in 2004 when he was filming Yuva, also starring Abhishek Bachchan.