/> It looks like costume dramas and Aishwarya Rai are meant for each other.

"You could say that," she concurs chirpily on the eve of her departure to Jaipur to begin shooting for Ashutosh Gowariker's Jodha-Akbar. She has been a part of so many films that require elaborate sets and costumes, right from Rituprano Ghosh's Chokher Bali and Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Devdas to J.P. Dutta's Umrao Jaan and the forthcoming Mani Rathnam opus Guru which is also a period film of sorts opening, as it does, in the 1950s.

Then of course there're those costume/period dramas in Ash's life that never happened, like Raj Santoshi's Prithviraj-Sanjukta.

"I've often been told I belong to another era. And my selection of films reflects that old-world reality," she says as she packs to leave for a large part of November.

Ashutosh Gowariker had been keen to work with Ash for a long time. One suspects a part of the charm of recreating the Mughal era was to see Ash in the Madhubala mould in K. Asif's Mughal-e-Azam.

But Hrithik while speaking on the subject of Jodha-Akbar was quick to stress the fact that this project had nothing to do with Mughal-e-Azam. "It goes into another period of Emperor Akbar and his Rajput wife's life.

For me the challenge of doing my first costume drama is to look convincincing in the old-world costumes. I'm r eally looking forward to my first period film...though a bit afraid of the unknown."

Interestingly Hrithik was supposed to do Gowariker's previous film. "I had read Ashutosh's script for Swades. I couldn't see it from the director's perspective, and therefore didn't think I was equipped to perform the part. I wasn't the best person to translate Ashutosh's vision.

And this was right after Lagaan! Ashutosh coming to me made me feel on top of the world. Unfortunately or fortunately my conscience didn't allow me to be honest with such an honest film..But Shah Rukh was superb. Swades is one of my favourite films.

And Ashutosh is definitely one of my favourite filmmakers, more so after Swades than Lagaan. This director's vision is unimaginable. It's such a challenge to satisfy Ashutosh. I hope I live up to his expectations."

Hrithik saw Jodha-Akbar like no other costume drama. "I suspect Ashutosh will see the theme in a different light. I don't think my Akbar will be like anything you've seen. You know it always helps to have a director who knows more than you. The minute you feel you know more about the script than the director the project is cooked."

There's also the challenge for Gowariker to make his amazingly good-looking pair look Mughal-bound after they slip into futuristic gear and groove in Dhoom 2. This shouldn't be much of a challenge....not after Sanjay Leela Bhansali could cast Shah Rukh Khan and Ash as Devdas and Paro after they played siblings in present-day Goa in Mansoor Khan's Josh.

Ashutosh Gowariker is going with complete confidence into a huge historical epic.

Said the director, "You could say I've taken a historical decision to make a film called Jodha-Akbar. It'll be a romantic musical."

Is the decision to film the love story of the Mughal emperor Akbar and the Rajput princess Jodhabhai at all prompted by the surprise success of K.Asif's Mughal-e-Azam when it was re-released two years ago?

"Not at all," avers Gowariker. "Jodha-Akbar is one of the 2-3 scripts that I had in mind for quite a while. I finally zeroed in on this. It won't go into the older days of the pair. It would show them in the prime of their togetherness and probably end where Mughal-e-Azam begins."

The film would appear somewhat volatile for its Hindu-Muslim cross-religious relationship. But Gowariker hasn't really thought of that.

"I just want to dwell on a little-known facet of Indian history that hasn't been exposed in history books, let alone on screen. I appointed a research team of historians and scholars from Delhi, Lucknow, Agra and Jaipur to guide me."

The director is going into a period film for the second time after Lagaan. "But Jodha-Akbar would be a full-on period film without props. It would be expensive. But I'm not getting into highlighting the budget and making that a USP of my project.

For me the product will justify the expenses. I won't approach the subject to splurge on lavish sets, etc. The product will justify the cost."