Globe-trotting Aishwarya Rai is finally back home after over a month of hectic shooting for films and ad campaigns and the actress is happy with the way her career, both on and off the screen, is shaping up.

"It feels good to be back home. But I'll be able to feel relaxed only after the 13th when I finish shooting for the two ads for Lux and De Beers," she said.

She said her hectic travel schedule in the past couple of months had kept her busy and it felt like she had been on her feet forever.

"I've travelled so much in the last few weeks. After we finished filming for most of Paul Berges' "Mistress Of Spices" in Britain, we flew to San Francisco (US) for the final week's shooting. Though it rained constantly, it failed to dampen our schedule. We managed to wrap up the shooting just in time for me to get to London for the Zee cine awards function."

Ash is ecstatic about finally having won recognition for her performance in Rituparno Ghosh's "Raincoat", a movie she's extremely proud of and for which she won the critics award at the Zee cine awards function held in London March 26.

"It got me the best reviews ever. Therefore, when I finally got the critics award at for the performance I felt vindicated."

Asked about her performance at the Zee awards that was not up to the standards she sets for herself, she said: "There was hardly any time for rehearsal. I had told the organisers that it would be cutting it too close.

"Then to top it all, I thought I had to perform only to A.R. Rahman's Indian songs but at the eleventh hour some more songs were added. So I had to spend whatever little time I had before my performance hunting for the right clothes."

Ash admitted that she was a perfectionist. "I can't rush through anything. I've to work over whatever I do," she confessed.

After the Zee awards in London, she flew off to the Czech capital Prague to shoot for a new ad campaign for L'Oreal. "Prague was fun. I loved the warmth and hospitality of the people there."

But right now it's the Chinese who seem to have taken a shine to Aishwarya. She has been featured on the cover of a prestigious Chinese magazine as a symbol of Indo-Chinese friendship.

"Have I really?" she reacts with surprise and some amusement. "I'm glad to symbolise anything to do with my country. And if it's to do with creating world pace, I'm right up there. What better use for my personality?"

Back home, Ash has just signed a new film with Raj Kumar Santoshi. "I think it's too early to talk about Raj-ji's film 'Samna'. But yes, it will be a hard-hitting film and an unusual departure for me after 'Dhoom 2', which is a fun film. I go into 'Dhoom 2' in June for a brief schedule and then full-scale shooting in November," she said.

For the record, Ash will be seen next in special guest appearance in Shaad Ali's "Bunty Aur Babli" where she features in an item song with father-son duo Amitabh and Abhishek Bachchan.

"Shooting the song was great fun, since both Amitji and Abhishek are such good friends. I hope the audience enjoys watching the song as much we enjoyed shooting it."