Speculation around Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s personal life has been doing the rounds with talk of a possible rift with her husband Abhishek Bachchan. Now, ad filmmaker Prahlad Kakkar, who has known the actor since the early days of her career and continues to live in the same building as her original family home in Mumbai, has addressed the rumours.

In an interview, Prahlad Kakkar said there was nothing unusual about Aishwarya visiting her mother regularly. He explained, “I don’t think there is any truth (to them). I live in the same building, and I know how much time Aish spends in the building, and there’s a valid reason for that. Her mother is unwell. She drops her daughter to the Ambani school, and she has to pick her up at 1 pm, so she has three hours to kill. She spends those three hours with her mother. Then she picks up her daughter and goes home.”

How did Kakkar respond to the rumours?

Dismissing the reports of Aishwarya moving out of the Bachchan household, Prahlad said the claims were “garbage.” Addressing the chatter about strained ties with Jaya Bachchan and Shweta Bachchan, he remarked, “So what? She’s still the bahu of the house. She still runs the house.”

He added that he never felt the need to question Aishwarya about such talk. “Everyone is saying she’s escaping from her marriage and living with her mother. But she’s only visiting her mother in the mornings while her daughter is at school. Sundays she didn’t come. I knew she is very close to her mother and was very concerned about her. Sometimes, Abhishek also came. So what’s the big deal? Why would he come if she was running away from him?”

What did he say about Aishwarya and Abhishek’s silence?

Prahlad, who mentored Aishwarya in her early years, praised the couple for not reacting publicly to the rumours. “She has always maintained her dignity, right through her career,” he said.

What fuelled the speculation?

Whispers about trouble in the Bachchan household grew louder after a noticeable drop in Aishwarya and Abhishek’s public appearances together. Matters intensified when Abhishek once ‘liked’ a social media post referring to divorce.

However, the couple has since appeared together at family events, including a relative’s wedding, Aaradhya’s school function, and Anant Ambani’s wedding festivities. They also celebrated their 18th wedding anniversary with Aaradhya, seemingly putting speculation to rest.