Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Bollywood star, has baby girl

Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has given birth to a baby girl, husband actor Abhishek Bachchan has tweeted.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's baby has generated tremendous media interest

Father-in-law Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan also tweeted: "I am Dada (grandfather) to the cutest baby girl".

Aishwarya was admitted to the Seven Hills Hospital in the Indian city of Mumbai early Tuesday morning. This is her first child.

There has been tremendous interest in Aishwarya's pregnancy from the media and her fans.

"It's a girl!," Abhishek wrote on the micro-blogging site at 0952 local time (0422 GMT).

Amitabh Bachchan said he was "ecstatic" to be a grandfather and thanked all those who sent out congratulatory messages.

Aishwarya's pregnancy had been keenly watched since June when Amitabh Bachchan announced the pregnancy of his daughter-in-law.

"News news news!! I am going to become a grandfather. Aishwarya expecting. So happy and thrilled," he had tweeted.

According to reports, bookies had bet 1.5 billion rupees (around $30m) on whether Aishwarya would deliver on 11 November or not.

The Bachchans are known as the "first family" of Bollywood and have millions of fans following their every move.

Often called the "queen of Bollywood", Aishwarya, 37, married Abhishek in 2007, forging the ultimate Bollywood dynasty.

She first charmed the nation at just 21, winning Miss World in 1994. She has acted in several Hollywood films too.

She was the first Indian actress to sit on the Cannes jury in 2003. She has also appeared on the cover of Time magazine as the global face of Indian cinema.

Read more »

Aishwarya Rai blessed with a baby girl

After the big announcement made by Amitabh Bachchan about Ash’s pregnancy on Twitter, a moment of bigger announcement has finally arrived! The sparkling beauty Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan today became proud parents of a baby girl. The baby was born at the private Seven Hills Hospital in the western Mumbai suburb of Andheri on Wednesday morning.

IT’S A GIRL!!!!!!  ))))” tweeted an excited first-time dad Abhishek Bachchan, who had recently said he wanted a daughter who looked like Aishwarya.

Proud grandfather, Bollywood legend Amitabh, tweeted his joy at the new arrival: “A dada ji (a grandfather)…Ecstatic!”, calling his new granddaughter “the cutest baby girl”. Post the big news Twitter has been flooded with wishes for the Bachchan family and Amitabh was quick to that all his friends and well-wishers for their wishes.

Hospital sources said the delivery was normal and the mother and the baby were doing fine. Aishwarya Bachchan checked into the Seven Hills Hospital in Marol, a north-western suburb of Mumbai, on Monday night. The Bachchans chose a suburban hospital for the delivery, side stepping the more popular celebrity choices such as the Breach Candy Hospital, presumably to avoid media glare. Aishwarya, developed labour pains around 4 a.m. and was taken to the labour room where the delivery took place after nearly six hours.

Often called the “queen of Bollywood”, Aishwarya, 38, married Abhishek, 35, in 2007, forging the ultimate Bollywood dynasty and rumours about her pregnancy had been doing the rounds ever since.

Ash’s pregnancy grabbed the headlines since June when Amitabh Bachchan announced the pregnancy of his daughter-in-law. The bookies had been betting on the possible day of the arrival of Aishwarya’s baby. First, it was speculated that the Bachchans would go for C-section delivery for the baby to be born on the unique date of 11.11.11. But that was strongly denied by the Bachchan family. According to reports, bookies had bet 1.5 billion rupees (around $30m) on whether Aishwarya would deliver on 11 November or not. Then it was hoped that the child would come on November 14, the Children’s Day.

Heartiest Congratulations to the star-couple on the arrival on their bundle of joy.

Read more »