Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai, who was enjoying a much-deserved holiday in Greece with hubby Abhishek Bachchan, decided to cut short her trip to attend the May 14 music release of the Tamil version of ‘Raavan’ in Chennai. Abhishek is shooting for Abhinay Deo’s ‘Game’ in the idyllic country.Aishwarya cut short her vacation in spite of director Mani Ratnam’s insistence that it was fine if she didn’t make it to the function.

‘Normally Mani would not have heard of his leading lady not being present for the function. However, when it comes to Abhishek and Aishwarya, Mani lets all his rules fall to the ground,’ a source said. ‘He clearly told Aishwarya that it would be okay even if she didn’t attend the function.’ But Aishwarya would hear none of it.

The source said: ‘To Aishwarya, being present at the music function with Vikram, her co-star of the Tamil ‘Raavan’, is as important as it was for her to be seen next to Abhishek at the equivalent function for the Hindi ‘Raavan’ last month.’In fact, being present at the Tamil music release of ‘Raavan’ is crucial for Aishwarya since she has another major Tamil release – Shankar’s ‘Endhiran’ – coming up soon after.

‘It is very important for Aishwarya to show a sense of solidarity with the Tamil film industry and among her South India fans. And not just that, she wouldn’t have missed Mani Ratnam’s event in Chennai for anything in the world – not even for aholiday in Greece with her husband,’ the source said.