At the City Palace in Jaipur, the stillness of the night reverberates with the sound of Aishwarya Rai dancing before Abhishek Bachchan for "Umrao Jaan".

Director J.P. Dutta's wife Bindiya Goswami says: "Abhishek and Aishwarya seem eminently made for each other. And why just them? Shabana (Azmi) and Ash look so perfectly compatible they could've been mother and daughter in their last lives."

Bindiya adds: "You've to admit the Ash-Abhishek combination is lethal. J.P. is surrounded by these beautiful women. I was apprehensive about how he would cope since he's used to doing men's movies."

The plush premises are closed to the public.

"Which is a blessing for us. Because it automatically eliminates all chances of intrusion. J.P. has been on tenterhooks for the last two weeks," says Bindiya.

Is it because Abhishek's arrival to Jaipur was delayed because of his father's illness? "Not at all," Bindiya replies.

"All J.P. had to do was to shoot the later scenes first before Abhishek arrived. So in principle the only change is that he couldn't shoot chronologically as he has done all his films. Otherwise everything is in control.

"Of course, there's a flurry of activity now when Abhishek is here. We're finally doing the key romantic scenes and the mujra. Don't you think the two look gorgeous together?"

Bindiya has a point. We've seen Abhishek and Aishwarya together earlier. But never have they looked so stunningly compatible. Maybe it's the fact they're shooting at night. It's past midnight and the palace is converted into a moon-drenched podium of reverent romance.

Maybe it's the old-world ambience. But the entire "Umrao Jaan" crew is talking about how the City Palace glimmers with a renewed pride as it echoes to the sound of Alka Yagnik's mujra.

Dutta is calm but stressed. Last week his blood pressure shot up dangerously. It's back in control.

Says Dutta: "Everyone seems to remember only my war films with the men running around with guns. People forget I've done films in the past where women are central characters. Reena Roy and Smita Patil were central to 'Ghulami'. And Dimple and Amrita (Singh) were very important in 'Batwara'. I don't know why people should be surprised because I'm doing 'Umrao Jaan'."