NEW DELHI, Feb 12: Bollywood stars Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan, son of the legendary actor Amitabh Bachchan, are planning to wed and astrologers say they are a perfect match, media reports said on Sunday.

A member of the Bachchan household had sent the horoscopes of the two stars to a leading astrologer, who advised that the couple should marry at the earliest, the Times of India newspaper said.

The families of Rai, a former Miss World, and Bachchan have remained tight-lipped about the reports, including claims the stars started dating three months ago during the shooting of their upcoming film “Umrao Jaan”.

A member of the Bachchan family met astrologer Chandrashekar Swami, based in the southern city of Bangalore, for consultations, newspapers said on Sunday.

“The sooner they get married, the better,” the astrologer is reported to have said.

The romance was kept firmly under wraps and the film industry, based in the western city of Mumbai, was surprised at the developments.

Trade watchers said that a marriage could severely affect the Bollwyood career of the 32-year-old Rai, who has three big films riding on her.

Bachchan’s prospects at the box-office will also be hit, as his career had just started to take off after a long series of flops, the analysts said.

“I doubt if Aishwarya will marry this year. If she does marry, her market value will most certainly diminish,” trade expert Amod Mehra was quoted as saying by the Times of India.

A marriage is often seen as the end of a career in commerical Bollywood films for most women, as audience interest in leading actresses drops after they wed.

Both Rai and Bachchan, 30, have had a series of high-profile relationships recently.

Rai’s rocky romance with hearthrob Salman Khan was widely publicised after reports that he physically assaulted her.

Her next relationship with actor Vivek Oberoi also attracted media attention after the actor called reporters to tell them Khan had threatened him over the romance.

Bachchan’s previous engagement to actress Karisma Kapoor was a much talked about event on his father’s 60th birthday celebrations three years ago.—AFP