Mumbai, Nov 27 (IANS): Veteran filmmaker Subhash Ghai said he always prefers his heroines to use less makeup and recalls how Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai applied makeup for the first time in the 1999 film 'Taal' during the shoot of the song 'Kahi Aag Lage Lag Jaaye'.

'Taal' was a 1999 musical romantic film directed by Subhash Ghai starring Aishwarya Rai, Akshaye Khanna, and Anil Kapoor in lead roles. It was a box office hit and is remembered for its music, songs, choreography, and performance of the actors.

The ace director said: "I always request my heroines to limit their use of make-up as it brings out real emotions. The first time Aishwarya applied make-up in the film Taal was during the shoot of the song Kahi Aag Lage Lag Jaaye. When I cast Aishwarya for the role, I wanted to portray the life of a simple and divine girl who was naturally beautiful."

Talking about how make-up artist Mickey Contractor was onboarded for Aishwarya's look in the film, he added: "I told him (Mickey Contractor) that I will pay you as much money as you want but I request you to not use make-up on Aishwarya. Mickey being a professional immediately understood my point and mentioned that this was an even tougher job."

Moving ahead in the conversation, after looking at the performance by Senjuti Das from Kolkata on the song, 'Taal Se Taal Milao', he praised her and said: "You sang very well, Senjuti. The best thing about this show is that it helps us relive our life again."

The host of the show and singer Aditya Narayan also joined her during the performance and this impresses the celebrity guest and director, he added: "Today, I felt that Udit (Narayan) ji was standing near me and performing."

Judge Neha Kakkar also said: "You are a perfectionist Senjuti, and it reflects in the way you perform."

The top 12 contestants on the show are Rishi Singh from Ayodhya, Bidipta Chakraborty, Anushka Patra, Debosmita Roy, Senjuti Das, Sonakshi Kar from Kolkata, Chirag Kotwal from Jammu, Vineet Singh from Lucknow, Rupam Bharnarhia, Navdeep Wadali from Amritsar, Shivam Singh, Kavya Limaye from Gujarat.

Judged by Himesh Reshammiya, Neha Kakkar, and Vishal Dadlani, 'Indian Idol 13' airs on Sony Entertainment Television.