In the 1998 big-budget Tamil romantic drama "Jeans" directed by S. Shankar, Rai appeared alongside Prashanth and Nassar. She played Madhumita, a young woman who accompanies her ailing grandmother to the United States to seek medical attention. A commercial success, the film earned Rai praise for her acting and dancing skills. Unlike in "Iruvar", Rai practised and dubbed for her own lines in the film. "Jeans" was later submitted as India's official entry to the Academy Awards for 1998. Her first role in 1999 was in the melodrama "Aa Ab Laut Chalen", directed by Rishi Kapoor. The film was a critical failure and had a below average performance at the box office. Rai's portrayal of Pooja Walia, a traditional Indian woman living in the United States, met with negative reviews; Rediff.com published, "Aishwarya Rai sports a plastic smile and never gets a scene where she can portray any depth. All she does is cry and smile and look pretty".