"Stardom is not through nudity or exposure" says Ash
- expressindia.com
"Women in the industry have been exploited very often, but there are some actors who believe that the short cut to stardom is through nudity or exposure. Such success is, in fact, very short-lived." The comment didn’t come from the body-baring Lara Dutta and Priyanka Chopra, or the ‘‘please count how many times I’ve smooched on screen’’ Mallika Sherawat. It came from Aishwarya Rai who proved in her speech as a conference delegate in Delhi this weekend, that she is not out of touch with those public-speaking skills that were so carefully honed for her outing as a beauty contestant. She was a speaker at the India Today Conclave.The former Miss World had clearly done her homework. Describing her speech as ‘‘the truth simply from my heart’’, she doled out statistics to show that Bollywood could bring in billions of dollars if it was structured on corporate lines. She dwelt at length on ways to rejuvenate the Hindi film industry and harness India’s soft powers—films, TV and music.
The actress used herself as an example to illustrate most of the points she raised. While most actors would be reluctant to venture beyond the comfort of Bollywood stardom, she said she was not one to rest on her laurels. ‘‘After Devdas, many people were surprised when I did Chokher Bali. Some even said that maybe I did not have any other offers so I had to work in regional films,’’ she added. Good news for her fans: Ash has no qualms about acting in teleserials provided the role is ‘‘challenging’’ enough. Lolo and Sri, please take note.
