Aishwarya in East & West
by: Vijay Dutt
- hindustantimes.com
The smiling face of Aishwarya Rai beamed seductively from a huge ad sprawled over almost the whole right side of the London Red bus for Gurinder Chadha's Bride and Prejudice. Martin Henderson could be spotted in the background while the ad proclaimed that the most colourful, dance and music-full movie was to be released on October 8. Her face looked so striking and radiant that despite almost a 10-hour flight from Delhi it drew my eyes to it. The cab driver, a black from Tanzania, driving me home from Heathrow too went into rapturous praise of her "wholesome beauty" and rattled off her being Miss World and jury at Cannes. He then went into another awed narration of her role in Devdas and how glamorous she looked in the film.
I must admit Ash looked angelically beautiful in the ad and come to think of it she looks very pretty in most pictures that are published here. No wonder she is considered the most beautiful woman in this part of the world. But, almost instantly I started thinking as to why is she not adored as much back home.
I was in India for almost a month and did not read much about her nor did I come across any film magazine raving about her beauty and appeal or putting her on the cover. This may be due to what we say "ghar ki murgi dal barabar". But even then it is rather paradoxical that while Ash is a goddess of beauty in the West and is being talked and written about frequently, in India she has lost her primacy among stars and most of her movies have not done well.
It is difficult to analyse the reason for such a vast difference in the West's adoration for her and the almost lukewarm attitude towards her, back in India. Possibly the cover page declaration by the Time that she is the world's prettiest woman and the pretty woman Julia Roberts herself affirming it could be one reason for Ash's fame to beauty in Britain and the US. But how long would she remain on that pedestal would much depend on the public rating of Bride and Prejudice. In India too it could have an impact on her future standing.
