There are simply two trains of thought where Aishwarya Rai is concerned :
A. She is so hauntingly beautiful
B. She has no talent to talk of
Well, both are true. And somewhere both are false.
Is she all that beautiful ?
Of course she is. Aish is simply lovely. She has a face that can launch a thousand ships. Gorgeous, stunning, striking…. I am at a loss of words for her beauty. Agreed that ‘beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder’ but here is one lady who looks beautiful to millions of beholders, without dispute. Add to it the fact that she is thirty one years – not exactly over the hill but hardly very young anymore. So that means she has maintained her lovely looks very well. Hats off to her ! But if you will start comparing her to Madhu Bala or Marilyn Monroe, then I’m not sure… but, she’s the best among the current lot anyway.
Star quality
Aish is a indisputably a star. Her magic simply leaps out from the screen. She has a presence that almost dwarfs the rest of her co-stars and sets. She may be little lost Alice in Wonderland where the acting game is concerned, but she is personality plus. Charisma that scintillates and is one of the biggest factors that separates the wheat from the chaff… or the stars from the non-stars.
Her acting talents
Questionable. Doubtful. Problematic. Dubious. Debatable. Simply put, Aishwarya cannot perform a range of roles. She scores (and that too, somewhat) as a wronged, vulnerable, hurt damsel in love (check HDDCS and Taal) but give her a Devdas where she has to display histrionics and she messes it up big time. She has a very sonorous voice but her dialogue delivery leaves much to be desired. And if you start comparing her with Madhuri, Sridevi or Rekha, you would go shaking your head and clucking tch tch…
Her decision to go Hollywood.
Why not ? What else should she do ? As far as Bollywood is concerned, it’s pack up time for heroines the minute they count thirty candles on their birthday cake. It’s like ‘Goodbye, nice meeting you.’ If they want to continue their innings, they are given a totally different ball game altogether, that is, roles of mothers and sisters-in-law. Or ‘go get married, old maid, enough of you’. Which self respecting lady would want to play mother of a hero she has been paired with as a heroine just some years back (like Rakhee and Amitabh Bachchan). So if Aishwarya wants to go Hollywood just now, it does seem like a lucrative option.
Question is : Will Hollywood open doors for her ?
Again, debatable. Dubious. Uh..huh. So far, the gates remain closed. Aishwarya may scream from the rooftops about her meetings with various Hollywood directors but where is that one announcement about her first major mainstream Hollywood movie ? Till that happens, one can only wait and watch. Now if you’re going to tell me that ‘Bride & Prejudice’ was the beginning of her ‘international’ career , I am going to roll my eyes heavenwards.
Her personal life ?
No more discussion. Let’s give this lady some space. Let’s not peek into her private domain. She has been dignified enough all through even when the whole world was going ballistic discussing Salman Khan and other such baboons and I respect her dignity.
Let’s hope, she makes it.
Well, let’s end this review with a hope that this lovely lady is able to make her dreams come true. And a secret hope that if the dream is anything resembling ‘Bride & Prejudice’ then it should not come true.