Aishwarya Rai Interview - Beautiful & Ugly
India’s biggest name and now a huge star in the west thanks to Bride and Prejudice, everyone loves Aishwarya Rai. Poorna Shetty found her a complete nightmare. Not convinced, we sent her for a second interview…but did she change her mind?
Everything you’ve heard about Aishwarya Rai is true. She is the most beautiful woman in the world. There’s no one in Bollywood who can dance as well as her, captivate the audience with such a magical screen presence, or light up the surroundings with a more lustrous star quality. She is also a diva. A prima donna of the highest order. So full of herself it’s a wonder the woman needs to eat…
Let it be known. This interviewer did not go to meet her, first in London then a week later in Barcelona, with the intention of disliking her. Like most Asian girls, I have enjoyed many of her movies, read a fair few of her interviews with interest and am proud of her recently heightened worldwide exposure thanks to the huge success of Bride and Prejudice.
But then you meet the real woman hiding behind the image. It all started to go wrong during our photoshoot, which was scheduled to run for 45 minutes – a fraction of what any other self-respecting celebrity allows a magazine and miniscule compared to the time she allowed for mainstream publications such as Esquire and Hello! Fair enough, the lady is busy and we’re not arrogant enough to assume we’re in any way in the same league as those magazines. She cut it down to precisely 9.2 minutes, half of which was taken up by her huffing and puffing and shooing away our stylists, even though they had spent days acquiring the Armani outfits and accessories she had specifically asked for. Which would have been bearable had we not overheard her telling her own stylist ‘oh, it’s just another Asian magazine…’ The press office later assured us she wasn’t referring to Asiana, but indeed, another Asian magazine. Well, that’s alright then.
All the guys I’ve recounted my experience with Aishwarya Aishwarya Rai Interview - Beautiful & Ugly Rai to suggested my negative view arises from jealousy (all the girls at the shoot, incidentally, left feeling either crestfallen or enraged by her belittling stance). Maybe I’m a chubby, average-looking girl who someone as beautiful and important doesn’t have room for in her life, but as a reporter, I’m representing thousands of similar girls who look up to her as a role model. Just because her mission is to make her mark on the mainstream doesn’t excuse dismissing her core audience, however small fry they may seem. Perhaps she’s so used to Indian reporters worshipping the ground beneath her feet that she’s convinced herself she can treat Asians with contempt and get away with it.
It isn’t just her dismissive attitude either. She does all the things that drives normal girls crazy – flicking her hair in slow motion and following it through with a laughter that’s been rehearsed to melt male hearts, pretends she doesn’t really obsess about her looks when there’s a troop of stylists standing on guard right beside her 24/7, talks about being grounded while acting like she’s got her head stuck up her… cloud. And she doesn’t sit and talk as much as she poses and recites. And she speaks of herself in the third person for crying out loud! There’s no arguing it (unless you’re a man), Aishwarya Rai’s beauty is skin deep. She thinks, nay believes, she’s better than us mere mortals.But credit where credit is due. The woman knows how to hide her real self by giving quotes that reveal nothing but sounds like she’s all heart. It would be mean-spirited of us to twist her quotes to justify our dissatisfaction of her behaviour. Bending the truth to suit our needs isn’t a road we want to go down. We’ll leave all the fakeness and distortions of self to she who plays it so beautifully…
First impressions :: Aishwarya Rai Promoting Bride and Prejudice in London…
Have you always wanted to do a crossover movie like Bride and Prejudice?
Aishwarya Rai: Well it’s my first English film. I’m not into the whole definition of films, like what genre. That’s just the way it is back home. In fact I started with a Mani Ratnam film, a Tamil film and then went into Hindi films. (Takes a long phonecall)
The response is encouraging so far. Right from Devdas to when I went to the Cannes Film Festival, it was the media which encouraged me to explore the possibilities of working in the west. I have gone about it in the correct way like getting an agent and a manager, and a lot of scripts have come my way. Nevertheless I don’t perceive it as a moving over or moving across. We’re actors and I’m glad of the opportunity to belong to cinema. We are gypsies. For me it’s a nomadic life and you go wherever it takes you so it doesn’t have to mean leaving Bollywood, moving to Hollywood or to the British industry or to Bengal, it’s just doing work that interests me.
Did you feel comfortable with the touchy-feely parts with a non-Indian hero?
Aishwarya Rai: The kind of life I live, I’ve just met people and taken them for who they are. I’ve never really been that conscious of their identity or race, probably because I travel so much and interact with people from different parts of the world. The film has been a global experience because you’ve got actors from three parts of the world. That’s why the workshop we had prior to filming was the perfect manner in which Gurinder (Chadha) could go about it. For all of us it was truly a fun and enlightening experience because we actually discovered each other and you become so much more aware of who you are, where you’re coming from and what your approach is all about when you interact and share. Martin (Henderson) was wonderful and so were Naveen (Andrews) and Indira (Varma).
Did you find the British Asian actors were more relaxed about their approach to acting?
Aishwarya Rai: Everyone’s approach is individual because it depends on the kind of films you’ve been used to working in, so it wouldn’t be fair to define their acting. When people talk about Indian films and about the acting being a lot more animated, that’s because Indians are more animated, more dramatic – that’s the way the people are and it calls for that kind of body language. So that culture is obviously different, which is very different from the American one, so you will obviously find different styles. But Gurinder was very keen that we all belonged to the same film.
In the movie you’re the centre of attention who gets the man. Is that a fair reflection of the real you?
Aishwarya Rai: (laughs) That’s my answer!
Shall I take that as a ‘no comment’?
Aishwarya Rai: I don’t like the ‘no comment’ phrase but if you have to draw a parallel to the character, rather than saying she’s just about getting the man, I’d rather say I relate to her because I have strong opinions, I am extremely proud about where I come from. That’s Lalita for you. Even though she’s the second oldest daughter she’s almost like a son, she takes the whole family under her wing. She’s very protective, and she may differ with her mother’s ways but she absolutely dotes on her. What is wonderful is that she is a dreamer, she believes in love. I just love this paradox of fragility and strength (walks off to speak to someone at the door)…
Aishwarya Rai makes people go ga ga. Do you find it hard to get close to people because you’re so much larger than life?
Aishwarya Rai: Yeah, but I just believe in being because that’s me. I don’t know what I’m being made out to be but perceptions can alter through different phases, so that hasn’t been something I’ve defined my life by. I haven’t worked towards creating any image – it’s too much effort and I don’t have the energy for that. I’ve just believed in being myself, going with the flow and growing with time. Men are so dazzled by beauty they never see any faults whereas women love pointing out the flaws…believe me I know!
Ever feel like you get your unfair share of it?
Aishwarya Rai: Don’t just restrict that vice to women. I have a lot of guys as friends and they can put people under the microscope just as easily! I think it’s human for people to do this and that, praise and put down and I think that’s something you go through as much as I go through. Of course I’m human, of course I’m sensitive, of course I hurt and you just have to find strengths within yourself as to how to be able to brave it, and then again, from time to time you hurt a little bit more.
How do you deal with being ‘the beautiful woman on earth’?
Aishwarya Rai: This whole thing about these terms could be something to enjoy, but I don’t sit here believing this. Rather than these polls being a validation of being the most beautiful woman on earth, for me it’s a validation of the support system, the magnitude of well-wishers. I’m thankful to them for being there and giving me the positivity.
Halle Berry said she resented being beautiful because it made life harder for her – have you ever felt like that?
Aishwarya Rai: I wouldn’t use a term as strong as resent but it goes with every territory. After Miss World people want to see if there is substance beyond the face. When I joined the movies they wanted to analyse whether I had what it takes to be an actor as opposed to being this beautiful girl on-screen becoming an actress. So you are put through the microscope, perhaps a little more strongly in my case but that’s only because I think every achiever goes through that. You’re never prepared enough for it but you are aware of it. You have to redefine every aspect of what life throws at you.
Second impressions :: Aishwarya Rai Promoting Longines watches in Barcelona…
Are you patient with your lovers?
Aishwarya Rai: That’s subjective, it depends on the situation.
How long would you put up with a guy that’s treating you badly you before you snap?
Aishwarya Rai: (laughs maniacally) When I snap, I snap and let it be known, it’s for very valid reasons. I’m not completely impulsive. If I’ve taken a decision, I stick to it. I was offered roles by Shekhar Kapur and Raja Hindustani but I’d committed myself to the Miss World pageant. Likewise when I’ve made a decision to commit to a relationship, I give myself to it completely, wholeheartedly and spiritually. Like the day I do not want to be an actor anymore, I will choose not to continue.
So you can accept a future where there will be no Aishwarya Rai superstar?
Aishwarya Rai: It depends on the work, if it excites me, inspires me then good, but the day it doesn’t and I’m bored, I don’t need to. I made the decision to not continue with architecture and join the movies. If it was really needs-based I would’ve chosen a safer, more comfortable route where I stuck to one genre of films and be a super-successful actress in India and I don’t need to explore all these opportunities. Because by taking these chances it’s constantly challenging – it isn’t an easy situation to be in. I have never been a newcomer, even when I joined the movies in India I was a very well-known name, I knew people in the industry, so it wasn’t a new zone, except the art itself. But to in the west, I am a newcomer and there is no need for me to do that – I’m only doing it because the opportunity has come to me. I will be happy to contribute to the movement of consolidating and strengthening the position of India on an international platform.
If you go international you won’t have a life…
Aishwarya Rai: It can’t get any more hectic.
How do you juggle your relationship and work with hordes of people scrutinising you?
Aishwarya Rai: It is a tough life, no one said it was going to be a catwalk. It’s something you take on and I wonder at celebrities who complain about it, because the fact is that you have the choice to walk away. It is really difficult because I’m as human as you are. From my perspective I’m just a working professional just like you. The hoopla, the trumpets and the brickbats – that’s all on the outside but it’s a long day of hard work. You have deadlines to meet, we have a deadline to meet. If it pains you that much, then walk away.
How’s your love life?
Aishwarya Rai: As of now, its peaceful.
What’s Vivek Oberoi like to go out with?
Aishwarya Rai: I have never chosen to speak about my love life and I don’t see any reason for that to change. It would really hurt me to be perceived as ‘oh the last time she went through such a painful phase and now she’s changed her manner and talks about it’. When I was going through a lot of pain, I don’t think many people knew because I chose not to talk about it.People are going to gossip regardless…
What pains me is when the truth has been altered in such serious matters. That’s what really hurts because it has been filed and I know this sounds like the dialogue of Notting Hill, but the truth is, it bothers me. I flirt with the idea of writing my own biography because I think ‘oh the truth must be known’. No offence about the media, but you may transcribe this word for word, but then other people take bits from different articles and stick it together – and it becomes like Chinese whispers. And what’s personal is personal, there are people who are dear to you, who you love and who do get affected by the spoken word. It’s too precious to be pilfered, and it has to be accorded the dignity it deserves because that’s the kind of life I’ve chosen to have.
You’re rich, you’re famous, you’re living the life. Do you feel like you’re living in a different reality to normal people?
Aishwarya Rai: Of course I’m socially inclined, I do feel responsible and I feel like I’m blessed with the opportunity of being able to make a difference. There’s no point I need to prove. I do it because I want to do it. That’s probably my greatest strengths to come out of the emotional hard times that I’ve been in. It’s so easy to lose yourself and get into the throes of depression. I feel it’s important to voice this to a lot of people who go through emotional turbulence. I think it’s very important for you to be your best friend. You need to be brutally frank with yourself and constantly communicate with yourself. God has blessed you with life. And the life he’s given me? I’m normal first to begin with and I had a great upbringing and I’m fine and still centred, despite the amount I could’ve derailed given the medium I belong to. Where it’s so prone to screw up so many people. I haven’t gone through guilt for the life that I lead and I thank God for it