When I say Aishwarya Rai, I hear two words most commonly: beautiful or artificial. I dont disagree with both but personally I am an Aishwarya fan. I might be considered naive to be so openly expressing my views, but well...! People give me looks when I say I am an Ash fan (anti-gender bias!). I dont get those looks when I say I am a Kajol fan or a Tabu fan. Guess Ash is femininity personified and personified imeccably!
I admire Aishwarya. I like to describe her as a person who is smart,sharp and brilliant. As a businesswoman and a student/artist. But she reflects naiveness in many ways. Giggling away over the prestigious '60 minute' show or making statements like ,'Taj is prettier than me' cant be an 'I know it all' womanly act (which her contemporary Ms Sen carries off so very irresistably). This combination is a very luscious target for media people and critics.....And that explains it all.
Such beauty,power,sense of success and naiveness can only come with a price.
I recall the way she opened the Cannes Festival last year. Felt like it was a student on stage trying hard to get her lines right and did so very well.But I dont want to forget how her wardrobe at Cannes has matured from a thoughtless cacaphony of colors to that of class and elegance.
Her performances in the first few movies were no more than a treat to the eye only. But a woman with such commercial value/mould carrying off an off-stream 'Choker Bali' .... and seeming so effortlessly! it can but only be Aishwarya Rai.
The woman surely knows herself. Rising from 'A no-actress' to someone who made the world look at 'Bollywood' couldn't have been without self-confidence and determination.
Its hard to give a prognosis of her career path. In the worst case she would probably stagnate at the height of success and stay there or get better. For every situation she failed she has come out fine and refined. People willing to learn ,to learn to be resilient,......they never fail! Not even at the trough of the tide.
That seals it! ....I am an Ash fan.
22 comments:
Me an Ash fan too if you remember.
You are right, few people like her and many don’t. People who gave you the looks are the ones who fall in the later category. This entire image a person carries is based on the media representation. If you look at any national media in India, they all treat South people with disrespect.
Have you seen anyone from south being in the nation’s top position other than stupid Deve Gowda or idiotic K.R. Narayanan? This also applies to film industry. Other than Sridevi, Rekha, and Hema Malini, you can hardly count any south Indian actors/actress appreciated in north. Great talents like Kamal Hassan, Suhasini, Mohan Lal, Mumutti, and Mani Ratnam, to name few are always sidelined by counterparts from north or so called Bollywood.
Ash, who is inarguably the most beautiful women in the world, talented, dignified, and well behaved, is no exception from all this bias between north and south. Her counterparts like Kareena and Mallika are considered far better actress when they actually s**k big time.
No one is perfect in this world or great actors/actress from get go. Everyone learns, rectifies, and grow with the age and maturity. Ash is no exception for this.
8-| she's beautiful, yes, but dumb beyond belief! did you happen to catch her appearance on Letterman? she played the perfect bimbo - it was embarassing , to say the least! her acting is so-so - nothing to write home about, for sure. Sush is far better - more poised, classy and suave.
and to respond to 'dreamer', please don't trivialise everything into a North vs.South fight - we need to move on beyond such narrow views.[ btw, for the record, you say besides H.Malini,Sridevi andRekha - they are acknowledged as among the best and most beautiful actresses ever! anyway, Vyjyanthimala was also a top heroine in her day! ] its time we just appreciated art for art's sake and not because someone is from the north or south.
ah! sorry...who?
@gg
u see! great minds think alike :P
@ dreamer
i totally agree with ur conclusion
@ kk
u know i was expecting this....trus me. u see...i asked for it! :P. i still admire ash
@ shank
when did u bcome a bad boy.... ;((
what do you mean - you were expecting it? :) :)) :) i'm not sooo predictable, am I ?
:D whats up with you anyway? how're you doing?
write in sometime!
@kiran
i have known u since i started learning to argue :P. so dont be surprised that i knew what u wanted to say!
btw...i like ash for her positives! inspite of being the best and showered acid criticisms she has never succumbed to depression or taken her success for granted.
wait en watch! dont be surprised if she holds a national award or a golden globe or an oscar in the next decade. i can bet anything on that!!!
@ kk,
It's a fact. I am not sure where you are from or how many North Indians you know. If you talk to them you will agree with me. I am not only talking about actors/actress, consider any field and let me know if you don't find the biased article on todays media.
This fact is true all over the world, in any country you name, the bias exists within that country.
@ dreamer
bias exists i agree. i have seen it. but not all people believe in biased judgement. there are always exceptions.
I think everyone mis-understood my statements. I am not saying everyone is like that, rather I meant it exists in the majority of peoples view.
@dreamer,
i dont know what kind of bias you have faced! let me, however, hasten to add that ,while you have my sympathies, it is grossly unfair to generalise. to argue against your viewpoint, quite a few of the Indian civil service's top brass are south indian in origin , so alaso the national science committees and others. in fact, there is a fair distribution , population-wise, of south and north indians all over. i agree that not many southie stars have made it big - but maybe thats just because of the language problem or even because northie junta just prefer a different kind of heroine...Sridevi was a top actress , so were Hema Malini and Rekha. i just can't see how you can substantiate your grouse - for that is all it appears to be, rather than anything supported by actual fact. and if you are talking about bias - well, the same bias exists within the north and and within the south, too - Telugus don't generally like Tamilians, Tamilians mistrust Mallus, Ounjabis poke constant fun at UP and Bihar, Bongs are the butt of umpteen, rather offensive jokes...its a fact of life. South India should stop crying for a place in the Sun - its not theirs to give, its ours to take.
and vidya , what do you mean , "since you learnt to argue"? did you never argue before that? aaarghhh....how goody-goody can people get? "shaking head in dismay" "no wonder desi parents expect so much obedience - with people like vidya showing the mild-mannered way, what else canthey expect? " :D :D :D
Ash ... A thing of beauty is a joy forever!!
[dreamy eyed look] [sigh!]
@ KK,
“Northie junta just prefers a different kind of heroine” – this statement proves that northie junta are biased and I am not sure what you trying to prove. “maybe that’s just because of the language problem” – why then north Indian actor/actress are seen and accepted in south, is it not a language problem or is it simply that south Indians are more open minded towards northie junta and wrong vice versa.
I definitely don’t need any sympathy as life made me so strong, I have guts to talk about any issues without any consequences. Your entire response relies on the fact that bias exists and now you are showing the bias is also present within the states and regions. I am rather glad you realize it.
There are two ways to deal with any issue:
• Be one more sheep in a group and follow other sheep blindly by ignoring and denying the fact and live without any concern as long as you are not affected by it
OR
• Raise your voice against the system and sacrifice your life for others, who think that is crazy – tragically waste of life
You generalize the matter when you know majority of people support it. Indians like spicy food, Chinese eat snakes, etc… these are general statements. It does not mean that all Indians like spicy food or all Chinese eat snakes.
“quite a few of the Indian civil service's top brass are south Indian in origin , so also the national science committees and others” – just few people are in the top position does not make it as a un-biased society nor “there is a fair distribution , population-wise, of south and north Indians all over” – does mean anything with respect to bias.
“South India should stop crying for a place in the Sun - it’s not theirs to give, it’s ours to take” – If you raise your voice against an issue does not mean you are crying for it.
Just because you can argue, it does not make any sense to argue with everyone and with everything.
@ KK,
"no wonder desi parents expect so much obedience - with people like vidya showing the mild-mannered way, what else canthey expect?" - if this is not a genenralization, then what is this?
:)
dude, assuming you even are a dude, you have major issues :))
preference is never and has never been a matter of bias. if you think so, then you are sadly deluded. my preferring Urmila Matondkar to ,say, Shakeela, does not mean i am biased against Shakeela - just that I like Urmi more. I should not be forced to like or dislike someone or something because it might appear discirminatory - that is the cornerstone of the principle of freedom. Else, we are just a few steps away from our region dictating our tastes ( ye gods! imagine that - being forced to like only Shakeela) and not our own good sense.
you seem to opine that the south faces discrimination from the north...true,maybe. but how does that relly matter? i mean, most of the tech industry is centred in the south - do you hear northies screaming bas? most of the financial industry is in the west - do you hear the north screaming bias? thats what i meant by the place in the sun comment - dont give me random fundae about how strong you are. thats not even germane to the isuue under discussion here.
don't get me wrong - i'm just as incensed as anyone else when i see northies in Blore caring two whits about local culture and language. but thats not true of all of them - in fact, the intolerant ones are a vanishing minority. lets not tar the tribe because of the actions of one person.
and finally, my most important point - get a life! there are FAR more important and pressing issues out there - if you really want to m ake a difference , go out there and help poor people in need, help the hungry, help protect the environment. don't just misquote the people grouping fundae to justify your misguided crusade. people dying of hunger and malnourishment are far more importnat as issues to be handled than any bias, perceived or otherwise, between the north and south.
oh, btw, again not to sound too rude, but the quote about vidya's behaviour was a joke - which i'm sure she got - and not meant for you to respond or categorize.
@ KK,
The funda about me being strong was regarding your comments on sympathy. I hate when someone sympathizes towards me even when I am in deep shit.
Your suggestion regarding protecting environment, I have been working since my undergrad days on converting biomass into chemicals and fuels, desalination, multi-fuel efficient engine, and animal food from slaughter house waste. I think that speaks to itself.
Oh! before I put an end to this arguement, I was making fun of you when I responded to your remark on CW, because you gave a big lecture on generalization and you left a generalized note. That's it. I was not repsonding for her or neither I care if you are making joke with her or even if you are serious.
@ kk and dreamer
hellooooooo!!!
someone's gotten really touchy - =)) =))
btw, i do take offense - as i pointed out before , and you seem to have totally missed it, the joke was meant for vidya to respond to or not - not directed at you at all. so dont butt in , in a desperate effort to make a point which, by the way, is invlaid anyway.
good to hear that you've been working so long on something that might help the environment - thats not to say its enough or even that you should restrict yourself to that. but good! dont , however, hold it up as justification of yourself. no matter how much we do, it may not be enough and all of us need to recognise that. good, though, that you are at least doing something. just curious - was it extra-curricular or part of courses,too?
and, dude, wake up - when someone sympathises with one, it does not imply weakness , either in onself or in any others. sympathy is and can be used as a means of showing / trying to show understanding of the other's concerns. there was no implication of weakness at all - get real ! i never implied or meant to imply that you were weak - far from it. that was not even an issue. why are you harping on it? its almost as if you're looking for ways to show yourself to be strong . ok.so you are. thats still not germane to our argument - btw, thats all it was. if you saw any perceived personal insult, i do regret it - all criticisms were directed purely at your reasoning and line of argument and now, also at your assumptions of veiled insults.:)) :))
I am a 'south indian' and I don't think Ash Rai is worth any of my time. Haha and the media doesn't treat anyone with respect. If they do, there has to be something terribly wrong there :P.
@crouching tigress
ash or no ash is ur personal choice. but i dont think media do not treat anyone without respect. people have been adorned with words and accolades by the media when they deserve it, earn it, and have been defamed sometimes reasonbly/unreasonably..
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