Only beauty, no brain?
Correspondent, Bob Simon, describes the former Ms. World to be one of the most beautiful women of the world and there is no denying that. Aishwarya Rai has made an impression in the lives and hearts of many people in India as well as abroad.
When her picture first appeared in front of me on channel 5 (an American channel), it felt good to see someone from “my own land” to be featured on International TV. I liked the sound and the thought of it.
I was looking forward to hearing the interview of the most beautiful woman of the world. Besides her being beautiful, I expected her to be intelligent and handle Simon’s questions with great care and wit. But I guess I was expecting too much.
Aishwarya’s words seem to lack the charm of an elegant woman that she is presumed to be. Most of her answers started out with a giggle, which grew into heavy laughter that seemed to have scared poor Bob Simon. When Ash was laughing, he sat unaffected, staring with clueless eyes at her, as if asking her, “would you mind sharing the joke with me?” After having her own little moment of hysterical laughter, Aishwarya would stop abruptly and go on to counter question the miserable correspondent. Aishwarya tried to avoid the questions everyway that she could and Bob Simon would just give up because he knew there was no point in forcing the answer out of her because it wouldn’t work.
Do we Indians live in a misconception that if we try to speak in a unique “American” accent (regardless of the fact that we fake it or not) we will be cooler? Well, Aishwarya sure seems to have this delusion. Ash tried very hard to speak like they do in foreign countries, such as America. There are some people who fake their accents and get very close to the real thing and so, it doesn’t seem so bad. This sure didn’t work for Ash. The fake accent added a negative aspect to her personality, which is related to how she wasn’t being herself. I mean, what’s wrong with speaking like the way you normally do? She sounded really fake!
There was no trace of a complete and proper answer from Ash. For every question, there was this thunderous laugh followed by a few irrelevant words or counter questions. It seemed like she didn’t want anything to get revealed. She didn’t want people to know “the truth.” Was she trying to be a mystery?
As a whole, the show was lackluster. As much as it was anticipated, it didn’t deliver much for bollywood or Aishwarya Rai fans because of the content of her answers. It would have been a wonderful show if Ash had been her original self, minus those chuckles and loud laughs. She could definitely have done without the fake accent, which didn’t compliment her at all. I also wish that she had provided some intriguing answers that would get people more interested in her rather than get them tired of the uselessness of the show.
A big disappointment!
(You can also read a short description of the show here)
Au revoir…
~Aaina.
on January 7th, 2005 at 10:27 pm
Hi Aaina, I guess the reactions of hv been pretty universal. Recently another friend of mine from US was telling how irritating Ash’s ‘giggles’ were! After that, I read on another blog about the same thing - ‘the accent’ and the ‘giggle’. I am as it is not too fond of Ash as an actor ( barring HDDCS, Raincoat , where the director’s contribution is much more than hers per se) …and now this has put me off real hard! If she has got a chance to portray and represent India and Indian Film Industry, she had better be mature enough to handle it gracefully!
on January 7th, 2005 at 11:33 pm
Hey Deepak
I completely agree with what you said. She hasn’t done wonders in acting and now, like you said, if she has a chance of making India proud, she should have been smart about it.
on January 8th, 2005 at 7:07 am
Funny
on January 8th, 2005 at 10:39 am
OVER RATED
iam glad the myth is abt to be broken that the media tries to project her as the finest actress india has produced she has delivered only one good performance so far “HDDCS”
and gosh i hate her since she has started dating VIVEK”me,myself and only me”OBEROI
she will be a huge flop in hollywood and yes those giggles have been heard before also very annoying…..
adios
on January 8th, 2005 at 12:14 pm
Hey guys…I thought I missed out on a rare interview of an Indian on American TV…but after reading Aaina’s blog and others comments I feel that I am lucky to have missed it….I have never liked Ash (preferred Sushmita from the day I say the miss India contest in 94)…as an actress she is horrible, not a great dancer…of late u can make out that she is getting older and is not having the charm she used to have on people with her looks…I feel if Indian cinema needs to be represented, it should be thru someone like…Mani Ratnam, Ram Gopal Verma or Aamir khan etc…
on January 8th, 2005 at 1:26 pm
Ankur - the article or Aish?
Aditya - Agreed. She is over-rated. I mean, there have been other actresses in bollywood who have much more talents but got so little recognition.
Suneel - you didn’t miss out on anything great. And your list of people who should represent Indian Cinema does include Shahrukh Khan, doesn’t it?
on January 8th, 2005 at 6:39 pm
Don’t take me to be a nerd or anything but sometime back I read in Nature that beauty and brains arise from the same gene. The bottomline is if you have beauty, you are likely to have lesser brains and vice versa. True there are exceptions and scientists do account for that too. For one, we don’t know the limit our genes have and second there is always the good old mutation dued that enables other genes to take effect too. Looks like Aishwarya can be a beautiful (and I literally mean it) guinea pig to these scientists.
Frankly speaking I never like Aish. All those laughs and giggles really freaks me out. Hey, can we draw a somewhat paralel with Aish’s ways to Lalloo’s?!
on January 8th, 2005 at 9:24 pm
Aaina! Ofcourse it’s Aish and not the article
I also don’t like her films.
Abhishek! Beautiful person may be having good brain but it will be of no use, as it wll be applied mainly in looking more beautiful
on January 8th, 2005 at 11:28 pm
Abhi - haha…good one. Hence, the title, ‘only beauty, no brain?’
Ankur - Oh good…I thought it was the article!
on January 9th, 2005 at 1:31 am
Hmm..have nt seen the interview. Anyways, I have nt seen a single movie of her which is worth praising. She is beautiful, but..can she act. I think not. Glad that I did nt saw the interview, otherwise would’ve got frightened listening to her giggles.
on January 9th, 2005 at 10:05 am
Govind - yeah, she is beautiful but, for pete’s sake, she can not act!
No Aish fans here? Whoa…surprising!
on February 10th, 2005 at 1:10 am
Well, everybody here hates Ash it seems!!
But, I like her. She’s so beautiful!! But, yup I do agree she is not a great actress. It requires a great director like Sanjay Leela Bhansali to get the best of her ordinary acting talent.
But, don’t forget folks, that she’s the 1st indian to really storm into the screens of international TV/movie audience. I bet not even Big B and SRK has this kind of following. Most of their audience (abroad) comprises of NRIs and other ppl of Indian origin.
But, Aish has a huge following among non-Indian origin people.
on February 10th, 2005 at 7:14 pm
Manpreet said, “But, don’t forget folks, that she’s the 1st indian to really storm into the screens of international TV/movie audience. I bet not even Big B and SRK has this kind of following. Most of their audience (abroad) comprises of NRIs and other ppl of Indian origin.
But, Aish has a huge following among non-Indian origin people.”
I say, “Why do we Indians from Bollywood run after ‘international TV/movie’? Why? Big B and Shahrukh would prefer to stay in their country and entertain Indians rather than going abroad and entertaining foreigners. They have said this in their interviews that they have, in the past, got many offers from the ‘all mighty sacred to-be-hailed’ Hollywood but they want to stay right in India and continue to serve and entertain their own people. Sorry if I sound rude, but that’s just the way it goes.”
on July 3rd, 2005 at 10:05 pm
Hi Aaina,
I was really appalled after reading your comments.I cant believe you made such horrible comments about Aishwarya Rai.There are certain things in life which are private and personal.She might not want Bob Simon and the viewers to know everything about her personal life.The main reason why she laughed at Bob Simon’s questions because he was asking absurd and private questions.It is totally his fault,he asked for it.Aishwarya Rai is the MOST beautiful,intelligent,and elegant woman in the world.A person who is matured and sensible do not go around telling random people about their personal life.Would you like it if I asked you EVERYTHING about your private life?I guess NOT!
You are suppose to be supporting and boosting Aishwarya Rai’s image.She is proud to be an Indian, and so do I.Please support instead of criticizing her comments.I am extremely glad she told Bob Simon off at one part of the interview.He has NO RIGHT to comment on how much she eats, and he also has NO RIGHT to invade her privacy.Oh my God! I am extremely angry with what you wrote.The representation of your heading ‘Only beauty,no brain?’ clearly shows to me that you are immatured,rude,and insensitive.People might get the impression you are jealous of Aishwarya’s intelligence and success.If you dont have anything nice to say about her,please! for heaven’s sake! DO NOT say anything AT ALL!!!!!!!! You are just making a fool out of yourself.I dont think Aishwarya would be too happy if she read what you wrote.I am only a student,but I guess I have a much more broader perspective on this issue.Why do you have to make such disparaging comments about her?I am totally ashamed with what you wrote.This also shows to me that you have no support for this successful INDIAN.By the way,she doesnt need to impress Bob Simon or the viewers.We,viewers,can only listen to what she says…we have no right to make a judgement on the content of her answers.She might not want people to gossip about her.I would hate it if anyone asked me personal questions.I am sure you would to.
Please reply maturely
on July 3rd, 2005 at 10:26 pm
Hi Aaina,
Your post showed insolence but severely lacked aptitude.Aishwarya Rai is the MOST beautiful woman in the whole of Karnataka and the world.She beats Catherine Zeta Jones and Angelina Jolie.She is beautiful externally and internally.A beautiful person would answer questions wisely, and she did so.When she giggles at Bob Simon’s questions,it shows that he lacks the intelligence to ask sensible questions.Bob Simon was mocking poor Aishwarya Rai throughout the interview.He made a comment on the amount of food she eats,he also said that she claims to be independent just because she lives with her parents.Western values and Indian values vary drastically.There are NO SIMILARITIES between these two cultures.If Bob Simon can’t respect what Aishwarya believes in,then he shouldnt expect her to give him high quality answers.I HATED the part when Bob Simon said that ‘the most painful part was when Aiswarya made him wear Indian clothes’.I found that racist and disrespectful.He needs to think before he speaks because it can be really offensive to most viewers.You only pin-pointed Aishwarya’s mistakes,how about Bob Simon??????
Hear from you soon
on July 7th, 2006 at 1:56 pm
Parinita you said,” Aishwarya Rai is the MOST beautiful woman in the whole of Karnataka and the world.She beats Catherine Zeta Jones and Angelina Jolie.She is beautiful externally and internally”…. do u really know this for sure??, there are equally beautiful women in countries like Italy and other east european countries who is beautiful, but you cannot have a guess like this one, have you ever heard the term ” beauty is in the eye of the be holder”???…personally i think India got one side right and one side wrong…right side is that india was sucessful in promoting the beauty of its women, (maybe) but the wrong side is having faith on the beauty to represent india as a whole. like suneel said they should seriously think about putting forward a real indian icon in front to promote India rather than some barbie doll who is plastered up to just laugh smile laugh smile and again laugh and smile.