Monday 7 December 2015

Perfection: Aishwarya Rai



Aishwarya Rai in Devdas. Perfection on screen.

Mike Ruiz captures Aishwarya Rai



Ace American photographer Mike Ruiz captures Aishwarya Rai as never before. Gorgeous.

Aishwarya Rai in Umrao Jaan




Sure she looked other-worldly, but the movie Umrao Jaan by JP Dutta, was un-watchable. Blame the director and writer (and perhaps the editor too - that movie needed some serious chopping!) for the yawn-fest. Even the most hardcore Aishwarya Rai fans - which we are - could barely stomach it. Confession, even we bought the dvd, just to skip it along to look at her all day and night. And not watch the film! Songs were gorgeous. So were the outfits. And the movie that was a stepping stone for the Bachchan-Rai nuptial. So perhaps, not all for a loss...

Aishwarya Rai in Devdas


In the history of Indian cinema, there might never be a visual as strong as the one of Aishwarya Rai in Devdas. In sari-clad, bejeweled, (over) decked out Rai is just breathtakingly beautiful and held her own in a film studded with movie stars of greater volume. Critics in India go after Rai hammer and tongs, for no reason. She did a splendid job. That finale will haunt viewers in ethereal eternity.

Aishwarya Rai in Taal (1999)





There's a moment when Aishwarya Rai appears in this song Ramta Jogi, where I distinctly remember hearing a collective audience gasp when the stunner appears in all her magnificence in the second verse.

Beautiful beyond belief, in her sensuous avatar of singer/dancer Mansi in Taal, this was Ash Rai at her finest hour. Released in the summer of 1999, there was no one hotter in Mumbai than this beauty queen.