Aishwarya Rai is no stranger to Cannes. The Bollywood actor and
former Miss World has attended the film festival 10 times, but her
appearance on the red carpet next week is set to be her most talked
about. The cause of a controversy raging in India lies not with her
latest film – Rai is there to promote a cosmetic brand rather than a
new movie – but instead, bewilderingly, with recent photographs which
suggest that, six months after giving birth to a baby girl, Rai has yet
to regain her pre-pregnancy figure.
Many
in India are asking whether the woman routinely referred to as the most
beautiful in the world, and who occupies a place in Indian popular
culture akin to Kate Middleton or Victoria Beckham, has an obligation to
her fans to lose weight.
Born on 1 November 1973 in Mangalore,
Karnataka, in the south of India, Rai was the second child of a merchant
navy officer. Her modeling career began while she was still at school;
at 18 she won the Ford supermodel contest, which led to her being cast
in a television advertisement for Pepsi. In the 1993 commercial – which
also featured future Bollywood heart throb Aamir Khan – Rai appeared for
only three seconds but her pouting cameo brought her national fame. The
following year she won Miss World. "That contest is seen as a bit of a
joke in the west but Rai winning really mattered to India," said Rachel
Dwyer, professor of Indian cinema at the University of London.
Rai
then made the predictable move into acting, but with a surprising
debut: Iruvar was a Tamil political thriller rather than a Bollywood
blockbuster. She went on to star in more mainstream films such as Jeans,
Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and, most notably, Devdas, which brought her
global attention. Unlike heroines from the 70s and 80s who were often
healthily curvy, Rai's popularity rested on a body that was supermodel
lean.
"Most
of the films she has appeared in – with a few exceptions – have been
critically trashed," said film critic Mayank Shekhar. "Her prime talent –
if not her only one – is that the west perceives hers to be the most
beautiful face to have come out of India."
"She is an icon because
of her extreme beauty," said novelist Kishwar Desai, "and also because
she has broken through to the international market and that means a lot
to Indians."
Julia Roberts, in a quote endlessly recycled but
never substantiated, is reported to have described Rai as the most
beautiful woman in the world and it was the interest from the United
States – where Rai was invited to appear on both The Oprah Winfrey Show
and The Late Show with David Letterman – and from Britain – where she
starred in Bride and Prejudice – that made her Bollywood's biggest star.
In 2003 she was invited to join the Cannes jury alongside Steven
Soderbergh and Meg Ryan. The decision, critics suggested, was motivated
more by marketing than qualification – a suspicion not entirely laid to
rest by Rai's comment on arriving at Cannes: "I am here to learn."
Shekhar
said: "One has to make a distinction between her career as a public
performer and as a film actress. Her career as a public performer is
more successful than her film work."
This
public role included not only acting but also brand endorsements,
charitable work and a high-profile marriage. Rai is said to earn more
than $16m annually for endorsing such brands as Longines, Lux and
L'Oréal – for whom she is appearing in Cannes. Alongside the commercial
endorsements, she also lends her fame to social causes. She has
committed to donating her green eyes to blindness charity Eye-Bank after
her death. Last month it was announced that a school named after her is
being built for girls in a remote village in Uttar Pradesh.
She
also stays in the headlines because of her eventful love life. Before
her marriage she was in a relationship with actor Salman Khan, which
ended acrimoniously with Rai releasing a press statement saying: "I have
endured his alcoholism and misbehavior, and I have been at the
receiving end of his abuses – verbal, physical and emotional, infidelity
and indignity." Khan denied the allegations.
In 2007 she married
another actor, Abhishek Bachchan, the son of Amitabh Bachchan, India's
most loved film star. Human rights groups criticized Rai for promoting a
Hindu tradition associated with the caste system by 'marrying' a tree
ahead of the wedding – apparently to overcome astrological differences
with her fiance. On the wedding day 300 policemen were stationed around
their Mumbai home and one young woman, who claimed she was Bachchan Jr's
former girlfriend, slit her wrists on the street outside and required
40 stitches. The wedding sealed Rai's admission into the Bachchan
dynasty. "She had it all," said Desai. "Picture-perfect looks, winning
Miss World and then marrying the most eligible bachelor in India by
marrying into one of this country's most respected families: it is a
fairytale life."
The criticism of Rai's post-pregnancy figure has
been fierce . "Aishwarya is like a goddess," said Showbusiness columnist
Shobhaa Dé. "She is held up as the ideal of beauty and so there is an
expectation on her to look perfect at all times."
The image that
sparked the storm in India showed Rai in the back of a car on her way to
a party being thrown for the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, where
Ban is believed to have asked her to be the global face of the UN's girl
child campaign. The Indian media, though, was less interested in the
job offer than the fact that Rai looked like a 38-year-old woman who had
recently given birth.
One
website posted a video, complete with elephant sound effects, entitled
"Aishwarya Rai's shocking weight gain", which has been seen more than
500,000 times. "She is a Bollywood actress and it is her duty to look
good and fit," suggested one commenter. Another added: "She needs to
learn from people like Victoria Beckham who are back to size zero weeks
after their delivery."
The criticism has started a debate about
Bollywood's attitude towards women and motherhood. "There is a
glorification of motherhood in India and Indian cinema," said cinema
professor Shohini Ghosh. "But people are confused because they don't
know whether to glorify Aishwarya in her new motherhood or lament that
she is not looking like a runway model."
India has long grappled
with the question of what beauty means, but in an age of global media
Indians are familiar with western celebrities and how quickly some of
them appear to regain their pre-baby bodies. "The role models being held
up are Angelina Jolie and Victoria Beckham," said Dé. "But our body
frames are different – we have wider hips and curves – so this whole
business of looking desperately skinny two weeks after giving birth is a
western import."
The career trajectory of female Bollywood actors
has been downwards after they married and had children. From 50s star
Nargis to Rai's mother-in-law Jaya Bhaduri, who largely retired after
marrying Amitabh Bachchan, the assumption was that Indian audiences were
not willing to accept as a screen heroine a woman known to be married
and a mother. But there are signs of progress: this month two other
women – Madhuri Dixit Nene and Karisma Kapoor – are making film
comebacks after having children.
Rai's appearance at Cannes could
be an important cultural moment. "It could be a turning point in making
us stop and review the absurd expectations we have of our female
celebrities," said Dé.
"The timing is right for us to start
learning to accept women with a few more curves and appreciate that
gorgeous women do age," said Desai. "But the question is would Aishwarya
want to age gracefully in front of us and will we let her?"
Born: 1 November 1973 in Mangalore, Karnataka
Career to date: model, Bollywood actor, humanitarian
High point: winning Miss World 1994, winning FilmFare best actress award twice, besting David Letterman on his US TV chat show
Low point:
after ending her relationship with fellow actor Salman Khan she told
the Bombay Times: "There were times when Salman got physical with me,
luckily without leaving marks. And I would go to work as if nothing had
happened."
What she says: "I always knew I would be successful. So there was no element of surprise."
What they say, allegedly: "The most beautiful woman in the world" (Julia Roberts)
