Aishwarya Rai, the reigning queen of Indian cinema who has
starred in 24 Bollywood films over the last seven years and
a classically trained dancer, has been called the most beautiful
woman in the world – according to thousands of Web sites,
a British magazine, Internet polls and even Julia Roberts.
Despite
being virtually unknown in the United States even though fans
have created more than 17,000 Web sites devoted to her and
her beauty compared to Grace Kelly, Ingrid Bergman and Elizabeth
Taylor – she is among the elite of an industry that
attracts a global audience of 5 billion people, which is twice
the reach of Hollywood.
The
reasons Bollywood films have such universal appeal and influence
is that the industry produces three new films that are distributed
worldwide every day and because they're squeaky-clean. There
are no sex scenes, not even kissing. Every time you think
someone's going to do it, they'll burst into song instead.
She
has never kissed on screen -- not even after 24 films because kissing
is taboo in the Indian cinema. Rai said if she did kiss someone on screen
in a Hollywood movie, it would create a minor scandal among her fans.
“In our society, you don't really see people around the street corner
kissing or being extremely or overtly physically demonstrative,"
she said. However she won't rule out kissing in films when she moves from
"Bollywood" to Hollywood -- although she says it is certain
to create a minor scandal among her fans.
Rai
grew up in a strict middle-class home, who lives and works
in Bombay India, is the daughter of a merchant marine and
a writer. She was an "A" student on track to becoming
an architect, until the "Miss World" pageant came
along. At age 21, Rai became Miss World and soon becoming
the brightest star in Bollywood.
This
independent and astute businesswoman negotiates her own contracts,
including endorsements for L'Oreal, Coca-Cola and DeBeers
diamonds. She is not only one of the wealthiest women in India,
but Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential
people on the planet. When she's seen in new clothes, it invariably
sparks a new fashion trend. Choosing what to wear, she says,
is not so much about caring as it is, "just about being
open to life and trying different things out."
Her
future includes going to Hollywood and she has several
films lined up – the first project is from the director of "Bend
it Like Beckham" (Gurinder
Chadha) and called "Bride and Prejudice." She recognizes
that India's "good girl" is bound to run up against something
of a cultural hurdle: kissing men on the big screen.
This Greek goddess with the soul of an Indian (who always seek to be “real”)
is a source of pride for many of her people because there really hasn't
been that strong a representation of the Indian in Hollywood." With
Rai in the vanguard of an Indian invasion, that could change. Is Hollywood
ready?
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