Global Aishwarya

Aishwarya Rai gets Press like no other celebrity. No surprise she’s on the cover of all international magazines that matter. America magazine is her latest. Launched last year, the magazine is supposed to be the world’s first urban luxury publication that has had the likes of Mariah Carey, 50 Cent and Missy Elliott among others on its cover.


So what does her exclusive interview in the magazine called 'How the West Was Won' include?

Ash states her policy to keep her personal life away from any kind of publicity. She speaks about her Hollywood sojourn and her upcoming projects back home.


She explains, “I will talk about my personal life when I choose to and that has nothing to do with my self image. It is primarily for the sake of people I care about and love.”


When asked about her growing international popularity, she replies, “What am I trying to achieve? Nothing that profound. Do I enjoy what I do? Do I know what it’s about? I don’t. I’m not a trained actor. I fell into movies. I didn’t dream of being here. I’m not a preacher or a saint. I don’t go to a place of worship to decide whether I should take on a job.”

You might have seen her looking red hot in green in the recent Indian Cosmopolitan. Here, check her out on the cover of the December edition of French Cosmopolitan.

"Let's forget about Gandhi, the Rajasthan palaces, the Bengal tigers: the most important is somewhere else. Julia Roberts, who hadn't always been very nice with her rivals, understood that and affirms that Aishwarya Rai is "the most beautiful woman in the world." We have to agree with pretty woman and many others in this aspect. In 1994, the gorgeous Indian was unanimously elected Miss World, unfortunately for the 90 others contestants."

"This afternoon, at the last floor of a Cannes' palace, Miss Rai is shooting for L'Oreal; she is one of the greatest ambassadors of this company. Everybody is moving around her, someone is fixing a brow, someone else is putting a lock of hair in the right place, and someone else can't stop taking pictures. She is smiling to everyone kindly, imperturbably, supremely: the Eighth wonder in the world. Therefore, we admire her as we admire the Taj Mahal in the sunset, when the white marble of the mausoleum is changing to pink and its architecture is an invitation for poetry."

"We should create some new words in order to describe Aishwarya Rai's face; every single goddess of the Ganges worked together to achieve such harmony. She possesses an alabaster complexion, some huge blue-green eyes (her signature), some teeth which seem to have been invented by a toothpaste company and a cascade of auburn hair which matches perfectly with the strict oval face of this priceless jewel. And now on to the body, perfectly made, 1, 70 meters of curves that move gracefully when she dances in Bollywood movies. Here is the shining goddess."

And the gush factor only increased in the article. Sigh.

"Aish, who is still living in her parents' home and who almost never moves without her mother, is not really tempted by human pleasure. Such are the characteristics of goddesses....."

One of her first international covers ever, Time had an extensive interview with her. Some excerpts:

Aishwarya ("Ash") Rai has been a superstar in India since she was crowned Miss World in 1994, so seducing a film crew, even her first British one, doesn't faze her. "It's not just about how I look," she says in the elegantly articulated English of the Indian ?lite. Indeed, after a handful of forgettable movies in the 1990s, Rai earned gushing reviews for her performances in last year's Devdas, for which she won seven Indian critic awards, and this fall's Chokher Bali. In Devdas in particular, critics swooned over her transformation from innocent lover to jilted avenger and agreed that she more than held her own against Bollywood's biggest male star, Shahrukh Khan, and Bombay's other queen, Madhuri Dixit.

But Rai's looks-"the most beautiful woman in the world," according to Julia Roberts-haven't hurt her, either. Rai turned Western heads this spring as a Cannes festival jury member and the new face of cosmetics house L'Oreal. The attention led to her invitation to the airy hills north of London, where she is now playing the lead in Bride and Prejudice, Chadha's hotly anticipated follow-up to her hit movie Bend it Like Beckham.

Also this year, she shared the cover on the April issue of Beijing Review with Ziyi Zhang, released on the eve of the Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to India. It read, "China and India are writing an unprecedented chapter in world history" and in bold it says, "Looking Good".
"The first appearance of Rai at the Cannes film festival was a real sensation. Her gorgeous silk sari had eclipsed exclusively designed dresses of Hollywood stars. Why stars, the Hollywood stars themselves faded in her presence.

Since she has overtaken all the beauties on the list of the most beautiful women of the world, including Catherine Zeta-Jones, it should not be a surprise if Aishwarya puts any Hollywood superman at her feet as a war trophy," the popular Russian magazine article said.

The Italian magazine featured her on one of their 2003 covers. "Seeking Hollywood, is the 29-year-old Indian actress Aishwarya Rai, who has come from Bombay to Cannes and whose marvelous green eyes the public in Cannes have appreciated..."
"I am just an ordinary woman with ordinary concerns," says India's favourite daughter Aishwarya Rai. But in reality "Aishu", as she is known, has become much more than an ordinary woman. Indeed many would argue she's also more than an ordinary star, because international fame has made her an unofficial ambassador for her home country's burgeoning film industry"
This is what the very famous Hello! magazine has to say about the global beauty.


A magazine from the The Sunday Times, London, Culture featured Aishwarya on their cover comtemplating whether a Bollywood icon can make it to Hollywood.


Look at Ash on the cover of this highly acclaimed Frech publication. Though typically Indian, she looks every bit an international star.