This post is by Payal Mukherjee of Kolkata Diaries fame. Her city blog gives readers an insider's view of life in the metropolis and has been picked up by Trip Advisor for its varied content.
"Need one reason to change your shampoo. Ill give you Five" says Ash. Actually she says... "Ah'll giive you Faaeve"
Whats with the accent. Or the pouted lips while she delivers the dialogue. L'Oreal has brand ambassadors across the globe, a different one for each country and here are some more ads of the same product to compare with Ash's video.
Linda is smart, Cheryl Cole is sweet, everyone is themselves, only Aishwarya is something other than herself.
She has been written about in all major magazines, fashion, news, film, bar none. Her face on the cover sells. Her face sells. But the moment she opens her mouth, the tinted glass of mystique and beauty, which sort of epitomises her, breaks into shards. Pritish Nandy has written about her in the latest Elle magazine, December 2010 issue.
One would wonder why a communication expert like him would put Ash on a pedestal while dumping other female stars in his article. Ash has mistique, others dont. Ash is a star, others arent. Obvious lies in comparisons- others sell themselves to any brand that comes around... well, Ash is the face of L'Oreal, Longines, Lux, Nakshatra (before it was taken away and given to Katrina Kaif). Others come on any talk show before release of their films- Koffee with Karan season 3 started with Ash. And what films anyway. Oh wait, he does say, that Aishwarya unveiled his book of poems recently by reading out her favourites. Having THE Ash at your book unveiling... you get the eyeballs if not the readers. Wait, he is also a producer...
But then her face sells. And she should stick to her core competence. The directors who favour her usually make her look like a goddess. 'Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam', 'Devdas', 'Chokher Bali'... She looks unbelievable in all of these films. But when she speaks I feel like closing up my ears and going yaddayaddayadda. Remember her scream in 'HDDCS', lying on the swing. Mute the screen and watch, you will love her. Hear her and you will feel like laughing at the hystrionics. And her laugh... her well known giggle... who has heard that more than once and not felt like bashing up something, anything, just stop already.
She recently came with husband Abhishek on Koffee with Karan. While Abhishek was his usual mad self, she was contrived and faking it all along. Every bit of her, her words, her moves, the way she looked at both husband and Karan, everything seemed acted, by a very bad actor, may I add. And this is the reason that being gifted by such heavenly beauty, she has not become a global phenomenon like, say, Angelina Jolie has become. Our first crossover beauty in the real sense, she had such potential, and such little sense.
Aishwarya has been brand ambassador for L'Oreal since 2003. When L'Oreal roped in Sonal Kapoor one year back there was a furore about the spat between the senior actor and the newcomer. Ash can also be insecure, the headlines said. Then all was cleared by the company saying, Sonam is their domestic market ambassador while Ash is their global face from India. And so Aishwarya's throne was saved.
"Need one reason to change your shampoo. Ill give you Five" says Ash. Actually she says... "Ah'll giive you Faaeve"
Whats with the accent. Or the pouted lips while she delivers the dialogue. L'Oreal has brand ambassadors across the globe, a different one for each country and here are some more ads of the same product to compare with Ash's video.
Linda is smart, Cheryl Cole is sweet, everyone is themselves, only Aishwarya is something other than herself.
She has been written about in all major magazines, fashion, news, film, bar none. Her face on the cover sells. Her face sells. But the moment she opens her mouth, the tinted glass of mystique and beauty, which sort of epitomises her, breaks into shards. Pritish Nandy has written about her in the latest Elle magazine, December 2010 issue.
One would wonder why a communication expert like him would put Ash on a pedestal while dumping other female stars in his article. Ash has mistique, others dont. Ash is a star, others arent. Obvious lies in comparisons- others sell themselves to any brand that comes around... well, Ash is the face of L'Oreal, Longines, Lux, Nakshatra (before it was taken away and given to Katrina Kaif). Others come on any talk show before release of their films- Koffee with Karan season 3 started with Ash. And what films anyway. Oh wait, he does say, that Aishwarya unveiled his book of poems recently by reading out her favourites. Having THE Ash at your book unveiling... you get the eyeballs if not the readers. Wait, he is also a producer...
But then her face sells. And she should stick to her core competence. The directors who favour her usually make her look like a goddess. 'Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam', 'Devdas', 'Chokher Bali'... She looks unbelievable in all of these films. But when she speaks I feel like closing up my ears and going yaddayaddayadda. Remember her scream in 'HDDCS', lying on the swing. Mute the screen and watch, you will love her. Hear her and you will feel like laughing at the hystrionics. And her laugh... her well known giggle... who has heard that more than once and not felt like bashing up something, anything, just stop already.
She recently came with husband Abhishek on Koffee with Karan. While Abhishek was his usual mad self, she was contrived and faking it all along. Every bit of her, her words, her moves, the way she looked at both husband and Karan, everything seemed acted, by a very bad actor, may I add. And this is the reason that being gifted by such heavenly beauty, she has not become a global phenomenon like, say, Angelina Jolie has become. Our first crossover beauty in the real sense, she had such potential, and such little sense.
Aishwarya has been brand ambassador for L'Oreal since 2003. When L'Oreal roped in Sonal Kapoor one year back there was a furore about the spat between the senior actor and the newcomer. Ash can also be insecure, the headlines said. Then all was cleared by the company saying, Sonam is their domestic market ambassador while Ash is their global face from India. And so Aishwarya's throne was saved.
Aishwarya is 37 now. She still looks like a goddess, but sadly that is where it all ends. She has not taken her acting career to another level. She has not become a face that would automatically sell a product. She has not become a known face in the charity world to inspire others to join in a cause, or use her fame to the hilt. And her time is running out. An accent in a shampoo ad will not save her anymore.
So giggling makes a person worse than a terrorist? Get real.
ReplyDeleteThere are so many points in the article which are 'wrong'.
To start with the last paragraph, where the writer quotes - "She has not become a known face in the charity world to inspire others to join in a cause." Erm.. her 30 second eye donation campaign ads inspired lots of thousands of people to pledge to donate their eyes after death. Not even an Amitabh Bachchan has had this kind of control over the people.
Why do you think international brands like L'Oreal, Longines, Lux et cetera would sign her as a brand ambassador and continue her contract for years? This is her 12th year of association with Longines and rarely has there been a star who has had such loyal brands in their kitty. As for Nakshatra, it was Ash who had decided to stop endorsing the brand because the brand was being split into various entities like Geetanjali, which emerged from Nakshatra. That was when it was offered to Katrina. Same goes for Sonam. She was chosen the Indian ambassador to L'Oreal. Ash has always been the international ambassador and hence enjoys the privilege of walking the red-carpet at Cannes. Sonam does not.
Oh, and were the jury members watching the film in mute when they awarded her the best actress awards for Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Devdas, Chokher Bali etc.? Or may be the jury was too dumb. The writer should have been in the jury perhaps. One of a kind jury member s/he would have become, who could judge movies and performances without even enabling the audio. :)
As for her "bad acting", Ash has consistently delivered good performances and has always been diverse and versatile with her roles and films respectively. Her latest film Guzaarish where she delivered an outstanding performance, for example. She has been doing much better than her contemporaries at least.
I wonder why Ash receives criticism for the smallest trivial thing like a 'giggle'. She has always been like this - even before her pre - Miss World days. Nobody had a problem with these giggles then... because she hadn't achieved any fame or success by then. But as soon as she started tasting success, there were a bunch of cynics who would try to pull her down (and failing to do so). This aricle is another example. So that success was so huge that every minor thing about her began to be scrutinzed and for the past few years, it has come to criticing someone for their 'giggle'. Heh. I'm no Ash fan, a friend of mine is. He quotes - Katrina is like a doll. Aishwarya is a successful woman. Everyone likes dolls, but there are few who can stand up to a strong, successful woman like Aishwarya. It hit me hard. It has been happening all these years and I never realized. My respect for Aishwarya just grew leaps and bounds.
By the way, this is the most immature blog post I've read in a long time. God bless you with better wisdom. :)
Lets begin from the beginning, Mr/Ms Anonymous. Firstly, I wish you would have given me an opportunity to put a face and name to this comment. Aishwarya has lots of fans, but it always is good to see one who is such a supporter. She herself would agree. :)
ReplyDeleteAnyway, your first point- "worse than a terrorist"? Have I said that? Terrorism is a serious thing, lets not tarnish the efforts of all those fighting this bane, or take any terrorist or their acts less seriously by comparing them to something as trivial as a shampoo ad or a giggle, shall we? I detest comparing anything to terrorism and encourage others to stay away from the same.
You are right. Aishwarya DID do this ad on eye donation. I remember... sometime after she won the crown. One socially relevant ad in 10 years, I MUST applaud her efforts. Now, I do not have the data of how many pledged their eys for Ash's ad, and how many did for Mr Bachchan, (is that data available? since you seem to be so confident about it) but even one counts and she needs to be lauded for that. But then, shall we also refrain from comparing the Bachchan bahu with the legend that is Amitabh? Im not at all a film buff, but Ive seen his interviews, and I feel he is perhaps the most suave, sophisticated and gentlemanly personality/ celebrity this country has produced in the last couple of decades. Get them together and Ash does not stand a chance... but then she might, given that Mr Bachchan is too much of a gentleman to score one up on a lady.
I have nothing to say about her endorsements. Brands take on a known face with certain attributes with match with their product. It is the popularity of a personality and their attributes which make them the right face for endorsing any brand. Aishwarya is India's prettiest face. She is popular globally. I say it again and again. She sells. Magazines fall over each other to get her face on the cover. Of COURSE she sells. That's her job. Who can deny that she is "India" to a lot of people. And thank God for her. She is Beauty and Grace personified. Looking like that at 37? I wish I had a fraction of that.
But come on, Ash and Acting? Have you seen the new Longines ad? Of the three actresses, only her pout seems constantly contrived, as if she is trying too hard. Not just her giggle Mr/s Anonymous, her pout too. Why, oh why, its just a suggestion. She otherwise is so lovely.
She occasionally delivers a good performance, I agree, but with the number of movies she has acted in, they are paltry, the ones you mentioned... yes, those 3, or 4.
Why do people bother with her giggle now and didnt when she was not successful. Do tell me, would you care what kind of giggle I have now? But what if I became Miss World. Would not the world love to pick every cell in me to see where I fall short. Its the rule of the world. Live with it.
I have not scrutinised any minor thing. This is an advertising blog. She is a brand endorser, an actress. Her giggle matters when it affects her image. For example, I as a buyer of a luxury watch, would not like one endorsed by a giggly girl. But then watch buying is a much more involved decision, so it might not matter. What I have talked about here is her acting skills, which affects ads like loreal and Longines, her image which affects everything and her power in the brand market.
There are plenty of successful women. She is definitely one of them. She has attained a perfect balance of professional and personal success. There is a lot to learn from her as a person. But acting? NOOOOOO.
Smelling oranges, here's my reply to all 7 paragraphs of your first posting. Just my 2 cents worth:
ReplyDelete--> Her accent is uniquely hers, I don't recollect hearing anyone that sounds like her, it's a mix of British, American and Indian,
but she sounds fairly consistent in her interviews. She does sound more Indian in her Indian interviews, but I am guessing that
is probably to ensure she is able to identify better with the viewer. Whether the accent is irritating or not, that's an individual
judgement. There are Indian personalties, like her, who adopt different accents. For me, I don't find her irritating, but she does come across as a tad bit cold at times, but I am guessing that transpired from her need to be a bit defensive and guarded, considering the
bashing she gets on a daily basis by her haters online and through other media.
--> I actually find her quite charming. I wish she would open up and lighten up a little more in her interviews though, but I wouldn't
say she is trying to be "something other than herself"- maybe she isn't really letting her guard loose and showing the world other shades
to her personality and that causes her to come across as plastic at times.
--> He is mystified by the woman, and I guess it's his prerogative.
--> Perhaps that's why she looks more convincing in her Tamil and regional language movies since her voice is dubbed in these movies.
I agree she might need some work on voice modulation in the cinematic world, but I think she handles herself well in her international
interviews. Many have agreed she sounds very articulate and intelligent.
--> She did look uncomfortable in the interview. I am guessing that's because Karan and Abishek go a long way back way before Ash came
into the Abhishek's life, so she may have tried her best to fit in with ease, but then it's not easy fitting into a circle/group of friends that has existed for a long time and it probably takes time, or may not work out at all. It's unfair to scrutinize her based
on that interview. For all you might now, the bitch in reality is some other Bollywood actress, and not her. But that is not important,
as at the end of the day what matters is personal preference-if we like a celebrity, we may like them for what reason, that's our choice
right?
--> She is an astute business woman. The fact that she has lasted so long and so well in endorsements and films in a tough male dominated
world like Bollywood shows she is truly very powerful in Bollywood. She could well exist for another 10 years in this tough industry
which is not eactly in favour of older female stars playing love interests of heroes (doesn't work in reverse though).
--> Your statement "She has not become a face that would automatically sell a product"- that is very poor judgement. She made Loreal famous in India and in other parts of the world as well. You don't have statistics to prove that statement, and quite frankly
it's a tad bit embarassing to come up with something so random like that. Millions of girls (and guys ;)) want to emulate her in every sense, her dressing, her style, her grace, and believe it or not, her sex appeal.