Reported By:
| Edited By: Nayandeep Rakshit |Source: DNA |Updated: May 15, 2018, 08:01 AM IST
From her first official appearance in a sequinned off-shoulder dress to a dramatic red carpet entry in a butterfly-inspired ensemble followed by a shimmering ivory gown, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has made heads turn with her sartorial choices at the ongoing Cannes Film Festival. Amidst her frenetic schedule, the actress spoke to us via Skype, straight from the French Riviera.
In the half-an-hour conversation, Ash chatted about her long association with the festival, her 15th red carpet walk for beauty brand L’Oréal and discussed films as well as fashion.
It’s been an incredible journey. I’ve so many wonderful memories. These last 15 years with L’Oréal have been great and I’m grateful to them for getting me to meet some wonderful women from our industry. We didn’t get too much time to spend with each other, but it still left an impact. To actually get to meet them in person and experience that we are one team accelerates the idea because of which I came on board. From ‘I’m worth it’, it was ‘you’re worth it’ and now, it’s ‘we’re worth it’. This has got a deeper meaning for me. This is a cosmetic brand and people believe we are always talking about skin care and fashion, but it’s a lot more than that. It’s about making women stronger and helping them believe in themselves. Shringar has been a part of our mythology, of being who you are as men and women. All of us need to first free ourselves of judging each other. Everyone has their own choices and we, as women, need to stop judging other women. If you do a lot of shringar, it doesn’t mean that you lack substance.
Fortunately, not. I’m thankful for that. The media has been there for me, right from the beginning. Along with that, I’ve worked with great talents from the time I started. I interacted with Mani (Ratnam), Yashji (Chopra), Rajeev Menon, Adi (Chopra) and Subhashji (Ghai) so early in my career. My choices spoke to my audience.
These filmmakers didn’t choose me for my physicality. They wouldn’t risk their career for it. My interviews took away a lot of pre-conceived notions, ideas and judgment. I have been school-girlish with my approach and choices. I was good at keeping with schedules. I would be sincere because of which sometimes, I just walked out of some great films. Maybe, I should have been fierce and allowed the schedules to just figure themselves out, as I saw with a lot of my colleagues who worked over the years.
That’s a part of being on a public platform. If you’re talking about the comments — whether it’s about the immense praise or critiquing — that’s just part of being a celebrity. That’s fine because it goes with the turf. I’m very easy with it. I don’t diss it or disrespect it. Experience is the best teacher, after all.
Yes. I don’t care if it’s a character, a leading lady or a glamorous part. People forget I did Iruvar (1997) right in the beginning of my career. I played Shah Rukh (Khan)’s sister in our first film together (Josh, 2000) and I never had issues. I’m doing Fanne Khan because I like the larger idea of the film. There’s a girl who looks up to this pop star, which is played by me. But sometimes, when we idolise someone, we forget that they, too, have a real side to that person. We shouldn’t judge people on what actually are frivolous ideas. It’s important for me as a star to come out and speak about such issues in today’s day and time.
We would love such scripts to be out there and presented to us. Maybe, I’m speaking for the whole fraternity. When we can sit collectively and discuss this, it will be a great experience. Everyone could give in their opinions. Over a period of time, men and women are happy to go with the true world of films and break away from the frivolity of wanting to just cling on to stardom or adages that come with the turf. I would like to believe that’s the reality. In my case, because I came into cinema from Miss World, I had the blast of stardom early on. I had made choices not consciously, but just being myself. I ended up doing my own thing and didn’t follow career patterns that existed before or after. I didn’t have the natural trajectory of a leading lady, which is why people believe I’ve changed a lot of pre-conceived thoughts. I never thought I’d get married in the middle of a movie. So, the poster had me as Aishwarya Rai and when the film released, it was Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. I’m glad the way it panned out because there was never much ado about it. Recently, a colleague asked me, ‘Why did you choose Jazbaa? Is that the comeback vehicle you wanted?’ It was just an idea, I liked the script and went by it. I don’t want to go by the book and be told how and what should be done. When I was joining Instagram, people were discussing what my day one numbers would be like. Do I look like that kind of a person? I don’t plan things to gain momentum or numbers. I don’t have that insecurity.
Ideas were always there. Like about 10 years ago, people wanted to come up with a series on television and now, on hindsight, I should have probably dived in and it would have been the best venture in that space (laughs). It was around the time I got married, so I wanted to balance a lot of other things in life. The whole digital revolution is great because it goes on to show how creativity has taken over and helps everyone explore different avenues. I certainly have. The more we do that, the more excited our lives will be.
