Beauty and grace

Action Replayy and Guzaarish 8211; seasons big releases 8211; both with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan are coming up. She looks stunning in both. But thats old hat. Ash,as she is popularly known,established long ago that few actresses could match her in the beauty stakes. Her porcelain perfect beauty has often been as much criticised as celebrated but the fact is that Aishwarya,is among the few heroines of her generation to have equalled the might of the heroes.

Counted among the most professional actresses,her directors Mani Ratnam,Sanjay Bhansali,Vipul Shah and co-stars Akshay Kumar,Hrithik Roshan are convinced of her talent. Earlier this year she looked ethereal in Raavan and a few weeks ago,along with Rajini sir,delivered a huge hit with Robot silencing detractors harping about her making the transition to the senior category. This week she turned 37,considered a daunting age for heroines when plum roles begin to slip away only to be substituted by character roles. However,if her track record is anything to go by,she is likely to turn the truism on its head. Aishwarya counts as the only Bollywood star that Hollywood is familiar with. She has been on the Oprah show twice,refused a Will Smith movie,been feted as the most beautiful woman from India and made it to Cannes more number of times than any other Indian actor. These are significant achievements in a fast growing industry that is gaining recognition outside of the Indian shores. At the recent GQ awards John Travolta was seated with Aishwarya and Abhishek despite other veterans being present for the show! Another year,in the former Miss Worlds case is no sign of agingits experience.

Capital gains
A press release about the film Band Baaja Baraat not being sponsored by newcomer Ranveer Singhs father is doing the rounds. The production house statement painstakingly contradicts a report that appeared in the gossip section of a news daily. One cannot be entirely certain of the veracity of the report but such projects are not unheard of. And the trend is not new.

Just recently there was news of Chirag Paswan son of Ramvilas Paswan being part of a movie which according to the grapevine is being bankrolled by daddy dearest. Industry insiders funding their progeny has been common practice though now,outsiders seem to be catching up.

The modus-operandi of landing a film through cronyism or capital investment is detrimental to meritocracy so essential in creative pursuits. It is encouraging that producers-directors as well as production houses such as Aamir Khan,YashRaj Films,Dharma Productions,UTV,Vipul Shah and Kunal Kohli are roping in newbies for helming their projects. Hopefully,the industry will go back to investing in talent once again.