Aishwarya in high res

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Here’s a higher-resolution version of Aishwarya’s appearance on Letterman last night. It’s available via BitTorrent, here’s the torrent (73 MB MPEG, 7:52).

First get an easy BitTorrent downloader:

Then click here. The download will start automatically.

Here’s Aishwarya on 60 Minutes: torrent (15 MB AVI, first 2:43).

Update: The shallowness of these questions surprises me. Letterman asks if she lives with her parents, 60 Minutes asks if she’ll kiss on screen. I half expect someone to ask if she ‘wears a dot on her forehead.’ She’s being treated gingerly, like a Martian, like Gandhi — talk about tension! Yeah, she’s not from Britain or Australia, get over it. On Aish’s part, she’s a lot more skittish, nervous and diva-ish in her American interviews than her Indian ones. And she was strangely combative: I dug her cultural smack-back on the living-at-home question, but it needed to be softened by a big smile.

The rant on American imperialism which Letterman showed was the strangest thing to pick out of a musical; it won’t do Bride and Prejudice any favors at the box office. And Aish dressed quite modestly, even more so than at Cannes or, for that matter, in most of her films. I get the feeling that she sees herself, and maybe the interviewers see her, as the Great Brown Hope.

Which is silly, really. I thought that was Kal Penn 😉

Update 2: Check out the video of Aishwarya on Nightline, and the rest of the 60 Minutes segment, here.

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64 thoughts on “Aishwarya in high res”

  1. BitTorrent! Neato!

    I liked her better here than on 60 minutes. That Happy Days reference, though — unfair!

    Why should a Bombay girl know Happy Days?

  2. What was she trying to say when Letterman asked her about being world famous and all… I didn’t get it, I don’t think he got it either.

  5. Were the questions shallow ? — Not really, in the context of the show.

    I think it is important to remember here that this is late night talk show we are talking about! Alls fine here ! Even the clothes you wear!

  6. I think she had a different accent going, and a different attitude even than normal. I think that is part of the problem. It makes it more difficult for her to be herself.

    I thought it was kinda a little weird when she talked back to Letterman when he mentioned her living with her parents. Yeah, a big smile would have helped, but hmm… I think that is probably because she was not being herself.

    I think she was kinda combative too, and read too much into his reference to the ‘young girl’. Kinda interesting, but I happen to notice that a lot of Indian girls read a lot into casual phrases like that. And oh boy! one li’l mistake like that, and you are in big trouble 🙂

  8. I think she had a different accent going…

    She definitely has a different attitude and accent for Hindi interviews (relaxed, down-to-earth) vs. American ones (Katharine Hepburn, ac-TING!)

    I think she was kinda combative too, and read too much into his reference to the ‘young girl’.

    I just took it as a cute joke, putting Letterman on the spot.

  9. Ash does seem to be a little combative. Which really is not a surpise considering the type of questions she has been asked. I think a lot of Americans get nervous when they meet people who look different than what they are ‘supposed’ to look like. Ash with her caucozoid features adds to the confusion in the minds of her American interviewers.

  10. looks like we’ll be seeing more of ash on TV … she’ll supposedly be on Good Morning America this Friday the 11th between 730 and 8am. Also an upcoming appearance on Oprah.

  11. I agree with Al on this one – people (not just whites) are often thrown for a loop when presented with someone who does not fit their notions of what they are supposed to be like. Rai is an established actress and businesswoman in her own right, and sees no need in adopting a false image of a wide-eyed innocent coming to America for the first time.

    As for the movie itself – I have mixed feelings. I hope it does enough business that other Indian-themed projects get made, but not if they consist of smart, attractive, worldly Indian women and buffoonish, ill-mannered, blundering Indian men. All I can go by are the previews, by how is Nitin Ganatra’s performance as Mr. Kholi that much different from Peter Sellers’ role as Hrundi Bakshi in “The Party”?

  12. how is Nitin Ganatra’s performance as Mr. Kholi that much different from Peter Sellers’ role as Hrundi Bakshi in “The Party”?

    Bhaji on the Beach was pretty egregious that way, but this one isn’t: Naveen Andrews plays a suave brutha.

  13. Ash with her caucozoid features adds to the confusion in the minds of her American interviewers.

    That doesn’t make sense– it should put white people more at ease.

  14. ” Ash with her caucozoid features adds to the confusion in the minds of her American interviewers.

    That doesn’t make sense– it should put white people more at ease.”

    That would be true if whites are only comfortable around other whites. I don’t believe that is the case, particularly with wealthy celebrities – who often seem the coolness stamp of approval from non-whites.

    The discomfort comes from that people have in their head an idea of what an Indian is supposed to look like (the convenience store clerk, cab-driver, software engineer), and along comes someone who does not fit those preconceptions. How many of us have been told, “You don’t look Indian”, even by other Indians?

  15. I just took it as a cute joke, putting Letterman on the spot.

    Yeah, maybe she knew exactly what she was doing, she is a perky one. I <3 ASH! I totally do.

  16. Ash is more ‘white’ looking than most Indians. Thus the confusion in the minds of White Americans. The Whites and for that matter all Non Indian origin Americans have an image of a person from India in their minds. Ash obviously does not fit that image. So people feel a little uneasy around Ash. Yesterday I was watching a show on Iraq and my wife was puzzled by the fact that how ‘white’ looking some Iraqis were. Now my wife is no red neck. She has seen her share of ‘brown’ people being married to me ;). She also had the same reaction when she saw some of my very light skinned cousins. This bewilderment leads to awkwardness as people’s notions of how ‘some’ people are supposed to look like are challenged.

  17. Ash is more ‘white’ looking than most Indians.

    Not more so than Punjabis, Himachal Pradeshis, Haryanvis, Kashmiris, Konkanis, other Tulus, and lighter-skinned women of every other region…

    I will admit, the red-haired, freckled Kashmiris, blond Sikhs and Chinese-looking Nepalis throw me.

  21. I thought she was great on Letterman! Too bad I didn’t get on here early enough to see if she was on GMA or not, though. As someone who’s often mistaken for a Kashmiri (German/Welsh through and through, with blue eyes, freckles, and a long brown braid and sari when in South India), I’d second the sentiments above. In India (or at least in Madras, Madurai, Ooty, etc.), they see someone dressed like an Indian and acting like an Indian and do all they can to process that person as somehow Indian, because they obviously cannot be a member of the stereotyped group of foreigners. Here — well, on late-night comedy shows — they see someone who neither looks nor acts as the stereotype, and about whom they probably know nothing beyond the five-minute briefing they got from the director, so they have a bit of a hard time knowing what to say. Hey, she had a hard time knowing what to say too — I’d have to say, her great responses to his prods aside, that was the most awkward Letterman interview I’ve ever seen! (Of course, nobody really cares about TV-journalist-doctor Sanjay Gupta, or has a hard time relating to him because he’s brown yet has no accent and is on CNN, — well, except for the woman I was next to once at the gym who was opposed to the stereotyping of having the doctor be Indian — so it doesn’t always hold true. Perhaps give it a few years.)

    And I do hope that clip wasn’t representative of the film — I was all excited about it, but I wasn’t going to see it if it were all the “Americans are bigoted imperialists” stuff in the clip. Eh, I’ll wait until y’all have a review of it first.

  22. Aish was great on Good Morning America. What I like about her is that she is doesn’t take smack from anyone..very defensive. I like that quality, because it makes her unique and breaks the stereotypes most South Asian American women face here (submissive, etc.).

    She has a universal appeal–she did win the Miss Universe contest. She’s a model and I do think that beauty, brains, and Hollywood mix (to a certain degree).

  23. hey rversde, didn’t you read the post a while back here about the woman explaining why desi guys are undateable? It’s not only the girls who have the stereotype of being submissive! 🙂

  24. Manish, what do you mean by Chinese looking Nepalis throw me? You need a little education on the races of Nepal. If you have really seen a Chinese and Nepalis you will see there are no Chinese looking Nepalis. Think twice before you write something about someone you don’t know

  26. Manish Vij, Obviously your geographical knowledge needs some enhancement. There are no chinese-looking Nepalis. There are however Nepalis who have mongoloid features. If you were slightly knowlegable in above mentioned area, then you would realize that Nepal has a lot of geographical diversity inspite of being a small country, and hence naturally diversity in human features as well, all equally charming and delightful. “Chinese-looking” Nepalis is an oxymoron just as “a Brithish looking American”. From your post, I not only read your geograhical incompetence, also, polical incorrectness. People from China are called Chinese. People from India are called Indians or Hindustani, people from America are called Americans.. should I go on or these examples will suffie? Hence, there are only Nepali looking Nepalis.

  27. hehehe……. did you post the pic of denny to show he looks like a chinese??? hahaha….. i guess that means you have never seen one….

  28. There are no chinese-looking Nepalis. There are however Nepalis who have mongoloid features.

    And there are Chinese with brown skin and Mongoloid features. Thus: Chinese-looking Nepalis.

  29. Dear Your friendly neighbourhood, The one thing we are NOT at Sepia Mutiny is politically correct. “Chinese-looking Nepali” is a perfectly acceptable term to use when you are trying to form an image in someone’s head of what you are talking about. Is it the most scientifically accurate description? Certainly not. It doesn’t imply “geographical incompetence” on Manish’s part however. I have witnessed him rip the heart out of an Indian-looking Sri Lankan man’s chest for a lesser insult, so tread carefully.

  32. :And there are Chinese with brown skin and Mongoloid features. Thus: Chinese-looking Nepalis.

    That makes absolutely no sense.

  33. I have witnessed him rip the heart out of an Indian-looking Sri Lankan man’s chest for a lesser insult…

    There really is nothing else to do at the North Dakota headquarters on a Friday night.

  34. Although we are veering way off topic, I gotta speak up for Manish.

    If Manish is to be criticized for daring to say “Chinese-looking Nepalis”, then perhaps some of his critics should review what they typed. A “British-looking American” is not an oxymoron at all. An American who can trace their ancestry to Britain will be physically different from an American in the Southwest that traces their ancestry to Mexico.

    If one were to put a Punjabi, a Tamil, and a Naga side by side, it is more ignorant to say they look the same because they are both born in a political entity called India. Recognizing physical differences is hardly offensive. What could be more off the mark than saying, “All Indians/Chinese/Nigerians look alike”?

    As for Nepal, because it is a Himalayan kingdom situated between India and China, two nations with markedly different ethnic populations, it should not surprise anyone that there are a lot of different looking Nepalis. Indeed, it is Nepal’s inability to get their different ethnic groups to live with each other peacefully that is part of the cause for the Maoist insurgency. Nepalis in the countryside are generally shorter, darker complexioned than those that live in Kathmandu. I have personally met Nepalis who I initially thought were Indian, and others who I thought were Chinese.

    That physical variation results in ethnic variation is not a surprise. After all, the Nepal Tourist Bureau promotes these differences with far more enthusiam than some of Manish’s critics would want:

    Nepal’s People and Ethnic Groups http://www.visitnepal.com/nepal_information/people.php

    I trust those who believe that there are only “Nepali-looking Nepalis” will write to the tourism promotion board, urging them to correct their mistakes.

  36. KXB, You totally missed my point. And since when did you become an expert in the maoist issue? Maybe now you should apply for a postion to be the King’s adviser? And in no time, all the problems will be solved. And all the Nepalis will frolick around in clothes that are cacophony or colours and sing and dance around the trees.. The person who thinks that a Nepali person looks like Chinese person might think so, but he/she will be wrong because he/she is just ignorant in the differece of features between the two. A wrong is a wrong is a wrong is a wrong and no matter how much one is going to debate about this, the truth is “ain’t no Nepali ppl look like them Chinese folks”. “Chinese-looking Nepali” is NOT an acceptable term just as “curry smelling indian” or “paan chewing indian”.

  37. KXB, You have absolutely no idea about the maoist insurgency. Its NOT between Nepals different ethnic groups . Don’t think your hindu muslim war applies to all civil wars in the world. Look beyond your horizons to look at other reasons as well. And you should visit Nepal to look what different races look like. People in the countryside do not look like you described as compared to the ones in kathmandu. Thinking of nepalis you met as looking like Indians and Chinese is a narrow speculation on your part. They look more alike to people from other countries. I don’t know whether you have seen anyone else besides Indians and Chinese. Did you get your ideas from the website you mentioned ?? Theres a lot more to it than just reading some promotion.

  39. Dear Your Friendly Neighborhood,

    First, thanks for the short and handy handle. Makes this so much easier.

    Did you even bother to look at the tourism link? The Nepali government itself says that there is a great deal of physical differences among Nepalis. Are you telling me there is no notable difference between a Sherpa and a Gurung?

    Ethnographic Museum http://www.welcomenepal.com/emuseum.asp

    “Nepal is a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, multi-religious and multi-lingual nation. Pluralism and diversity are its unique and notable features. As the pace of transformation intensifies, there is merit in preserving a representative sample of existing lifestyles as a testament to the magnificent diversity of Nepal’s cultural forms”

    Maybe you’ve been in a campus setting too long, where noticing differences and commenting on them is a no no, but the term “Chinese-looking Nepali” is not the same as “curry-smelling Indian”. The first is clearly descriptive, while the second is pejorative. The intent of the first is to draw a picture, while the intent of the second is to hurt one’s feelings.

    As for whether ethnicity plays any role in Nepal’s current unrest, you may want to check this link:

    Who are Nepal’s Maoist rebels? http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3573402.stm “Another key grievance of the rebels was the resentment felt by lower caste people against the authority wielded by the higher castes. The Maoists say that the reason they have so much support is because most of their supporters have traditionally been treated as second-class citizens or worse. Many analysts that this is the real explanation as to why such a seemingly anachronistic movement has made such dramatic headway. “

  40. lay off manish.

    your critique reeks of weird internalised self-hatred and doubt. “there are only nepali-looking nepalis!”, you sputter. i’d totally support you if you were trying to say that “e pluribus unum”, but reading between the lines, it doesn’t seem like that at all. you wouldn’t resort to ad hominem attacks if your motives were so noble.

    as for NK’s issues…uh, what does a REAL nepali look like again? it would be moronic to insist that there is only ONE way for someone from nepal to look. it would also directly contradict your friend, “your unfriendly neibourhood my handle is too long”.

    i went to school with several nepali guys. all had skin like mine, one had eyes rounder/bigger than mine, his brother had eyes that were totally chinese. that means the latter was exactly what manish said, “a chinese-looking nepali”.

    so what? who the hell are any of YOU to define who is and isn’t nepali or nepali-looking? just because YOU disagree with it, my friend sanjeev is no longer nepali? idiotic.

    why does it bug you so much that manish said what he did? methinks the anony-pussies doth protest too much. seriously. your criticisms say far more about you than they ever could about MV.

  41. Hey… I though i needed to clarify sth said by rversde23…..Aishwarya Rai won Miss World 1994 ….NoT Miss Universe =)….Miss Universe 1994 was won by Sushmita Sen ….tt’s all folks

  43. KXB wrote:::Did you even bother to look at the tourism link? The Nepali government itself says that there is a great deal of physical differences among Nepalis. Are you telling me there is no notable difference between a Sherpa and a Gurung?

    I wrote: Nepal has a lot of geographical diversity inspite of being a small country, and hence naturally diversity in human features as well, all equally charming and delightful.

    Read everything before you jump to conclusions.. jeeeez

  44. I find the whole “chinese-looking nepali” argument absolutely ridiculous. I am Nepali, and honestly, I don’t feel overwhelmingly offended when someone refers one of my country-folk as “chinese-looking”. Because, frankly, some of them do. It’s honestly NOT a big deal. I highly doubt that Manish meant anything by it, so lay off.

  45. AS AN INDIAN I’M WAY DISGUSTED TO VE ‘THE SILLY N’ FOOLISH AISHWARYA’ REPRESENTING INDIA ON THE GLOBAL PLATFORM….YUCK…

  46. Hi, My friend said Aishwarya rai was mixed and not completely of Indian ancestry. Is that true, would anyone know?

  47. Hi, My friend said Aishwarya rai was mixed and not completely of Indian ancestry. Is that true, would anyone know?

    Nope she’s all Indian.

  48. She is completely fake, all plastic surgery and many layers of makeup/bleach. Without all that help she just looks like the typical Indian, though she tries to her best to look white. Check out this link: http://www.djmcc.com/rai.jpg

  49. i checked out your link. and?

    she does not look like the typical indian (i’d wager that i do more than she does) or the typical anything for that matter.

    why do we HAVE to HATE on this woman? i’ve never even seen one of her films, and i find myself in the bizarre position of having to defend her…right…to…be…pretty?

    if you want to talk about layers of makeup etc, be fair. the first time i saw an amateur-shot “pose with me, i’m a fan!” pic of rani mukherjee, i gasped. she’s not as gorgeous as i thought she would be. i wasn’t all atwitter about it, though.

    all bollywood actresses wear fake eyelashes and concealer. so does jennifer lopez. who gives a rat-eater’s ass? that’s entertainment.

    if you want to hate on something, hate on how stupid indian people can be about skin colour. the problem isn’t with aish, it’s with US.

  50. Haha, if you saw any of her movies you wouldn’t be so quick to defend her. The majority of her Bollywood films are huge flops, thanks to her poor acting. Bride and Prejudice bit the big one. Not only is Trashwarya not pretty, she doesn’t even have the acting talent.

    She is 31 but without makeup has enough wrinkles that she looks easily 45. Her flabby physique was made apparent by her hideous outfits at Cannes. She reminds me of one of those middle aged aunties that tries her best to be young and hip and flirt with all the uncles (like how she tried to flirt with Bob Simon on 60 Minutes, etc.)

    Her cosmetic transformation from almost black (large lips, thick curly hair, dark skin) to white is along the freakish lines of Michael Jackson, not any normal celebrity. Her wannabe English/American accent is horrid. Trashwarya is just another useless media creation.