We have been reporting this for over a month now here on Sepia Mutiny, and it seems to be official, Aishwarya Rai (TMBWITW), who was featured prominently in DC’s most recent international filmfest, will appear on the Oprah Winfrey Show this Monday (4/25), check your local listings to find out when it airs, and Aishwarya’s official site for more updates.
You people see exotification/arrogance/ignorance, while I just see another pretty face in the media. Rai is a very attrative actress, so the media is going to sell her in any way possible, just as they do with all the other celebrities out there.
As for her celebrity status being validated only after American approval, it actually was. It was IN AMERICA that is, and that’s all celebrity-obsessed people (in America) really care about, don’t they? We won’t hear about a foreign actor/actress unless 1) They’re in a relationship with an American or 2) They’re getting into American movies. Ash is no exception, so I really don’t see what the big deal is. It might be superficial, but hey, so is Hollywood for the most part.
I think there are hotter desi actresses out there but the interesting thing about her is how eloquent she is. On Letterman, her English (let alone her Hindi, Kannada, etc) was heads and shoulders above the usual duffer actresses that appear on the show.
Same with A.B….both are very highly educated and bring a sort of Lawrence Olivier flair to acting…as compared to the American style, which is more Marlon Brando.
apparently nobody knows how to write a good segue, over there at Oprah… that’s just…ouch.
What is it with all these phoren people dressing up in sarees?
Whoops. Screwed up on the HTML. Here’s the URL: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/photo.cms?msid=1088101
i was utterly dismayed at that, too
Yeah, I mean, really, as DesiDancer mentions, it’s a fairly grotesque segue…
Then again, maybe they do have good editors at Oprah, someone who’s sitting there saying, “Hmm, ‘pretty and pretty ugly–that works.'” Yes, that’s it, Oprah is educational, she’s trying to teach high school students how to look at the antonym-synonym section of the SATs in less abstract terms.
Aishwarya Rai is responsible for how she gets portrayed in the media, don’t you think? Not to say the media isn’t selling her as “exotic,” but isn’t that how she’s also selling herself? As a “model,” all of whom, regardless of country or ethnicity, are sold as exotic imagery?
Letterman et al did what they did and at least gave her space to present her case and, also sprayed a little perfume on the event. But Anna’s right, Oprah just went stinky with “Here’s what beauty is, here’s what beauty is not, here’s how to get beautiful and here’s to my audience, the insecure horse that keeps eating my carrots.”
I only got to see the really weak sari-wrapping part… was the preceding portion any better?
See, now Oprah could probably rock a sari and get away with it… and she has that curve like Punjabi Boy digs 😉
she did well!
If anybody finds a link to the segment, I’d appreciate it… I tuned in too late
Another wasted afternoon rushing home to see The Most Beautiful Woman In The World who cannot hold a serious conversation 🙁 Can’t one of you train her to say the right things? It is soooo frustrating when she comes up with stuff like, “Oh we get engaged first and then decide if we are compatible to be married” Uh!!??!! Is Kama Sutra all they see and think of when they see a desi?
KXB: Agreed, Ash is a very pretty face, and we love to watch pretty faces on TV. But to your point about desi cultural critics etc., I don’t believe Ash is actively trying to portray herself as this exotic creature or something. Rather, it’s the Western & US media that are playing this angle and this I find problematic and annoying.
BanglaWarrior: Agree that the celebrity-hungry public only cares about “foreign” actors when they are linked to Americana. In fact, I only hope that this useless exoticising of Ash helps her land plum roles in cool projects — and which will help her gain some much-needed acting ability, we hope.
But I don’t care about the celebrity-hungry masses. I am ticked off at the US media (specifically talk shows) and how lame and culturally uninformed their Ash coverage has been.
I guess I’ll watch the Oprah rerun tonight and see how I feel about it in the morning. 😉
To clarify, the seg wasn’t “grotesque”….the babies mentioned aren’t left to die in the cold…it’s some kind of tradition in Iceland to let babies sleep in the fresh air.
wow she looks gorgeous on the show
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1088098.cms
not many people can say they’ve tied a sari on Oprah =)
personally Mallika sherawat is better looking and she’s got a great attitude, unlike aishwarya miss-porecelain-pajamas rai.
wish u guys wouldn’t say bad things about me!!!it Hurts.After all I only want world peace.Is that too much to ask for???
shyamalamadingdong: – you are crazy, mallika isnt even in aish’s league… and I am not even a crazy aish fan I just have good taste
Ash is talented, plain and simple. Don’t hate what you’ll never have. Knock’em dead Ash.
I find this obsession with Aishwarya disturbing. I understand shes Indian, but just because an Indian shows up on Oprah, there is no reason to lose our minds. How low is our collective self esteem ?
I agree with Al Mujahid. Just because a desi shows up on a TV show doesnt mean we should jump in ecstacy. Besides, she is probably the wrong person to be representing the Indian film industry anywayz…
But…isn’t, like, getting VALIDATION awsome. Now all those foreigners will know EAST OR WEST, South Asians are the best!!!! We showed them who is the most beautiful of all, it is Aishwarya.
Why? Because Oprah says so, Letterman says so, and 60 minutes said so! They are the gold standard and one must seek their approval to gain any legitimacy. WOW, now we have been finally recognized as equals by them Amreekans.