Yeah. TMBWITW is now one-half of TMFCITW. Ash and Abhi flew in from Mumbai to chat with the talk show Queen today, and sadly, it was still a clusterf*ck of embarrassment:
It was as if she didn’t believe in the Bollywood titans’ fame. Or had to put it in terms that Westerners understood.
“They’re the world’s most famous movie-star couple. More famous than Brad & Angelina, anybody…”
Some pictures flashed onscreen of Justin Timberlake skirting paparazzi as he flung himself into an awaiting limo.
“Now imagine that kind of attention times 1000.” She showed footage of them with some Dutch girls in the stereotypical peaked Dutch caps. “They have FIVE! BILL-YON! fans. In Asia, Europe…” etc.
Then, of course, she had to explain that Julia Roberts had called Aishwarya the most beautiful woman in the world, as if only the opinion of a white celebrity could mean anything to her audience. And she couldn’t let them on without mentioning the issue that tickled her last time Aishwarya was on. “Here’s the best part,” Oprah said, gleeful. “They live at home with his parents.”
Aishwarya was wearing a sari and was gorgeous, etc. Abhishek was his handsome self in a velvet suit. Behind them, Oprah’s set background showed an image of shooting stars, upon which the phrase: “Famous Around the World” had been printed. It looked like the banner you sign at someone’s bat mitzvah. When she tried to make a big deal of how this was their first American national TV interview, Abhishek wasn’t buying it. “We sit together all the time.”
He explained how he had proposed to her on the same balcony where he had first longed to marry her. You could hear the “ahhhh…cute” sighs in the audience.
For some reason, the host thought it would be a good idea to keep talking not about the content of their work or Bollywood versus Western cinema types, but just about how amazingly famous they are.
More on the Oprah Bachchan segment on the MTV Iggy blog, and a full recap of the show (the Julia Roberts/Daniel Craig of every country!) in a second post.
Cool – I posted a link to the Oprah site on this in the News section; Where do they get 5 BILLION from – and does she really make $15 Million per movie ??
Methinks quite a bit of exaggeration, no ?
Love the commentary on her interview with the ‘Chinese Oprah”
I think the whole thing is an exaggeration. I don’t think they’re the most famous couple in the world. But then again, I don’t think you can prove or disprove anyone as worthy of that title.
We can’t prove it, but my husband and I think Bipasha and John DESERVE to be worthy of that title. 🙂
Ugh, reminds of Ash’s first interview with Oprah with all the sari-tying.
Besides the Pink Panther sequel, and other limited run ‘cross-over’ films, she really isn’t bigger than any other Bollywood actress – Shilpa Shetty prolly has more exposure and recognition from her Big Brother participation.
I’ve always thought that she just has really good PR. Prolly come across as a hater, but I never liked that she hawked Fair and Lovely creams and always comes across as trying too hard to be all ‘goody twoshoes’ as my gf would call her, but then again, which Bolly actors and actresses don’t try to be all cool and western. But anyways – too much hype. The #s they used were probably provided to them by TMFCITW’s own people.
Read both posts if you guys get a chance…the embarrassments just piled up. Oprah showed footage of the scene outside their wedding, supposedly. The audience got to see what looked like Indian police beating the crap out of people in the street. Oprah asked the only 2 questions she ever cares about — living with your parents and kissing on Bolly screens — then introduced an Argentinian polo player and spent the rest of the time fawning over his hotness. Ash and Abhi just sat in the shadows, second to…some guy who’s in a lot of Ralph Lauren ads. Abhishek did NOT look happy — one eyebrow kept rising higher and higher in sarcastic amusement, and his fingers gripped his chair pretty tightly.
Whether A^2 are TMFCITW or not, the irritating fact was that it wasn’t enough to invite them on the show. The whole episode was like a global roundup of random other non-American famous people (some guy who won a singing show, the “Tom Cruise of Japan”, the “Julia Roberts of ___”, etc.) that varied so wildly in terms of what they did, where they were from, what they were “famous” for…it was like it was enough that they were (presumably) new to her audience, and they all got crammed in together into this one special episode.
Great for those international up-and-comers who could use an Oprah mention to boost US sales. But A^2 don’t need it, and this felt sort of…belittling.
I don’t understand why people get annoyed that she happened to have this beautiful tag attached to her. She may not be the most beautiful to everyone, but she’s not exactly ugly either. The 50 people who make People Magazine’s most beautiful people in the world (majority of them westerners) obviously aren’t, but big deal. The sexiest man alive (usually a westerner) clearly isn’t, but what’s the big deal? Brangelina is not the most famous couple in the world, neither are the Bachchans, but what’s the big deal? Whether some like it or not, she happens to have attracted a lot of attention from the West more so than other Indian actors – some more deserving and some more non-deserving. And some people from other countries actually do like her and think she’s extremely beautiful. In the past Hema Malini used to be the one everyone abroad spoke about, from my experience.
She does come across better in her Indian interviews than western ones, but I think she’s nervous and tries too hard to impress an unfamiliar audience. Is her laughing irritating at times, sure, but she’s hardly disgraced the country. She’s also done foreign interviews where she comes across rather well. I remember Lara Dutta using a fake accent, worse than Aishwarya’s, during her first foreign interviews, and Diana Hayden who suddenly altered her accent drastically for a hosting job of a foreign awards show. But overall, she has been a pretty good ambassador for India/Bollywood. Better than someone who goes abroad and then acts embarrassed about India. Abhishek acquitted himself well.
I never liked that she hawked Fair and Lovely creams and always comes across as trying
I don’t think she’s ever hawked fair and lovely – I’ve heard her say she won’t advertise that junk. Where did you see otherwise?
She is gorgeous but her mannerism irritates me.
I also think the comments on Oprah embarrassing them are a little unfair. Yes, Oprah sometimes comes across as condescending on these “global” shows, but if you read the comments to this show and other “global” shows you will find people who need to be told who these people are in terms they can understand otherwise their limited minds cannot comprehend that there is a world outside Beyonce or Brad and Angelina. For this show there are comments questioning why Oprah picked them and not Brad/Angelina, totally missing the point of the show which was to expose Americans to famous people in other countries. Yes some of the cultural questions are the same old, same old, but I don’t think she meant them in a demeaning way. She mentioned encountering the living with parents in other cultures, especially Africa, a place she has invested in. It would have been better to focus on the actual films of Bollywood for a little bit, but I don’t think that was the angle of the show. It was just about fame and being well-known in a different country(countries). And she did spend the most time on them, but she did have two other guests who were part of the show.
I don’t blame Aishwarya for acting differently or Abishek for being a little sarcastic (but I don’t think he did it in a mean way) on a talk show out of their comfort zone, because don’t we all get a little on edge or nervous sometimes outside our comfort zone, especially when we have to explain “normal” aspects of our culture to others? Anyways, any irritating by Aishwarya was redeemed by her wearing Sabyasachi Mukherjee. Overall, I think it could have been a lot worse.
Just to point out…. most Americans aren’t so Bollywood savvy as us Sepia Mutiny readers… hence SOME sort of explanation of “who these people are and why we should care” had to be a part of it…. otherwise the audience would be like… wait… who is this cute couple?
What us Americans should REALLY be embarrassed is how we don’t teach our kids much about the rest of the world in school… henceforth necessitating silly over-simplified descriptions about some very famous actors from one of (or is it it THE largest?) largest film industries in the world.
I recently watched a documentary about Ashley Judd visiting India as an HIV/AIDs ambassador, she met Shahrukh Khan and there had to be a similar explanation about his popularity… at the same time, everyone had to explain to all the Indians… this is Ashley Judd… she is an actress in Hollywood. She is famous (matlab, you should be so HAPPY to meet her). blah blah, etc. So really, is it that different?
Sabyasachi Mukherjee
Yes, his designs are amazing. Love checking out the Indian fashion weeks to see find his design. And that sari on her was perfect. Though if I could afford it I’d love it on me too 🙂
Abhishek did not look happy. at all. Ash was trying to be polite, laughing and smiling. I think she’s a sweet person with a good heart. I think Abhishek got irritated the moment Oprah asked them about living at home with his parents and his mood never changed after that.
$15 million a year? that seems high and the $6500 a movie for the Nigerian actress seems low. There’s a lot of under the cover money in Nigeria. I”m sure that Nollywood actress is making a whole lot more than that!
I’ve always felt that Abhishek spends too much time around his parents. It’s almost suffocating. Doesn’t he want his space and freedom? He goes everywhere wit them and at 33, it does kind of seem weird. They both can certainly afford to live on their own so why don’t they? Just find their own apartment in Mumbai.
Since I’m not Indian, I have to ask whether modern, younger, couples in India are getting away from this model of living with their parents even after marriage and even into adulthood. It must be suffocating for Aishwarya at times to be constantly surrounded by in-laws, no matter how nice they may be. That has to be tough, but I’d like to hear people’s viewpoints on this.
“at the same time, everyone had to explain to all the Indians… this is Ashley Judd… she is an actress in Hollywood.”
I chuckled when, in a story about Julia Roberts filming in India, one Indian man said he didn’t know who she was and all these foreigners looked the same to him. I’m sure Indian actors face this in other countries and probably in parts of India too. Good to keep them grounded.
sk whether modern, younger, couples in India are getting away from this model of living with their parents even after marriage a
well india’s huge so i don’t know what the general nat’l trend is, but in relatively small-town Kerala, where my fam is from u see condo, single-family units going up everywhere, alongside new family homes, for those lucky enuff to afford the precious exorbitant land prices in Kerala. And almost all my cousins, and younger aunts and uncles have gotten their own place after marriage; vastly different from my mom’s time. And for the older generation, I think they are quite saddened by the trend as I’ve heard an older aunt express that she’d imagined she’d grow old with her son and his family. But his wife, in her 30s, wanted her own place and she got it, which what I see over and over among 40s and below couples.
LinZi, I know more than a few Americans who don’t know Ashley Judd. Never heard of her, couldn’t pick her out of a lineup. That’s what irritates me…some two bit US actress gets full court press abroad, but two desi stars (who are huge throughout most of the world) get sidelined for some polo player?
Again, it’s not so much that an American audience needs context. If there had actually been some decent context I don’t think I’d feel so vitriolic. I entirely agree with your point re teaching US kids more about the rest of the world…but this wasn’t over-simplification to bring them up to speed. This was the kind of exoticizing, prurient mashup that renders any explanation even more confusing. Honestly, she doesn’t think much of her audience if she had to jam in all those random international celebs instead of diving into a proper interview does she?
Hate much? The show was not bad at all. Why do you have to see everything in a negative light? Oprah got some of her facts wrong but you would have to blame her research staff not the guests. It was good to see famous people from other parts of the world – China, India, Japan, Argentian, Nigeria, etc.
Abhishek and Aishwarya did not embarass themselves or their country. They acquited themselves well within the limited scope of show.
Too bad you saw only what you wanted to see.
I agree the show went well and i thought abishek was realy funny. i had’t seen that side of him. I didnt think anything of the fact Oprah talked to the Polo star Nacho afterwards whilst the couple stayed quite. doesn’t that happen in most talk shows like Letterman where the first guests that sty on just listen in on the later guests? Oprah was sweet towards AB and Ash and it was a pleasure to see that surprise they played on the young dancers who were so tearful. Ash/AB got a lot more time i felt than Nacho also.
anyhow it was refreshing that Oprah is trying to educate her audience with global stars. The chines oprah lady was very eloquent too.
Whoa–why is a polo player to be denigrated so? Let’s try to hear from all. . . . I’m not so sure what is so great about “acting” versus “playing polo”–all people have an interesting story, no?
They fly all the way to Chicago and it’s not even worth it. Oprah talked about nonsense and not much at all about their careers, lives, how they see the world, things they’re involved in etc.
Ridiculous interview.
PS,
Not sure if you’ve seen these: Sabyasachi Mukherjee’s Weaves of India
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ag9_MMmxHGI&feature=PlayList&p=98B7B47885A92A86&index=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUFk0lCWe80
I have to say, the most irritating part of the entire interview for me was her utter inability to pronounce their names correctly. She’s Oprah, she HAS to have someone who’s job it is to teach her how to pronounce Abhishek. If she doesn’t, I’m willing to volunteer.
The whole interview was so awkward, but I loved that Abhi got his digs in. That’s two interviews now where the interviewer has fixated on one or the other of them living with their parents; on Letterman Ash skewered Dave with her “in India parents don’t have to make an appointment to have dinner with their children” line, and today Abhi, when asked by Oprah “you live with your parents? How does that work for you?” answered “Do you live with your parents? No? How does that work for you?” Good for them. Anyways it’s not like they live in a hovel, I imagine Jalsa is probably big enough for ten or so families to live in without ever actually bumping into each other.
Um, who’s = whose. I am so smart. S-M-R-T.
I unfortunately was working and was probably the only brown person who didn’t watch the show! However, I did catch highlights and thought the Abhi jabs were funny! If only Indian peeps could get asked questions other than…wow, so you live with your parents? 😛
I wasn’t impressed.
Saw the show this afternoon. Ash’s mannerisms were incredibly annoying whereas Abhishek was surprisingly charming and witty. He might be smarter than he lets on.
I imagine Jalsa is probably big enough for ten or so families to live in without ever actually bumping into each other
Are houses in Mumbai that big? just curious, given Mumbai’s high real estate prices.
I think when people ask about a married couple living with their parents in the same house, they are thinking about the sex issue and I’m sure that’s what Oprah was thinking about, but couldn’t ask. i.e. isn’t it uncomfortable for both parties to be having sex under the same roof?
Do you think Abhishek had a choice of not living with his parents? His parents seem over bearing to me given that they are so often seen together at so many public functions.
And I thought Abhisheks answer was kind of rude and defensive. Most married couples around the world do not live with their parents (at least when they are newly married; it’s one thing for your elderly parents to move in with you later in life, it’s quite another to remain at home after marriage).
What happens when there’s a fight or argument? in-laws rarely if ever take the wife’s side. It’ must be very tough for the woman (I imagine). Can she leave and go back to her parents house?
I suppose I’m wondering how adult children can establish their own identities and sense of independence if they never leave the nest.
They were really cute: I usually find Ash to be vacuous, vain and cold but here she appeared to actually have a bit of personality and seemed very happy with her husband. Abhishek was great, he put Oprah and her ridiculous US-centric comments in her place. He was funny. Kudos. He also seemed a bit shocked when he saw the pictures of police beating people back outside their wedding – it looked like he’d not seen them before.
IMO it was such a wasted interview. As Oprah said, it was the first time they’d been interviewed together. There were a lot of desis in the audience who probably didn’t need the Abhi-Ash Primer 101, and there was so much she could’ve asked them but failed to. I did like the small insight into their lives that Abhi provided re his mother insisting they eat one meal a day together as a family.
All up, a vast improvement on Ash’s atrocious 60 Minutes interview.
I saw both of them in Dubai…when they came here to purchase their house in 2008.Belive me she is the MOST beautiful women..stunning!!
I feel they are most famous couple in the world…atleast for me and also what i observe in India & paksitan,dubai,iran and middle eastern countries etc.
Re: Do young people live with their parents after marriage. Overwhelmingly no in metropolitan areas. Maybe in rural communities. In Mumbai most apartments are too small to house 2 families. As much as young people need privacy and opt to move out, the older parents too nowadays prefer their independence and live alone as long as physically possible. So Abhi and Ash living with the parents is rather an anomaly. As to Oprah’s US-centric view of Bollywood — reminded me of the time there was an awards show somewhere in Africa. All the Hollywood and Bollywood greats had landed. Amitabh Bacchan and Sylvester Stallone arrived around the same time and Stallone thought the crowd going wild was for him. But someone told him that all the cheering was for Amitabh Bacchan as his films had a huge following in Africa and not many people even knew him!!
So this US-centric view of the world is not anything new or pertaining to Oprah alone.
I am from US and I watched Oprah last night and to be very honest – I am aware of bollywood movies but have no clue these 2 were. How can they be the most popular couple…I am quite plugged in to the tinsel world happenings and up to date on the latest scoops but most powerful couple? Whaaaat?
I saw her in Bride and Prejudice and she was an OK presence in that. Saw her in some Hindi movie (forget which, I think it was some late 90s era movie). She did not leave any kind of impression on me. She was godawful in some Uwe Bollish english movie with Colin Firth. Really laughably bad. But then again, the movie itself was pretty unwatchable. So I would not blame her totally for it. I just don’t get the hype for her. Is ABhishek famous because of his dad? Saw him in parts of some movies. Just wasn’t impressed at all. But he doesn’t come across as vapid as her. Then again, none of these actors have been as vapid as the way our 70s celebs have been coming across lately(Ryan O Neil, the Mamas and the Papas entire clan).
Speaking of lack of awareness of another culture’s stars , just try playing Rockband at an indian gathering. Other than a Duran Duran song or Eye of the Tiger or Linkin Park(if they are in their 20s), there are usually a lot of perplexed stares at the titles which came as a surprise to me because a lot of Indians I knew in the past seemed to be aware of a lot of western music. But then, as I meet more people, I guess not.
Assuming Rock Band has it, play some Boney M. That’ll get the party started. I’m waiting for DJ Hero.
It’s all a damn hype. Yes Abhi is a good actor (especially Guru), and Ash is pretty (Not in anyway a remarkable actor), but guys the industry does not run on them and they are not the Best and obviously not to be taken as iconic figures of Indian Film Industry May be they were the easiest to rope in for a TV show as they and their family are quite attention craving (at least for the past several years) Just my thoughts no offense meant
I think people should understand that its the Indian film industry and that’s our identity (pehchan) not Bollywood (though for the masses it is so) This is one main reason why the industry folks are pissed when they hear bollywood, just like a subset of hollywood
The worst is when the world first calls it bollywood and then ask who is your julia roberts, who is your brad and angie jodi(pair), who is your clint, give me a break We are not a bloody reflection or imitation but the unique and honest expression of a Billion people
Not sure if you’ve seen these: Sabyasachi Mukherjee’s Weaves of India
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ag9_MMmxHGI&feature=PlayList&p=98B7B47885A92A86&index=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUFk0lCWe80
Awesome! Thanks! Sabyasachi is great from what I’ve seen.
Hi,
Normally in a movie I prefer to see Kareena, Bips or Konkona Sen Sharma, but Ash isn’t as terrible a representative of Bollywood as many Desis seem to think. Because she has appeared in a couple of Hollywood movies she has some name name recognition over here outside Hollywood. She’s stunningly beautiful. She doesn’t appear to have believe anything which would really offend a US audience, so she’s a good choice for the first “Bollywood celebrity” role on US talk shows.
My guess is that we’re in the early stages of some kind of fusion of Hollywood and Bollywood, and the Hollywood publicity apparatus, and shows like Oprah’s are still trying to figure out Bollywood and how to present it. Mistakes are going to be made, and maybe this Oprah show is one of them. Maybe it isn’t.
Ray,
Step back yo, its all about Dev & Frieda now.
I really liked his work in Yuva, Sarkar, and Sarkar Raj
Oprah can put the couple in context for an American audience AND respect them and their culture at the same time. She just chose not to, and shame on her for that.
But come in, this isn’t NPR. This is Oprah. Her audience loves crap like that.
The question we also need to figure out is whether we want a fusion.
Western music today is much more diverse and expansive than it used to be. It’s hard to keep track of everything even for a marginally interested American. People in India will generally know the current top-40 stuff, but a lot of the older songs aren’t cultural touchstones there the way they are here. I frankly don’t see why anyone should expect them to be.
The US (and Britain) have a very strong cultural bias towards fleeing far from one’s parents as soon as you’re old enough. India, the Middle East, and also the Mediterranean countries are okay with joint families and expect you to have pretty regular interaction with your parents, brothers, sisters, cousins, second cousins. . .
Au contraire. Most families around the world certainly do. What you’re doing is taking an American cultural idea about how a family should be organized and assuming it should be the default for everyone.
I believe (correct me if I’m wrong) Abhi went to Boston University for college and it does make a difference in mannerisms. I think having lived in the American environment shows through in him as he was not overly hyper and really understanding the questions and jokes Oprah was making. Ash on the other hand although she has done some crossover films-I still feel she gives off an extremely nervous vibe which comes off as cocky at times and ditzy also. The joke where Oprah said “Don’t you ever look in the mirror and say DAMN,,,” and Ash was like “YES” shows how she just didn’t get the joke because language can be interpreted in so many different ways when you’re not from the same culture. Her whole body language was different than his and I think it seemed out of place like she was over reacting. I’m willing to bet a lot of Bollywood stars that have studied here in the US would react more like Abhi (eg. Priyanka Chopra, Amisha Patel). Not a good or a bad thing just an observation.
The joke where Oprah said “Don’t you ever look in the mirror and say DAMN,,,” and Ash was like “YES” shows how she just didn’t get the joke because language can be interpreted in so many different ways when you’re not from the same culture. Her whole body language was different than his and I think it seemed out of place like she was over reacting. I’m willing to bet a lot of Bollywood stars that have studied here in the US would react more like Abhi (eg. Priyanka Chopra, Amisha Patel). Not a good or a bad thing just an observation.
You are so right. Abhi was really clever and confident and Ash comes across as airheady, which is why I find her irritating. And there is the cultural gulf b/c it was funny when she initially agreed with the “Don’t you ever look in the mirror and …DAMN” joke Oprah said. I’m glad Ash was able to clarify that; Her mannerisms annoy me, but as far as I understand she specifically doesn’t hawk the fair and lovely crap, b/c of the ugly message it sends and so I admire her for that – ; I think Sushmita Sen is like that too. I don’t know what happened with the later Indian Miss Worlds and Universes, the Priyanka Chopras and Lara Duttas, etc. models like Diana Penty…it’s great when some Indian beauties take a stand, despite the lucrative money, and the general acceptance of the Fair and Lovely crap in most of the world, including Africa, Asia and Mid-East and many within the black, east asian, and brown populations that live in the West b/c they know it sends a bad message and harmful one (since that stuff is bad for the skin).
Here she is saying she doesn’t do fair and lovely on TYRA – it’s when she was trying to sell the Pink Panther. Tyra brings up a picture of the Indian antm contestant, Anchal, who is a dark-skinned, and Tyra was saying that Anchal expressed her insecurity in being dark and the bleaching cremes came up, and Aish says she won’t let her name with “fairness creams” products. So yeah, her mannerisms come across as silly but she does seem cool in some ways.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeRe_zU5fVg
I just want to speak up for my fellow Americans–who cares if Americans don’t know who Abhi and Aish are? I can understand the criticism that Americans don’t take much interest in current events outside the United States, but that is really differnt than not taking an interest in Bollywood cinema and Bollywood film actors. How much do you know about Japanese/Czech/German/South African film stars? Why should you, unless you have a particular interest in the cinema of those countries?
Michelle Obama’s mom lives with them and people ask them “how is that working out”, so it is not that big a deal.
I thought it was basically a moisturizer/sun-block. Both of which are actually good for the skin. . .
So yeah, her mannerisms come across as silly but she does seem cool in some ways.\
And don’t get me started on how irritating Tyra is…the only reason I could sit thru this part of the Tyra show, was b/c Aish was on it and I was curious to see an Indian celeb on the show.
I thought it was basically a moisturizer/sun-block. Both of which are actually good for the skin. . .
Sun protection is necessary for good skin and sun blocks are great as far as what the derms say to me. But this bleaching stuff has chemicals in it that try to literally bleach the skin – different than sunblock. I remember on SM that someone posted pics of Africans who used this stuff and the skin on their face looked as if it had been burned. There’s probably different versions of whatever chemicals there are that does the bleaching and stronger versions can do much harm but the less intense versions must be terrible for your skin too, as it’s trying to change your pigmentation. Sunblock is just protections from the sun; it’s not trying to change your skin color, just giving you shade, so to speak.