Aishwarya Rai is on a roll. With three films-Umrao Jaan, Guru and Dhoom 2 lined up for release, she is the talk of the town today.
Our surfers from over the world vouched for the lady, albeit cautiously. While they said she is undoubtedly beautiful, they had reservations about her acting talent. Raj from Vancouver said: "I think her beauty pageant persona has always overshadowed her professional life as an actress. To add to it, people & the media have always talked about her beauty rather than her acting skills. So for me, she's just a beauty queen, nothing more."
Said Reema Paul from Bhopal : "Aishwarya is breathtakingly beautiful. She is definitely fit to be the face of modern India. However, her acting skills leave much to be desired."
Kush from LA had the same thing to say: "Ash is not a very good actress, and appears to be mushy and weak. Sushmita, on the other hand, is more natural and strong. But Ash is undoubtedly beautiful, though age does seem to be catching up with her."
Echoing him was Monica from Mountain View. She said: "Ash is very beautiful no doubt, but as an actress she is mediocre. She can't act for nuts."
An interesting comparison cropped up between her and Sushmita Sen. A lot of our surfers opined that Sush was the more talented of the two, and Ash the more beautiful.
Nitish, a surfer from Mumbai, for instance said: "Ash and Sush-two immensely beautiful and talented ladies-one beautiful, the other talented. If Ash is the epitome of beauty and stunning looks, Sush is the epitome of talent, will-power and a courage to live life on her own terms. Hats off to both of them!"
45 year-old Dhawan S wrote in to say that Aishwarya was overhyped. He seemed to think she had a 'cold' kind of beauty and that Rani Mukherjee was more beautiful than her.
Piyush from Patna shared a similar thought. He said: "Why are we propping up Aishwarya Rai so much? Just because she won the beauty contest many years ago, that doesn't mean she's the ultimate. There are so many others more beautiful than her. Kajol for instance, has such vibrant charm and beauty. She's the one I would prefer as the face of India any day."
Aashaa from Delhi had an interesting take on the actress. She said: "I think it's up to a director to tap the beauty and talent of an actress. And with someone like Aishwarya, that shouldn't have been a difficult task at all. But I don't know what went wrong, she seemed to land up in the wrong kind of films. Maybe she was unfortunate enough to have got directors who weren't perceptive enough, maybe it was a bad time for her as a whole. Let's hope things look up for this stunner of a lady."
The responses to our questions, therefore, came as no surprise. The trends for each of them were unanimous and everyone seemed to think the same way.
To our first question for instance, a whopping 350 people seemed to think Ash was rightly called the face of modern India. 150 surfers said Sushmita Sen was a better bet for that title, while 50 others remained non-committal.
To the second question again, the majority (320) opined that it was Ms Rai's beauty, more than her talent, that made her popular. 150 people said Ash was beautiful and talented at the same time, while 70 said they were not sure, but that Ash's movies seem to have a 'feel-good' effect.
About Ash's much hyped release Umrao Jaan, the responses again supported one fact: That Ash, no matter how stunning she may be, can never match the peerless Rekha. A whopping 400 people lent credence to this view, while 95 said Aishwarya would do justice to the role. Only 5 people preferred to remain cautious and watch the movie before they made a comment.
Again, 260 people were unanimous that Aishwarya was suited more for 'traditional, classical type of roles' and that a 'Western' image would not suit her. I50 surfers, on the other hand, said Aishwarya had an 'international' look and that she would fit into any type of image. Only 50 people were unsure and wondered why her movies kept flopping all the time.
Now for the most interesting question: The Ash-Abhishek chemistry. Incredibly, as many as 450 of the people who responded said they shared an amazing chemistry on screen and that it would set the screen on fire some day. 25 people said the two don't bond in 'reel' life, while 26 others said that maybe, a good director could make their pairing work.
The last question again, elicited similar responses. 180 people said yes, Ash would click in Bollywood, while 200 people said she was no match for the likes of Julia Roberts or Kate Winslet. Meanwhile, 120 people said the idea of comparing Bollywood to Hollywood itself was a crazy idea. They were of the opinion that not just the actors, but even the storyline, the treatment, the makeup, and the climax of Hollywood movies were far, far superior to Bollywood.
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