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Saturday, January 20, 2007

Letter from India: Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan - star-crossed stars and a ravenous press

NEW DELHI: This week's engagement of former Miss World Aishwarya Rai to the Bollywood star Abhishek Bachchan was accompanied by all the media hysteria appropriate for such an A-list union.
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There were crowds of fans thronging the home of the Bachchan family, Bollywood's leading dynasty, hoping for an appearance from the couple.
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There were spontaneous celebrations in the nearby streets and fighting between photographers as they jostled for a picture.
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Later there were shots of the couple, holding hands in the back of a limousine. Rai, 33, smiling, her eyes averted, demurely, toward the floor; Bachchan, 31, staring anxiously at the advancing army of paparazzi.
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Last autumn, as rumors of their relationship emerged, one television critic put out a prescient plea to the couple, begging them not to go ahead with the marriage, for fear of what the announcement of an engagement would do to normal news coverage. These fears were more than realized. For days now, every detail of the stars' daily routine has pushed other events — like soaring rates of malnutrition, violent rural unrest, the murder of dozens of slum children — to the back of the news schedule.
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So far, so normal. This is the kind of excitement that film star weddings generate across the world.
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Elsewhere newspapers would have perhaps taken a more cynical line, raising the possibility of a publicity stunt because of the convenient coincidence of the marriage announcement and the global release of a major film, "Guru," starring both actors. But such is the respect accorded to the Bachchan family, (headed by the revered figure and film legend Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek's father), that this thought has barely been entertained.
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At face value, the reporting of the engagement seems to gush innocent syrupy enthusiasm for this union between two of the industry's most glamorous stars. But at a second glance, the media's tone betrays a deep-rooted social conservatism prevalent here, and reveals much about disparities in attitudes toward men and women.
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Rai's age has been the focus of some discussion — the implication being that at 33 she is practically a spinster and has had extraordinary good luck in managing to persuade Bachchan, two years her junior, to pluck her from the shelf.
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The fact that Rai has previously been attached to other men has also not gone unnoticed, and the details of earlier relationships with two other Bollywood actors, Salman Khan and Vivek Oberoi, have been picked over at length. (Bachchan's earlier engagement to another actress, Karisma Kapoor, has attracted less comment.)
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Most peculiar has been the amount of attention paid to Rai's inauspicious horoscope, which sets her out, according to newspaper astrologers, as a potential curse to her future husband.
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In recent months, Rai has joined the Bachchan family on several visits to temples to perform what the media described as "cleansing ceremonies."
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This show of religious devotion, commentators claim, was motivated by a desire to correct Rai's problematic star sign, which astrologers warn could augur ill for Abhishek Bachchan's career. Rai is said to be "manglik," an unlucky positioning under Mars, the mainstream daily newspaper, The Hindustan Times, explained, indicating "unhappiness at home (with the mother-in-law for instance) divorce or separation, sickness, loss of business or hot-headedness." In the worst-case scenario, they warn, it can mean early death for the husband.
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One solution to this unlucky mismatch of star signs, astrologers advised the couple this week, would be for Rai to first marry a banana tree in a symbolic ceremony to ward off evil.
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Newspaper reporters have been careful to avoid open criticism of the actress, relying instead on unnamed "sources," like the one who told The Times of India: "Everybody — be it fans, media or family members — were against their marriage because of Rai's flings in the past and the myth that she brings bad omen for her boyfriends. They warned Bachchan, 'If you marry her your career will be ruined.'" They tried to dissuade him by talking about their age difference. But Bachchan didn't listen to anybody and withstood all the opposition."
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The tone of the thousands of participants on blog threads on the subject is less inhibited. "I doubt if she will be a good homemaker," is a common response. "Ash is too ambitious and will not be ready to compromise her career for a family. The Bachchan family needs a housewife," another fan declared. "Poor Abhishek, after knowing all about her relationships in the past. Apart from that she is elder than him by two years. Certainly he is unlucky," concluded another.
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This coverage has left friends perplexed. "It's just ridiculous," said the screenwriter Subhash K. Jha, who knows the family well. "We've entered a new millennium, but the language being spoken is of the most ancient times. This talk of purifying her and cleansing her is most bizarre. The Bachchans are a God-fearing family, but they don't believe in such antediluvian ideas."
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The question of how the union will affect Rai's career has also arisen.
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Typical, in this regard, was a question to her future husband by one journalist this week, who asked: "Will you let her continue working?"
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The question is not so absurd. When Amitabh Bachchan married Abhishek's mother, Jaya Bhaduri, in the early 1970s, he was a struggling actor and she was a reigning superstar. She swiftly gave up her career to devote herself to her husband and their children, returning to the cinema only much later to play the occasional maternal role.
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Rai has several films in the pipeline, and Bachchan's attitude is that it is "her decision absolutely" whether or not to continue acting.
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When Rai had to kiss another actor during filming last year there were reports of disapproval from the Bachchan family.
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Most expect that she will be forced to become more careful about the parts she picks. "It would be difficult for her to play sensuous, sexual roles once she becomes the daughter-in-law of the first family of film," Jha added. "She may opt for more dignified parts."
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Jaipur artist to create 25 sculptures of Aishwarya Rai
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Jaipur, Jan 16: While the people across the country delighted to learn Bollywood hearththrobs Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan soon going to tie the nuptial knot, a Jaipur artist is all set to dazzle everyone by making 25 sculptures of Aish.
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Arjun Prajapathi, 49, the sculptor claims that he felt inspired to create different moods of the former Miss World Aishwarya after he got a mind flash while being asleep. It's been two months now since he started turning that dream into a reality.
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"A lady came into my dreams for 25 days and asked me to make 25 sculptures of Aishwarya Rai which will be a milestone in my career. And, I am just making it a reality by completing 25 sculptures of Aishwarya Rai. The sculptures will showcase Aishwarya in various poses and different moods," Prajapati said.
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Every day Prajapati works for 10 hours along with his three sons to fulfil his dream. He wants to complete the work by June. He is using special clay from Haryana and Delhi to enhance the beauty of the work.
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Prajapati hopes to hold an exhibition of his works in Mumbai, the film city of the country. He also plans to gift one sculpture to Aishwarya Rai.
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"First, I make the model from clay and then die it with plaster, followed by a casting with fiber glass and then we paint it. I will hold an exhibition in Mumbai and would request Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai to inaugurate it and then gift one sculpture to Aishwaryaji," says Prajapati.
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Aishwarya got engaged with Big B's son Abhishek Bachchan on Makar Sankranti, an auspicious day in the Hindu calendar.
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