Aishwarya Rai...

Having been in the magazine biz for 16 years, there's always some Indian aunty who has a daughter or friend's daughter who looks "just like Aishwarya Rai" and I should feature her in the magazine. Um. Yeah. Ok. Sure.

50 Shades...

There are so many kinds of 'shade'... Will let the divine Aishwarya Rai exemplify it.

Light Shade...

...Shade...

Heavy Shade.

Indian Opus: Devdas with Indian cine icons Aishwarya Rai, Madhuri Dixit and Shahrukh Khan is heading to Hong Kong

When the blades of a storm fan flew out of control and fatally wounded a film assistant in the face, little did director Sanjay Leela Bhansali know that the tragedy would be the first of many catastrophes to hit the production of his 500-million rupee (HK$81.5 million) opus, Devdas. 

The musical's producer, Bharat Shah, a former diamond merchant-turned-financier, was also arrested for his purported dealings with the Indian mafia (the case is still pending in Mumbai High Court). There were more accidents on the Mumbai set and the death of another member of the production's crew caused India's Movies Action Dummy Effects Association (MADEA) to investigate the most expensive set in Bollywood. 

Bhansali called in the priests and pundits and a "havan" (holy pyre) was lit to appease the gods in the creation of a film the local media had long said was jinxed. Fortunately, the association's representatives and local politicians were so impressed by the Devdas set's infrastructure that they asked the crew to let it stand as a cine-monument in India's film capital. 

Weeks later, production ground to a halt when the musical's crew and cast of hundreds were not paid in time. The producer had suffered a major heart attack during his 16-month stint in prison and Bhansali was forced to borrow money from friends to pay his over-worked staff. Members of the Shah family insisted Bhansali complete his "dream project" and, with the support of his A-list cast, the film was completed in 260 shifts, two-and-a-half years after the musical's first scenes were filmed. 

On May 23, 2002, Devdas' lead actors Shah Rukh Khan, the former Miss World Aishwarya Rai and Bhansali finally had their moment of respite at the Cannes Film Festival, where the film premiered. There was a standing ovation for the three-hour-plus extravaganza and Time film critic Richard Corliss labelled it "the most visually ravishing movie ever," calling Bhansali "a young master of the medium". 

Devdas has a precarious future, however. It has been more than a decade since a tragedy struck Bollywood box-office gold in a country notoriously keen on feel-good romances and happy endings. 

Sarat Chandra Chatterjee's classic novel Devdas has inspired nearly a dozen Indian films, all of which have received the warm appreciation of the critics but only lukewarm responses from their audiences. First published in Bengali in 1917, Devdas' simple story is often regarded as the ultimate tragedy in Indian literature. 

The ingredients of the plot may seem all too familiar: there are poor girl-rich boy star-crossed lovers, a prostitute with a heart of gold, a love triangle and an unrequited love culminating in death and destruction. 

Childhood sweethearts Devdas (Shah) and Paro (Rai) wish to marry but the former's arrogant and affluent family disapprove of the match. Humiliated, Paro's mother curses Devdas' family. Devdas asks Paro to forget him as he can't go against his family's wishes but he later recognises the intensity of his love. On her wedding day to another man, Paro in turn spurns Devdas, who finds solace in alcohol and the dance of courtesan Chandramukhi (the extraordinary danseuse Madhuri Dixit). The courtesan falls for the perpetually inebriated lover who fails to reciprocate her affection and mourns instead for his lost love. While Devdas falls into an alcohol-sodden depression, Paro fails to find wedded bliss. Then the film's three main characters find salvation in their own tragic end. 

The director probably intended to highlight the tragedy of Devdas with a beautiful backdrop. Complementing the film's gorgeous cast, a coterie of the finest designers - Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla (who outfitted Dame Judi Dench and others at the Oscars) along with National award winner Neeta Lulla - created the 1930s look with richly brocaded, mirror and gold-embedded costumes for the leading ladies. 

Bhansali engaged four of India's leading dance directors for the film's eight songs but his coup was getting the maestro Kathak dancer Pandit Birju Maharaj to compose, sing and choreograph the central dance for the diva Chandramukhi. But while international critics enjoyed Devdas in Cannes, there are doubts about whether this musical melodrama will emulate India's Oscar-nominated Lagaan in finding an overseas audience. 

Defying modern trends, the lengthy romance is chaste; none of the leading characters kiss, let alone do anything else to stir the story's devastating drama. If Devdas' producers hope to make their money back on foreign returns, they face another battle with Hollywood's summer releases. 

Even in India, the year's biggest hits have been Raaz (an Indianised version of What Lies Beneath) and the Hindi-dubbed flick Spider-Man. And according to Taran Adarash of India's Trade Guide, 88 of the 101 Hindi films released so far in 2002 failed to cover their costs. 

Although Devdas is up against the odds, the musical has aroused unprecedented curiosity. Its songs have topped the Indian charts for the past month and the film's advance bookings have been staggering. Even with the best of Bollywood behind it, however, it remains to be seen whether Devdas, the costliest Indian film ever made, will be a historic hit... or a lamentable loss. 

Devdas. 

Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre and Hong Kong Arts Centre, July 14-18. 

Tickets $220, $180, $120, Ticketek. 

Inquiries, contact Morning Star: 2368 2947 Publication - Date: 11.07.2002 

Author: P Ramakrishman 

Publication: SCMP Column: Screen Studies

Screen Studies by P.Ramakrishnan 

Aishwarya Rai: WestEast magazine profile

Over the years, I've written a lot, a looooooooooooot of articles about  Aishwarya Rai, Indian actress, supermodel... GODDESS!! This one was for WestEast magazine a few years ago. The one-sided love-fest at least helped me pay some bills!
= )

Seeing her live in Macau was one of many dreams come true - and you really haven't lived till you've seen her perform on stage!

The other top 'live' moments include interviewing Amitabh Bachchan, hearing Lata Mangeshkar and S.P. Balasubramanium sing live (in Hong Kong 1994), watching Hrithik Roshan moonwalk, walking across Hyde Park arm in arm with Naomi Campbell, and getting kissed on the cheek by Sushmita Sen (!). I've lived baby! hahaha


Previous Feature on Aishwarya Rai:
Horray For Bollywood

Horray for Bollywood: Aishwarya Rai: Will this Indian actress and Bollywood superstar conquer Hollywood?

Screen

Studies
P.Ramakrishnan 

When Lagaan (Land Tax) picked up a nomination at the Academy Awards last year, in the Best Foreign Film category, a lot of ink was spilt in the Indian and American media about Bollywood finally making its presence felt in the international arena. Enter the age of "crossover'' styles and cinema, they said, as the musical genre found a mini-revival. Though the film failed to win any trophies at the Golden Globes or the Oscars, it generated enough buzz to be picked up by Sony Pictures Classics for international release.

Re-released in the US and Europe after making it to the "Best of the year'' movie lists among a number of critics, the film still did abysmally at the box office. As Americans can barely feign an interest in cricket, let alone an all-singing, all-dancing film about the sport itself, the film fizzled out within two weeks of release and was quickly packed off to video-store shelves.

Loaded with six of the biggest names in Bollywood, Kaante (Thorns) premiered in New York last December, with much pre-release hype and repeated affirmations on how only international technicians worked in the movie to give it the "Hollywood finish''. Well, finish it did - really quickly in the States, as a New York Times critic concluded that: "Bollywood is essentially a non-narrative art form, in which coherent storytelling plays a distinctly secondary role to the purple pleasures of the moment.''

Devdas, Bollywood's most expensive film ever made, was India's entry to the Oscars this year, brocaded with much hooplah and Asian box-office success - but it couldn't even garner a nomination from the powers that be at the Academy.

So if Indian movies can't capture the hearts of the world's cinema-goers, then why not one of its stars? Enter former Miss World and current Bollywood craze Aishwarya Rai (see pic above). She has just been cast in Gurinder (Bend It Like Beckham) Chadha's next flick, Bride And Prejudice. After the unprecedented success of Chadha's comedy (the modestly budgeted film collected over $31 million and counting in the US), the director zeroed in on the most photogenic actress in Asia for her ambitious musical and re-telling of Jane Austen's tale.

Fellow director Karan Johar saw Rai's appeal well before Chadha did. Johar was part of the Indian film fraternity two years ago at Cannes, and he noticed the audience's immediate fascination with the light-eyed beauty, "There were all these stars dressed in their Valentinos and Armanis, but when Ash stepped down from the horse-driven carriage at the premier in her mustard-colour sari, everyone else faded away. If there's any Indian star who can make the cross over, it's her.''

And this year, Rai who was even asked back to preside on the Cannes jury. Art-house critics in Mumbai guffawed out loud, "What does Aishwarya really know about acting? She was invited to Cannes because she was the Asian model for L'Oreal, and the cosmetic brand was a sponsor for the festival. The same reason why Sharon Stone gets invited to the festivals - because she's press and photo-friendly,'' said one.

Hong Kong audience can see what all the fuss is about this weekend when Rai's film Kuch Na Kaho (Say Nothing) enjoys a brief showing in town.

She joins a line of Indian actresses who have been lured to the bright lights of Hollywood, only to see their careers falter in foreign shores. In the 1980s Shabana Azmi, the most felicitated actress in India, landed a part in Madam Sousatzka (1988) with Shirley Maclaine. After that, she went on to character roles in Immaculate Conception and City Of Joy, followed by an appalling cameo in Son Of The Pink Panther, which she bluntly stated she did for the money.

Then there was Persis Khambatta (Miss India 1965) who skipped Bollywood altogether and made an appearance in Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), followed by B-grade brigade appearances in Nighthawks, Megaforce and Deadly Intent. In 1986 she was seen briefly in MacGyver and by 1996 - two years before she succumbed to a heart attack in Mumbai - she was doing two-bit-roles on TV as "the Indian ambassador'' in Lois & Clark and other shows on cable networks.

Maybe, though, Rai should take a leaf out of Rekha's book. At an international film festival in Italy last year, the siren of 1970s Indian celluloid, was asked with her perfect English and pulchritude, why she didn't give Hollywood a go. She simply said, "Why go to the West and be treated like a maid, when I can be the Queen in India?''







Picture Caption: Beauty & the East: Hollywood has its eyes on former Miss World Aishwarya Rai. Image Courtesy of L'Oreal.

Kuch Na Kaho, with Aishwarya Rai and Abishek Bachchan (In Hindi, with English subtitles). Saturday, September 6, 8.30pm. Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, Wan Chai
Sunday, September 7, 3.30pm and 7pm. HK Arts Centre, 2 Harbour Rd; Wanchai
Ticket hotline 31 288 288 (For 2 shows at HK Arts Centre), www.hkticketing.com. Tickets: $80, $120, $150


Originally published in South China Morning Post,
Thursday, Sept 4, 2003

P.Ramakrishnan is the unofficial Bollywood correspondent for Hong Kong's leading daily. Write to the writer at rama.p@scmp.com