TransitionsTrajectories

Turning Points

by Monami HaqueSenior Lecturer, MSJ, ULAB

in Career of Aishwariya Rai Bachchan

&

Now the next big question is:

What happens to Ash’s films?

On June 21, 2011, ecstatic Amitabh Bachchan Confirmed the news of his daughter-in-law’s pregnancy when he tweeted,

“News News News!!! I am going to become grandfather. Aishwarya is expecting. So happy and thrilled!!!”

Early Life Trajectories

Born in 1st November, 1973

Finished her schooling at Mumbai

Secured 90% mark in the HSC exams

Got enrolled at Raheja College of Arts to study Architecture

Trained in classical dance and music for five years during her teens

Turning Point

1994: Won the second place in

Miss India Pageant

1994: Won the Miss World Crown

TrajectoryCAREER IN MODELING

TrajectoryCAREER IN MODELING

TrajectoryCAREER IN MODELING

Became the Brand Ambassador of two famous cosmetics brands - L’oreal and Lakme

Transition: Becoming Brand Ambassador

TrajectoryCAREER IN MODELING

Became the Brand Ambassador of Nakshatra Diamond Jewellery and Kalyan Jewellers

TrajectoryCAREER IN MODELING

Official brand ambassador for ‘De Beers Diamond’ in India

Has been ranked the 2nd most popular watch brand ambassador worldwide in a survey conducted by World Watch Report.

TransitionsCareer in Film

Film Career

EARLY WORK (1997-98)1997: Debut in Mani Ratnam’s Tamil Film ‘Iruvar’

Trajectory

Film Career

EARLY WORK (1997-98)

1997: Was casted in her first Bollywood film – “Aur Pyar Ho Gaya’ – A Romantic Comedy

1998: Acted in big budget Tamil romantic drama – ‘Jeans’

Film Career

PUBLIC RECOGNITION (1999-2001)

1999: Starred in the romantic drama ‘Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam’.

Won a Fimfare Award for Best Actress

Turning Point

Film Career

PUBLIC RECOGNITION (1999-2001)

Next box office hit was ‘Taal’

Taal was notable for being the first Indian film to feature in the top twenty listing at the American box-office

Film Career

PUBLIC RECOGNITION (1999-2001)Rai starred alongside Shah Rukh Khan in ‘Josh’as his twin sister which was considered as ‘unusual pairing’. However ‘Josh’ emerged as a commercial success.

Rai took on a supporting role in Aditya Chopra’s ensemble romance ‘Mohabbatein’ which emerged as the second highest grossing film of the year.

Film CareerDEVDAS AND INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION

(2002-2007)

‘Devdas’ was screened at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival and was featured by ‘Time’ in their listing of the “10 best films of the millennium”.In 2003 Rai acted in ‘Cokher Bali’ – an independent Bengali filmThe film was a major critical success and Rai earned positive notice for her performance.

Turning Point

Film CareerDEVDAS AND INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION

(2002-2007)

2005: ‘Bunty Aur Babli’ - Inwhich she was featured in the popular item number.

2006: Dhoom 2 -the film was declared a blockbuster and became the highest grossing Indian film of 2006.

Film CareerDEVDAS AND INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION (2002-2007)

In 2007, Rai was portrayed in Mani Ratnam’s social drama ‘Guru’- A fictionalized biography of businessman Dhirubhai Ambani.

The film met with international critical acclaim and emerged as a box-office success.

Film CareerDEVDAS AND INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION

(2002-2007)

In 2004, Rai gained international Recognition for her starring role opposite Martin Henderson in Gurinder Chadda’s British film Bride and Prejudice.

In 2007 she starred in independent British Drama ‘Provoked’. Internationally well-received, the film emerged as a moderate commercial success in the United Kingdom.

Turning PointWax Statues

Unveiled her first wax statue in London in October 2004 At Madame Tussauds She also unveiled another statue at Blackpool Wax Museum at UK

Life EventMajor RelationshipAffair and

Break upIn 1999, Rai began dating Bollywood actor Salman Khan. The couple got separated in 2001.

Rai cited “abuse (verbal, physical and emotional), infidelity and indignity" on the part of Khan as reasons for ending the relationship

TransitionWeddingbeing single to married

Got married on 20 April 2007

The ‘Ideal Wife’?

Trajectory

2008 Rai garnered both critical and box-office success with Ashutosh Gowariker’s period romance ‘Jodhaa Akbar’.

She then co-starred with her husband, Abhishek Bachchan, and her father-in-law, Amitabh Bachchan, in Ram Gopal Verma’s political drama ‘Sarkar Raj’ (2008).

Career AfterMarriage

Career AfterMarriage

2009: A Hollywood Project by Harald Zwart named ‘The Pink Panther 2’. Rai was criticized for her performance.

In 2010 Rai was paired up with her husband again in Mani Ratnam’s thriller Raavan. Unfortunately, the movie flopped at box office.

Career AfterMarriage

Rai's final film of 2010 was the drama ‘Guzaarish’.

Despite flopping at the box-office, Guzaarish met with positive critical comments

TransitionMotherhood being a couple to a family

The ‘Ideal Mother’?

Awards and Honors

In 2009 Rai was awarded the Padma Shree, the fourth-highest Indian civilian award, for her contributions to Indian cinema

In the same year Rai was declared the Female Star of The Decade at the 10th IIFA Award held at Macau.

Does marriage tie an actress’s career in knot?

If YES, Who’s to blame for this consequence? Audiences or wary producers guessing what audience want and, more importantly, don’t want?

Is it necessary that the actress needs to be paired up with her husband?

In India, audience happily accepts leading men in their forties; married or otherwise. Why they don’t seem to accept actresses in the prime of their youth as heroines once they get married?

Why the married actresses need to play character roles, i.e, the role of sister, mother or sister-in-law?

 

Discussion Questions

Why motherhood changes actress’s outlooks and their professional aspirations?

How difficult is it for an actress to juggle the demands of motherhood with their professional commitments?

Do they regret on turning down good offers?

Is there any initiative from the maker’s/director’s side in creating strong roles for all age groups so that the marriage/motherhood is no longer considered a hurdle for an actress? 

Discussion Questions

Marriage/Motherhood needn’t impact an actress’s career. If anything does, it’s her state of mind.

I firmly believe urban audiences will happily accept their favorite actress, married or not.

The Bottom Line

Thank You…