Aishwarya Rai - the most beautiful woman in the world?

I've never really, really looked at where I've been hanging and got it. Miss India! I think I'm like water. I kind of naturally, easily fit and adjust to any situation. That's always been my mind space and my temperament. So, I don't really look upon any new experience as daunting or as something that's going to be demanding of me, you know? So, if you don't have that kind of an attitude, then it kind of is easy and quite seamless. Aishwarya Rai. And Aishwarya is dubbed the world's most beautiful woman. For many years when I was growing up, she was just known as the world's most beautiful woman. She is an Indian actress, for those of you who are not familiar. And she is the winner of the Miss World 1994 pageant. And she is primarily known for her work in Hindi and few Tamil films. She has established herself as one of the most popular and influential celebrities in India through her successful acting career. Rai has received numerous accolades, including two Filmfare awards and was honored with the Padma Shri by the government of India in 2009. And she has often been cited in the media, as we stated, as the most beautiful woman in the world. Aishwarya is commonly referred to by fans in the media by the nickname Ash and Aish. But she has stated that she disliked being called those names. She has discouraged people from referring to her by other names than Aishwarya, as she does not want to spoil her good name. That's just a fun fact for anyone that want to call her Aish. She was born on November 1st, 1973, into a Tulu-speaking Bunt family and Mangalore and Karnataka. And forgive me in advance if I mispronounce any words. Her father did pass away on March 18, 2017. But he was an army biologist while her mother was a housewife. And she has one older brother, Aditya Rai, who is an engineer in the Merchant Navy. And Rai's movie Dil Ka Rishta was co-produced by her brother and co-written by her mother. So they're all kind of in the industry. And she lived with her mother for a very long time, even into her 30s, I believe. And a lot of people was like, I found it endearing that she still stayed with her family until she got married. So the family moved to Mumbai, where Rai attended high school. And Rai did her intermediate schooling at Jai Hind College for a year and then joined DG Rupert College and Matunga, securing 90% in the HSC exams. She trained in classical dance and music for five years during her teens. Her favorite subject, Zoology. And she initially considered a career in medicine, then with plans to become an architect. So she was all over the place with that. She enrolled at Roshana Sansad Academy of Architecture, but later gave up her education to pursue a career in modeling. So she does have a lot of brains. And she did score very well on her tests and everything. So she's more than just a pretty face. In 1991, Rai won an international supermodel contest organized by Ford and was eventually featured in the American edition of Vogue. And in 1993, Rai gained huge public recognition for her appearance in a Pepsi commercial with actors Aamir Khan and Mahima Chaudhary. In the 1994 Miss India pageant, she won second place behind Sushmita Sen and was crowned Miss India World. Also winning five other subtitles, Miss Catwalk, Miss Miraculous, Miss Photogenic, Miss Perfect Ten, and Miss Popular. With Sen representing India at the Miss Universe pageant, Rai's duties as the first runner up included representing India in the rival Miss World pageant held that year in Sun City, South Africa. She went on to win the crown where she also won the Miss Photogenic award and Miss World Continental Queen of Beauty Asia and Oceania. After winning the pageant, Rai spoke of her dream for peace for this world and her desire to be an ambassador of peace during her one year reign in London. At 21, she won the Miss World competition and her world changed forever. You were starting to be an architect, weren't you? Right. And then this Miss World beauty pageants happened. Boom. The moment you got into modeling, I think within a few years, you won the Miss World crown. Actually, it was all very, very quick. 93 is when I was modeling really and 94 Giant Miss India, November Miss World, and I was back at the end of 95. I never planned to be a model. I never planned to. It was not a childhood dream to be part of a pageant. I never thought I'd be in the movies. I was definitely working on my academics. I was very specific at my press conference when I returned as Miss World. There were all these jibes and darts about. So it got me more socially aware. Rai continued to pursue a career as a model until she became an actress. In 1999, Rai began dating Bollywood actor Salman Khan. Their relationship was often reported in the media until the couple separated in 2002. Rai cited being physically hit on and then verbal, physical and emotionally being taken advantage of and fidelity and indignity on the part of Khan as reasons for ending the relationship. She then had a romantic relationship with actor Vivek Oberoi before they broke up in 2005. So Abhishek Bishan fell in love with Rai whilst filming Doom 2. Their engagement was announced on January 14, 2007 and later confirmed by his father. The couple married on the 20th of April 2007 according to traditional Hindu rites of the Bund community to which she belongs. North Indian and Bengali ceremonies were also performed. The wedding took place in a private ceremony at the Bishan residence in Juhu, Mumbai. Rai is very close to her family and lived with them in Bandra, Mumbai until her marriage. Rai is Hindu and deeply religious. Her international presence shot up when Abhishek Bishan accompanied her to the Cannes Film Festival shortly after their marriage and later to the Oprah Winfrey show appearing on the September 28, 2009 show. They were described as being more famous as a couple than Brangelina. And you guys knew how Brangelina was. But we're talking about international here. Rai gave birth to a girl on November 16, 2011. That's been her only child so far. And she is, for the most part, controversy free. But let's talk about some controversies that's been in the media. So I do want to take a minute to acknowledge her influence in Indian cinema because oftentimes we do these videos but we don't understand just the impact that the actresses and actors and world leaders had and how we view society and the world right now. Aishwarya Rai really had a tremendous impact on not just Bollywood but society in India and even globally how Indian women and Indian culture is perceived here in America. First, something you may not have known, in Bollywood culture during her days, especially before her, they did not, they were very, very conservative. They would not kiss on screen. It was very, very taboo. So she was one of the first people to kiss. It's because when a kissing would come up, you know, they'll just bust out into song. So that created a lot of controversy. And also when she became Miss World, she had to walk on the stage without, you know, in a bikini, not covered up. And still, Bollywood, the women were so very conservative that, of course, there was a lot of backlash too for the representation. By the way, do you live with your parents? Is that true? Yes. Is that common in India for older children to live with their parents? It's fine to live with your parents because it's also common in India that we don't have to take appointments with our parents to meet for dinner. So this world that we have had up to date have been proof enough that they have had compassion. Participating in the pageant meant that Aishwarya would have to appear on worldwide TV wearing a swimsuit. But how would this be received in her conservative homeland? Aishwarya's roles had always played to the conservative Indian culture where risque scenes are taboo. In Bollywood, just when an onscreen romance gets too hot, everyone breaks into song and dance. But Aishwarya was persuaded to push her own and her audience's boundaries. The interest in the Western world from Hollywood or European cinema, English cinema from the industry, there was a lot of interest in me and the possibility of me working overseas. But I still said, OK, if I have to go down this path, let me first do it in our cinema. And you'd be surprised. I mean, I actually got a couple of notices turning around and saying, you are iconic. You're an example to our girls. You have led your life in such an exemplary manner. So why did you? And I was like, wow, I'm just an actor doing my job. And here I am being asked to offer an explanation. A lot of actors had kissed before that movie. They continue to kiss on screen till this very minute. It's getting there. I mean, now it's become very, very common. So I think our audience is getting comfortable with it now. She a lot of people accused her of being very westernized, even under a lot of the interviews, videos for her interviews. You see people because she spoke very clear English. She speaks very clear English. So they always thought she was a plant that would come in to kind of introduce western ideology into India and popularize the very taboo, overtly sexual culture. Although Aishwarya herself is very it's just pretty conservative herself, pretty humble in terms of, you know, western society. But she is somebody that really does push for she calls it creativity. But she pushed for Indian cinema like Bollywood to kind of evolve with the times and allow certain scenes or for the movie or the movies, the films to not be so rigid. That's what she encouraged. Bollywood has become a lot more open. So you can thank her for that. People now kiss on screen. They do more realistic films. She also popularized that as well, because Bollywood in general is kind of like musicals, dancing, et cetera, and songs. But Aishwarya has such a big influence, the culture that I mean, she was one of the first Indian women to, you know, meet with Oprah and go on a David Letterman show and 100 influential people globally. This really have a lot of success. There have been so many milestones, so many honors. Time magazine selected you as the 100 most influential people in the world. You've been where no other Indian has gone before. There were magazine covers, the face of L'Oreal, you topped every beauty poll. You reached real America through Oprah, Letterman, honors from the House of Commons. I mean, did you dream all this? So because of that, she popularized the culture a lot and has massive, massive influence even till this day in India and here as well. A lot of people didn't really know much about Bollywood film industry or much, you know, about Indian culture in terms of pop culture until Aishwarya came in and she was in, you know, Pink Panther. She played several like Bride and Prejudice, which is one of her most popular films here in the West. She started coming on a David Letterman. And I first saw Aishwarya on the Oprah Winfrey show, you know, doing an interview. And I was like, wow, she's gorgeous. And she was labeled the most gorgeous, most beautiful woman in the world. And you started getting into Bollywood. And, you know, that's how a lot of people was introduced to it. So she played a major role in that popularity and kind of westernizing Bollywood as well. And then it's no coincidence that she would later go on to marry Amitabh Bachchan, which is one of the biggest Bollywood actors, his son. She ended up marrying his son. They're like a royalty in India. They're like a royal family. When I'm telling you big, they're a huge deal. And Bollywood industry makes a lot of money, more than Hollywood. OK, it's one of the biggest film industries in the world. And Amitabh Bachchan and the Bachchan family is at the top of it. So think of who's the biggest actor or actress in America. And they couldn't even compare whoever it is that you can think of. So she married into, you would say, cinema royalty, Indian royalty, basically. That also solidified her influence even further into the industry. But with all of that, she also has a lot of influence when it comes to charitable works. She does partner with the UN. She did build a school, help construct a school for kids that have special needs and does a lot of other humanitarian works where she doesn't really like to talk about them. She likes to silently help. But the United Nations did decide to work with her in order to help bring awareness and popularity as well as funding towards their aim to eliminate children being born with HIV AIDS. Aishwarya, for quite some time now, has been putting her media profile to use. Schools like this delve into what the children is all about, what the children needs and how you go forth and educate them. My association with the United Nations and I've been taken on as their international goodwill ambassador with UNAIDS. Having the blessing of celebrity, it probably gives me access to a larger and wider reach when it comes to people. Then I would like to use that effectively. The particular agenda that UNAIDS has, when you have this program of getting to zero by 2015, that's not very far away. And when they say getting it to zero is to have no more babies born with HIV. The United Nations has been speaking to me over the past 10 years to come on board. And I was always interested. So she runs in a lot of circles. But with all of that, since the beginning, because of her beauty, she faced a lot of discrimination as well, because people don't like to associate someone so beautiful with being articulate or being intelligent. But you must know that she would rank number one in all her classes above all her other peers. Number one, meaning she was top of her class, you would consider like a valedictorian. And she is very intelligent, very well spoken. And one thing also that I found admirable is that her and her mother, they negotiate their deals. They negotiate their movie deals. And she's been known to be a very, very tough negotiator and never sells herself short. So she does not play and she runs it efficiently. But of course, with that comes a lot of criticism and a lot of discrimination from the men in the industry as well, that there's a lot of rumors in the beginning before she became, you know, this popular was men in the industry that would try to rip opportunities from her because even they would be jealous or threatened by a woman that looked this way. I mean, when did you first look in the mirror and say, hey, I'm gorgeous? After the title, it had me turning around and saying, did it have to be me? Oh, come on. Honestly, I've never really, really looked in the mirror and said, hey, I'm gorgeous. Most beautiful women in the world never appreciate a compliment on their looks. So what, what compliments please you? About the person I am and tends to want people to see beyond the apparent, beyond the superficial. But beauty's obviously made your life easier. Tell me, has there been a downside because of it? It wouldn't be fair for me to say a downside. No, I have had a good life. But the flip side, if I could put it lightly, would be if you have got a, if you have got what is visible, you don't have anything within. Even when I got a first class the first year, it was like, you know, you were on the list of the first class students. And isn't that a surprise? You know, yeah, that was exactly my response. Do you feel that sometimes you have to consciously dispel this impression in people that, look, look, I'm not arrogant, don't think I'm arrogant? Not until I became personality. I did get acquainted with that, that phenomenon. You were studying to be an architect, weren't you? Right. I had this thing about wanting to complete my studies. I wanted to guarantee myself with a degree since I had enrolled myself in a professional course. I believe you manage your own career yourself? As of now, yes, me and my mom. You negotiate your own contracts? And they say you're a tough negotiator? Do they? Who's telling? Well, what happened to that sweet, sweet image I'm given? No, they're in two shoes. I think you're a lot smarter than people give you credit for. Thank you. You are very professional. You are, you always come on time, go on time. No nakhshars, I believe. How do most Indian men deal with a beautiful and a successful woman? Are they overall? It is an entire emotional ballgame. So if I don't play it right, I wonder if I'd be such a good sport. And for a lot of people, you may be like, well, what makes her the most beautiful woman in the world? Well, you got to understand in India, there was a lot of prejudice during those times where they thought just like Indian women just were not attractive like that in the West I'm talking about. So she kind of put Indian women on a map. When she came out, it was like, wow, we saw firsthand how gorgeous Indian women are some of the most beautiful women in the world. But before then, people did not associate that. They just associated them looking a particular way. But she came kind of dispelling that, right? So that's why there was all the fuss and all the hoopla. So what's it like being married to the most beautiful woman? Oh, it's pleasant on the eyes. Nice to wake up to. You can see why I married him. She looks exactly the same. You can see why I married him. He just makes everything funny. So yeah. No, it's true. You wake up in the morning like, really? Even in the morning? What in general do they think of American women? Do they say we're rude? No. No? Indian people are very hospitable. It is a long piece of fabric. OK. This is going to go on forever. And it's just one piece of cloth. I wish I'd known that all these years. Oh, this would be lovely. Also, she doesn't look phenotypically like the average Indian woman. If you take a consensus of the population, she doesn't. So that also made her stand out because, you know, the lighter eyes, the lighter complexion, which she's been accused of bleaching, which we talk about in this video. But she doesn't look phenotypically like the average Indian woman. So that put her on a map as well, especially in Bollywood with the lighter eyes, fuller, very fuller lips. And she just, you know, had a different look about her. So that's what built on with her popularity. I've never really, really looked. First was Aishwarya's skin lightening controversy. In 2010, we went through similar issues as far as the skin lightening and weight issue in the Rekha video, which was one of my favorite videos. So if you haven't seen that video, go check that out as well. But in 2010, there was a controversy with Aishwarya and skin lightening. So Aishwarya had hit the headlines of her skin lightening controversy for the Elle magazine. It was said that though Aishwarya is already a fair complexioned woman, she looked excessively pale on the cover of the Elle magazine. According to the gossips, right skin appeared to have been digitally lightened on the cover that left the actress furious. But in seeing many of her recent videos compared to when she was younger, she did look a little more, like she had more of a warm undertone with an olive, like an olive undertone with a warm, right? So like pastel colors, glitter colors, and like warmer colors look best on her. And when she wear neutral colors, she look pale and watered down. So I thought that in some videos where she wears warmer colors and wear colors for her skin tone, she don't look like she lightened her skin, right? She still look like the old Aishwarya. But when she wears like the burgundy hair, cause I think brown highlights goes best with her and darker hair. But when she wears like the burgundy or lighten her hair or wear like neutral colors, as well as like the ashier colors, it makes her look really pale to where it looks like she lost color from her face. And that's why people think she lightened her skin cause I honestly could not see why she would need to lighten her skin. She's lighter than most white Americans. So that, you know, but I don't know, a lot of people really believe that that's what she did. But I really think it's just about color choices when she's wearing them. Some colors really wash her out. And then some don't. Just like Donna Summer, during those days, a lot of black supermodels, they didn't have makeup artists that knew how to put makeup for them. So they put ashy colors on them and it would look like they lightened their skin when no, it's the makeup because their neck would be a little bit darker, their hands, but their face is like, you know? So I think that's another issue too. It may be makeup, but you know. And then the next thing is to talk about the weight gain after her pregnancy, which was just ridiculous to me. In 2011, she received a lot of negative publicity for failing to lose her post-pregnancy weight as it apparently required, it is required of a public figure, especially in India. We talked about what Rekha had to go through, especially in her youth. However, she silenced her critics by walking on the red carpet at Amphar Cinema Against AIDS Gala in 2012 Cannes Film Festival for the 11th time. And later that year, and a lot of people when they saw her was like, oh my God, you gained weight, blah, blah, blah. You know, the press was just going off with it. Then she just gave birth, which was so insensitive. But later that year, Rai has made it to the issue of New York's magazine's list of 40 women that women find beautiful, where she grabbed the 21st position in the list with New York Magazine saying she may be the world's most beautiful woman, but what we really love is that she never feels fragile on screen. Very actually. Next came a baby daughter. Some of her followers protested along with public complaints about her postpartum weight gain. Press campaign about how soon were you going to get rid of the extra weight you put on to have the baby. That's all the fuss about. It's normal. It was natural in my case. I was comfortable and that's why I have been who I have been. I stepped out in public when I could take time out. We all know the incredible progress that science has made. So if you want to lose it overnight, it is possible. But that's not the choice that I was making. I wasn't disturbed by it. If people were, well, I guess, I hope they enjoyed the drama because I was busy leading a very real life with my baby. When it comes to food, I am very, I love food. I'm comfortable with my foods. I've never dieted, never. Never, never, never. Do you run a lot? No, I should. No, actually, it's amazing. But I have lost weight actually just looking after my daughter. If and when I'm in the gym, I love it. But because it's never been part of my routine, I find it very difficult to factor it in. The market research firm YouGov named Rai the world's 11th most admired person of 2018. So eat that. And then she always spoke about how she really don't care. You know, she really don't care for the weight stuff. She went about and she just took it. You carried your pregnancy so beautifully. There were pictures. I have been in the front line. Yeah, yeah. Bring it on. For every phase, I think. I've just said, okay, front line of the army, take all the bullets. And then everybody else, cakewalk. Rai Bhashan is one of the most popular Bollywood celebrities. Okay, despite constant media speculation, she keeps her personal life well guarded. So she doesn't speak on her life like that. She's kind of has that Beyonce-esque, unbothered, you know, and just it's most of them are like that too. Rekha. They have such an elegance, the Bollywood women. You know, they're very private, low key, not with the antics. Her physical appearance and performances have made her a style icon for young women. In 2011, India Today noted that there were over 1700 websites dedicated to her. She was selected by Verve magazine and its list of the country's most powerful women. And in 2001, Forbes named Rai among the top five Indian movie stars in a reader poll conducted by the UK Hello magazine. She was voted the most attractive woman of 2003. And the same year, Rai appeared in Rolling Stones magazine's annual hot list. And in 2004, she was chosen by Time as one of the world's most influential people and appeared on the cover of its 2003 Asia edition. So she's not playing with anybody. Rai is the first Indian actress to be on the jury of the Cannes International Film Festival. And in October 2004, a wax figure of Rai was put on display in London's Madame Tussauds Wax Museum. She was the sixth Indian and the second Bollywood personality after her father-in-law, Amitabh Chan, to get this honor. And in 2007, the same figure was displayed at Madame Tussauds Museum in Times Square in New York as her most distinctive physical features. Rai's green-blue eyes, luscious lips, curves, and feminine mannerisms have been cited by the media as her trademark. In 2005, she was the subject of a 60-minute profile on January 2nd, which said that at least according to thousands of websites, internet polls, and even Julia Roberts, she was the world's most beautiful woman the same year. The same year, a tulip in the Netherlands was named Ishwaria Rai after her. Also in 2005, Mattel released a limited edition of Barbie dolls of Rai in the United Kingdom. The British magazine Maxim ranked Rai first on their list of hottest women of India. In February 2005, Rai performed with other Bollywood stars at the Help! Telethon concert, an event to raise money for the victims of the 2004 tsunami earthquake, along with other members of the Bashan family. She laid the foundation of a special school for underprivileged girls in a village in Uttar Pradesh in 2008. Construction is being funded by the Bashan family and the school will be named after Rai. She appeared along with various other Bollywood actors at the closing ceremony of the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. The performance showcased Indian culture as a lead up to India hosting the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Rai is a UN microcredit spokesperson. She supports PETA India. She pledged to donate her eyes to the Eye Bank Association of India and appeared in a public awareness film on eye donation. In November 2004, Rai created the Aishwarya Rai Foundation to help needy people in India. In 2009, Rai was appointed as the first goodwill ambassador of Smile Train, an international charity that provides free cleft-lipped and palate surgery to children in need. Her work with Smile Train will focus not only on India, but on 76 different developing countries around the world. As far as her beauty secrets go, she really doesn't say she has much. She believes in aromatherapy. She's really big on like aromatherapy and scents and smells and things like that. And she likes pretty things. But as far as the diet goes, she doesn't have like a diet, like I would say Rekha, when people were asking for beauty secrets. She typically likes to say she doesn't count calories and she loves Indian food and she just enjoy life. You know, she's not obsessive about it, which is a positive attitude to have. You think a lot of celebrities really have these strict regimens. Yes, they look amazing with it, but they don't really get to enjoy life. She has a very laissez-faire attitude about it and very just live life, enjoy yourself and don't really care for what people have to say. The haters, all the comments, take life by the horns. And she always describes herself as being like moving water and just going with the flow. Like she said, she has a strong personality and many of her interviews, she always talk about how she has a strong personality. Her husband has a strong personality and they discuss things aloud a lot. I love you guys so much. Thank you for tuning in. Until next time.