Aishwarya and the 'Best Actress Award'

I read a hilarious piece of news recently, in fact, heard it first on TV – Ashutosh Gowariker could not understand why Priyanka Chopra walked away with Best Actress Award even though Aishwarya was nominated in the same category! I mean, isn’t the reason quite obvious?

Let us look at the kind of work Aishwarya has done, in Jodha Akbar, or otherwise. There is no denying the fact that she is extremely and exquisitely beautiful and that is the only reason she is the highest paid actor in India and has done some work in Hollywood. Otherwise, please somebody enlighten me with the name of one movie where she has truly acted and let the “Aishwarya” in her go!

Of whatever she has done, I think Raincoat is the only movie where she has been able to let her go to some extent. Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam or Taal has been highly successful movies but you can easily notice her goofiness in a lot of scenes. Devdaas? Not really! Did you say, Guru? Please…even Vidya Balan shines through in her miniscule role. Good make-up will never replace good acting! C’mon, what else? Don’t even mention Sarkar Raj, she just catwalks in business suits.

I don’t know what is the problem with our heroines, they are never able to get over the fact that they need not look pretty in each and every frame. They need to breathe life into the character! Look at Tabu in Namesake and you would know. Why Namesake, she has been fabulous in Maqbool as well as Cheeni Kum. She is not very beautiful in conventional sort of way, but she is remarkable in all her roles. All actresses, even Madhuri Dixit, in a lot of movies, need to learn that from her.

Rani was good in Bunty aur Babli, but in all her Yash Raj Movies, she also loses focus on the main purpose of the movie – good acting!

Coming back to Aishwarya, even if she wins an Oscar one day, I will not accept that she is a good actress. She is just very, very beautiful. Even in Jodha-Akbar, I would remember her only for the way she looked. In fact, I don’t even think Hrithik acted so well in that movie. Hrithik also appears gauche in a lot of scenes. Good acting? Give me Irrfan Khan any day!

A saas supporting her bahu whole heartedly makes for a good story but it does not mean that we should give it to Aishwarya. Priyanka surely deserved it better. She has improved a lot and she is even looking like a million bucks. Ashutosh Gowariker will surely feel that his heroine has done a better job, because the movie is his baby, but what about his judgment of good acting!

Aishwarya can have all the orchids to her name, wax-statues and perfumes or whatever, but she must act well to deserve an award. Only a famous surname is not enough. I have nothing against her. I think she is extremely pretty. She has replaced Madhubala as the epitome of beauty. Look at any beauty parlor or Tailor shop at any nook or corner of India, you would find her pretty picture. It is a proof enough how people look at her as an embodiment of perfect beauty. But that’s it!