Aishwarya Rai slims down but we are STILL obsessed by her weight!

November 15, 2012 By 4 Comments

International celeb and UNAIDS goodwill ambassador Aishwarya Rai Bachchan seems to have hit her slim-down stride and has been look fit and gorgeous and glowy at recent events. And yet, we continue to have problems with her weight – this time of the ‘Oh my God! She must have gone on a starvation diet and/or killed it with the personal trainer’ kind.

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Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (left) A party photo from May 2012 (right) At the premiere of Jab Tak Hai Jaan last week

Uh, excuse me for being confused but ISN’T THIS EXACTLY WHAT THE WORLD HAS BEEN HARPING ON FOR A YEAR NOW? Pardon the all-caps but it’s just so frustrating to see this continuous outrage about Aish’s weight from people who shouldn’t even have an opinion. Because after all, whether a new mom (or any woman) chooses to be thin, fat or bald for that matter… HOW IN THE WORLD DOES IT MATTER TO ANYONE BESIDES HER AND HER FAMILY?

It is so annoying that even a non-Aishwarya-Rai-enthusiast like me is forced to spring to her defence (which is clearly an unusual stand for me to take if you have been following this blog). So, for the millionth time, let me clarify a few things:

1. Yes, Aishwarya was overweight for much of the last year. Heck! Let’s stop being diplomatic and say she was actually F.A.T. She was also a new mom, who was clearly trying to be a mom and spend time with her child instead of handing her over to nannies while she waltzed off to gym sessions.

2. Add to this the normal stresses and vagrancies of motherhood – exhaustion, fatigue, time constraints, mood swings etc etc etc – and you can imagine that bouncing back immediately is totally unrealistic.

3. According to medical science, you should not be exercising for 6-8 weeks after delivery and then not aim for more than half a kg loss per week. If a woman does not take proper rest and nutrition at this stage, she is setting herself up for lifelong back problems, chronic weakness and a myriad other diseases.

4. Now that almost a year is up since Aradhya’s birth, Aishwarya is obviously working on dropping the pounds in a healthy and rational manner. We have gradually seen her go down the size charts for the past few months, so no – I really can’t see where everyone thinks its been done overnight or through magic pills, crazy diets and unreasonable exercise schedules.

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Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in the recent Diwali campaign by Longines

5. As for the rumours about all the recently “thin” pix, I can tell you as a glossy magazine editor of 15+ years, while you can do it in photo shoots and ads (not really good but every single celeb and brand is doing it across the world), event photos normally don’t lie. Especially when they are distributed across numerous channels on which nobody has control. So, what you see is what you get.

6. Also, a quick reminder that Photoshopping works both ways. I have seen Aish many-a-times post-delivery and while she was “big”, she was never as humungous as some of the media made her appear. Horizontal photo-stretching anyone?

7. And anyway, if after years and years of maintaining a gorgeous figure – which in all probability meant rigorous portion control and daily exercise sessions – she did let herself go for a while and chilled out a bit, I would say good for her!

Uh oh, and before this leads to another round of rumours, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is not bald. She is also not going bald. And neither is she planning on being bald. That was just a manner of speaking.

Now, if we could just keep her away from the all-fashion-sense-destroying disaster of Cannes for a couple of years, the world would be good again! Wouldn’t it?


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Presenting Beti B & mom Aishwarya (who remains a big hit with Brad Pitt!)

September 21, 2012 By 3 Comments

UPDATE: We finally have a full-on pic of Aradhya Bachchan. Disappointingly, after all that hullaballoo and conspiracy theories she looks just like any other human child. So, what was the big deal mommy and daddy?

Beti B, first photo, Aaradhya, Araadhya, Aradhya, Bachan, Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Aish, Abhishek Bachchan, Amitabh Bachchan, face revealed, Brad Pitt

I am almost too bored to write about this by now but after all the hullabaloo, we finally have authentic first photos of Aaradhya Bachchan – the child legend who is gracing the world as the firstborn of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan.

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This seriously has to be the most obsessively hidden away 10-month-old in history, with the parents and grandparents going to inane steps to shield her from the public eye. I can understand trying to maintain your privacy but this is just a baby dammit… so, don’t wave her up to the camera but don’t smother her in cloak-of-invisibility shields! In fact, all the secrecy has done nothing but stoke curiosity (which, maybe, was actually the point?) and fuel speculation about Beti B being born with a moustache/three noses/green skin/dad Abhishek’s looks… imagine all the plastic surgeon bills if the last was true! Maybe that’s why they were holding on to the first images, hoping some international glossy would pay prime dollar for them. However, it’s been almost a year and no such deal seems to be on the anvil… so here you go. Unveiling the child called Aaradhya Bachchan. Almost disappointingly, she looks just normal.

Beti B, first photo, Aaradhya, Araadhya, Aradhya, Bachan, Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Aish, Abhishek Bachchan, Amitabh Bachchan, face revealed, Brad Pitt

And hence ends another glorious chapter of craziness in the Rai-Bachchan saga. Let’s see what comes up next, especially in the wake of Brad Pitt saying that he would love to work with Aishwarya, who incidentally is looking pretty slim and glow-y in these pix. Is this the beginning of the end of the hibernation for the lady once known as the ‘Most Beautiful Woman in the World’?

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First look: Beti B with mom Aishwarya Rai Bachchan

May 31, 2012 By 6 Comments

Cannes 2012 might be over but it’s ghosts continue to linger. Hindustan Times apparently paid Rs. 25,000 (approximately $450) for each of these (and similar) photos of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s six-month-old baby, as mom and daughter touched down at the Nice Côte d’Azur airport to start the journey down the red carpet (and we all know how that went!).

While you can’t see even a tiny inch of Beti B’s face, to me the pix are worth it to see the ridiculously hilarious lengths that Aish would go to prevent a photo of her baby from emerging anywhere. Why? What’s the point? Seriously? Any guesses because I am truly befuddled by this strange aversion to the camera from people who have actually chosen to live in the public eye.

While I can understand that everyone wants privacy – even our celebs – isn’t this a tad extreme? What will happen if someone does get a glimpse of Beti B? Besides the fact that all the whipped-up curiosity will be satisfied and everyone will stop running after mom and baby and dad and granddad? Or, maybe, that is the point ;)

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Aishwarya Rai’s fall from grace

May 4, 2012 By 10 Comments

Aishwarya Rai – till recently acknowledged as one of the most beautiful women in the world – has had an unfortunate (and unfair) fall from grace. Much as I love to air my views against her often absent sense of style, possible plastic surgery and ice cold beauty, this is one time that even I have to stand up in her defence. Yes, Beyonce lost all that baby weight in a heartbeat and Victoria Beckham seemed to walk out of the labor room even thinner than before but is it really natural to expect a new mom to shed all that baby fat in just five months?

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Aishwarya Rai: Before & after the baby

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According to all doctors that I spoke to about this, you should be exercising moderately and eating about 300 more calories per day while pregnant, thereby putting on between 15-18 kilograms over nine months. Of course, add to this the copious amounts of ghee (clarified butter) and whole milk that we Indian women are supposed to consume almost ritualistically during this period (it’s supposed to keep the baby healthy and ensure an easy labor), one can see where Aish would start off with having more flab than Hollywood celebs anyway.

Post-delivery, the subtraction of a 3-4 kg baby, about half a kg or so of placenta and another couple of kilograms of blood and amniotic fluid leaves most new moms about 5-6 kg lighter in a couple of weeks. Another couple of weeks and you will lose about 2-3 kg of water weight. And then what?

All “normal” (by which I mean non-celeb-specialist) doctors strictly advice new mothers against dieting for the first two months post-delivery to help their bodies recover and establish a good flow of milk. As for exercise, you can usually begin only 4-6 weeks after the delivery in the case of a vaginal birth and  6-8 weeks after a cesarean.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has just delivered a baby and like any other woman she would definitely take time to put off that weight. She is a super celebrity and I think she is doing a commendable job by showing her real side to the media. Earlier, she was criticised for being unreal and plastic: Designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee

Add to this the normal stresses and vagrancies of motherhood – exhaustion, fatigue, time constraints, mood swings etc etc etc – and you can imagine that bouncing back immediately is totally unrealistic. According to medical science, you shouldn’t even be aiming for more than half a kg per week as anything else would put both mother and child at risk. Plus, according to Indian medical knowledge – which has definitely stood the test of time – if a woman does not take proper rest and adequate nutrition at this stage, she is setting herself up for back problems, chronic weakness and a myriad other diseases for the rest of her life. Still sounds worth it to get rake-thin in a couple of months?

To me, it frankly sounds disgusting how most of the world adores a pregnant celebrity only to put her on weight watch as soon as the kid is born. Weighed down milk-filled breasts must appear perky, the till recently swollen abdomen should go concave and any stretch marks or skin worries should be immediately erased… it’s as if we still believe that a baby drops from the sky, from the stork, from anywhere but that buff, toned body. It almost makes me hope that Aishwarya Rai stays fat for a while – if only as a reality check for the non-celebrity woman, who is expected to lose the pregnancy weight in a flash, especially without an in-house chef and a personal trainer!

What do you think?

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Is This Really Aishwarya Rai?

February 15, 2012 By 8 Comments

Long known as the very icon of Indian beauty (though I personally feel differently), Aishwarya Rai – like most of us – has had a long (and sometimes arduous) journey of evolution in matter of style and looks. However, this photo, which has recently started doing the rounds, leaves me stumped. Is this really Aishwarya Rai in her college days? Could someone actually change so much? Could those rumours of plastic surgery actually be true? Can hairstylists, makeup artists and personal stylists make so much of a difference? In short, can beauty and gorgeousness be “acquired”? Take a look and tell me what you think:

Is this the same person…

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Is the woman in red really Aishwarya Rai?

…as this one?

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Aishwarya Rai in Devdas

Personally, I hope it is her in the red sari – because it gives the rest of us hope that ugly ducklings can really metamorphosise into swans with help and hard work :)

Write in, I want to hear your views!

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The Evolution of Aishwarya Rai

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