By Jilawatan

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is often criticized for her sartorial sense, giggles and fluctuating weight. She sets the record straight. Over to the gorgeous lady:

“These are small things. Fortunately, because of my family and upbringing, I have a strong support system so these things do not matter in the larger picture. In terms of what is happening such as productive work and moving forward in my journey, it does not matter. Fame is directly related to the kind of support and appreciation you have from your audience. The love and support I have from my audience is so immense and huge that this percentage of negativity is so minimal. So it loses its importance in my life,” she says wisely.

“Having said that, I know this sounds very philosophical and strong, but I am human too. Initially, it did hurt me a lot more and today it does affect me a little. I am very sensitive and creatives and actors are just like that. You have people criticizing you when you have worked to do your best and receive appreciation. That is what entertainers do.

So negativity and criticism hurts me but I have strengthened my ability to look at things as I just said. This ability to recognize the positivity has come with time and experience. The love is so much more,” she adds.

About her fashion critics, she opines, “Regarding criticism about small things such as dresses, frankly, this may sound presumptuous coming from me but people, including journalists and professionals, say that it has become fashionable to criticize me so that the statement-makers get noticed. It does not make sense to me because I am not going to my wardrobe and pulling out a dress because I have no time for that because I am running about. I am being dressed by professionals who are extremely experienced and talented. They are designers and stylists. I do not get affected by this as most people do.

I thought it was ten years at Cannes but the media reminded me that it was nine years. It is silly what people say here but out there, it is an international platform and you are dressing up for the international platform and that is a wonderful feeling. (Laughs). The praise is immense. To be called ‘The Princess of Cannes’ by their daily magazine called Gala is such a wonderful feeling because you are being celebrated. I had no idea what people were saying here. Then Paa said that people here have already started (criticizing my clothes) and he also told me to ignore because it is silly. Then people over here said that I finally wore a saree but they have to know that I was doing that for an Indian film. Each year I cannot return and explain that I am being asked to maintain a dress code at Cannes. I cannot repeat myself for nine years. We should behave like grown-ups and mature people. It is exhausting to answer such questions because it is water off a duck’s back and does not touch me.”