February 04, 2004
A Bond Film I'd See
The movie industry is awash with rumors that Bollywood's #1 actressAishwarya Rai has agreed to appear in the next James Bond film, although her agent and her management company both deny the rumor. Ash would be the first Indian actress to appear in a Bond film, and I'm convinced she'll be the most beautiful, kick-ass one of all time. There's just one catch, she has to have a body double for the sex scene with 007. After all, she's a good Indian girl. Real nudity or not, I'm going to see the new Bond if she's in it. Go Ash!
I wonder how nudity she'd be allowed to get away with and still be a "good Indian girl". Bond movies don't usually feature nipples or anything, but it might still taint her reputation. Indira Varma is also gorgeous, but seems to have had trouble finding work following "Kama Sutra", a movie which probably firmly established her as a "bad Indian girl". Interestingly enough, Varma will be starring along with Aishwarya Rai, in the Jane Austen-goes-to-Bollywood film "Bride and Prejudice".
Posted by: sean at February 5, 2004 12:48 PMI couldn't find any good pics of that Varma girl, but I remember thinking she was pretty when I saw Kama Sutra. I think it did establish her as a bad indian girl b/c the religious majority of India really resents Indian women being depicted as overtly sexual or when they expose too much skin... or when they play lesbians. Getting blackballed in Bollywood seems too easy for a nation that is supposedly democratic and free, so it's not surprising that most (successful) Indian films are the stereotypical Bollywood ones that portray women as pious, chaste, devoted daughters/wives/sisters/mothers. Too bad there's no equal standard for men in the society, who seem to be able to cheat on their wives, drive drunk and beat people up in the streets with little or no punishment or condemnation.
Posted by: Kristina at February 6, 2004 09:01 AM