Oprah, Ash and AB's baby!!

I just watched the Oprah episode where Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai were invited on a show about International celebrities. Aishwarya was her usual giggly self - mercifully a lot more toned down version of what we saw on 60 minutes a couple of years ago. Abhishek was poise personified.

Watching them together made me realize that he is not afraid to call BS on Ms. Rai's affected mannerisms which is what probably makes them tick. For instance while she giggled about his proposal being very "real" - he asked audibly "Real?". I respected the dude a little more in those couple of seconds. A guy who could easily be overshadowed by his dad's meteoric fame and his wife's global popularity (she is definitely much much more famous than he is) appeared to hold his own and then some on the Oprah show. Now for Ash, Ash fans brace yourselves. While she appears to have improved a lot with respect to her interview skills, she still has a long way to go. A simple question from the other International star showcased on the show, the Oprah of China, regarding when they would come visit China met with a long convoluted response which had little to do with the question itself. I wonder if Abhishek cringes internally every time his beautiful wife speaks. She appears to be very fake and very calculative with her responses - it's almost as if she does not answer the question straight from the heart - it's more like what does my audience want/expect to hear and how can I exceed those expectations... I think I like her a lot more when she keeps her mouth shut.

Overall though I thought the interview went well and they were able to represent India adequately - at least I, as an Indian, did not want to crawl into a hole as I've been want to do whenever I've watched Aishwarya on international TV (60 minutes, The David Letterman show anyone?) and for that I have to give kudos to Abhishek Bachchan. On behalf of avid celebrity watchers everywhere, I demand that the lady never be interviewed by herself anymore - gimme more of AB's baby on all her appearances.