The problem with star gazing

The media has been full of images of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan at the Cannes Film Festival. Her fashion statement has been discussed, debated and critiqued threadbare for many years now – ten, at least, since this is her tenth year at the event. And while one person said she got it right, another killed the look with venom. Some people panned her green sari for her first red carpet walk, while others hated her peplum-style skirt on her latest parade a few days ago.

And her figure has been the subject of much speculation too, over the years – she is too fat, too thin, just right, probably pregnant and hiding it, ad infinitum. Her makeup, her hair, her jewels, her footwear, her escort, her behaviour, her giggle…it has been open season for anyone who wanted to take aim at the star and everything that she was made of. And she has never been given a chance to defend herself when the critics were especially vicious, and never been able to say thank you when they were laudatory.

After all, she is Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, with a voice that is only heard during interviews and photocalls, and in the movies she is part of, but never just a woman with a heart, a soul and, presumably, reportedly, a mind of her own.

Which leads to a much bigger story, one that goes beyond the beautiful Mrs Bachchan junior and covers almost anyone involved with the business of public existence. Any celebrity, any star, anyone who has a face or name that is known to a greater population than just friends and family, is not entitled to a private side…or so the media mandates. There is nothing that cannot be probed, no privacy that cannot be violated, no secrets that can be kept. And nothing that cannot be said, no matter how hurtful and invasive. A movie star, especially, has no personal existence, no veil over a life that is not for public consumption.

Yes, journalistic ethics or the morals of individuals in the newsgathering business may allow that vestige of being private and inviolate, but that is a thin line that is more often than not crossed without any qualms. The Western media, especially in the United States and Britain, is starting to accept that that line should become a wall, a feeling that set in perhaps when Princess Diana was killed in a tunnel in Paris after a chase with the paparazzi.

But that is, in itself, a matter of debate and discussion. For now, star image is what is in focus: Again, that much-reviled image of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan on the red carpet at Cannes comes to mind. She looks curvier than we know her to be. She has been described variously by fashion critics as 'healthy', 'substantial', and just plain 'fat'. None of which will do the delectable Ms Rai's feelings any good, since she has always been known as a beauty queen, one who ruled the fashion and beauty world for many years, with a certain grace and elegance. Now she is getting older, as all of us are, and still reigning, albeit sidling into a new position as a dowager rather than a debutant.

Perhaps one major reason for that is her shape, which is what this piece is about. When you are a star of the magnitude of Aishwarya, is it not almost mandatory for you to be as presentable as possible? If she is indeed pregnant, which is a matter of serious speculation all around, should she not show it off gracefully in clothing and demeanour tailored to suit that glorious state, baby bump in the foreground and shown off with pride? If she is just plain gaining weight, should she not disguise it better, instead of wearing clothes that outline every calorie unfortunately accumulated?

Speculation is the name of the media game, any which way. When Katie Holmes, wife of the megastar Tom Cruise, eats a little too much for lunch and shows off a little tummy bulge, the tabloids go crazy wondering if she is having another child. When Runa Laila, the singer with the voice that is so beloved in Bangladesh, gained a huge amount of weight after a long-ago visit to India when she was slim, svelte and sexy, people here wondered what was going on. When a public persona loses a huge amount of weight and looks thin, many ask if he or she is ill, perhaps even dying.

It is not a winner's game, this one, just one where the media makes fortunes and readers find instant gratification with sensational headlines and catchy captions. Along the way, what the star feels, how he or she reacts, why he or she is what he or she is, all that gets forgotten ignored if even noticed and often becomes food for more thought.

And all this leads back to the original thought behind this article: Should a star not be always and ever ready to face a critical public? That would be fodder for another opinion piece!

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Ramya Sarma is a Mumbai-based writer-editor.