Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai are getting married today.
You may be asking yourselves, “who are these people and why do I care?” Fair enough, they’re not Greek and have nothing to do with Greece, but Ab and Ash are the Indian equivalent of Pitt and Jolie, thus representing the union of two of the richest, most recognizable families in India.
Rai is 33, the daughter of a highly educated family from Mangalore in south India. Her titles include Miss World 1994, Most Beautiful Face in the World, Time’s 100 Most Influential People, highest paid actress in India 2006, Most Attractive Woman 2004 by Hello magazine, 100 Most Beautiful People by People magazine, and the first Indian actress to be immortalized in wax and sit on the Cannes Film Festival jury (wearing a sari, no less). She also appeared on Oprah and David Letterman, has a tulip named after her in the Netherlands, acted in more than 40 films since 1997, and is the face of Pepsi and L’Oreal among others.
Bachchan is 31 and the son of famous film stars Amitabh ‘Big B’ (the most recognizable face in India, despite or because of his bad toupee) and Jaya Bachchan (now a politician) from Mumbai, and grandson of famous poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan. Abandoning his business studies in the USA to become an actor with his father’s blessing in 2000, he appears with his father in American Express commercials and has approximately 40 films to his name but with limited success until recently.
What makes this interesting is she is 33, two years his senior and marrying for the first time in a country where most women marry before they’re 20 or 25. Rai is also much more established and successful than her soon-to-be husband, who only rose to prominence in 2004. So why him?
The thing is, Rai is not just a pretty face. She speaks 4 languages, was training to be an architect before winning Miss World, is not fond of jewelry and thinks she’s “a normal woman with normal concerns.” She’s also had her share of problems finding a suitable husband, ending her two previous engagements to famous actors Salman Khan and Vivek Oberoi because of physical abuse and using her for self-promotion, respectively.
When you look at eligible bachelors with a pedigree in the film industry, is there anyone better than Bachchan to match her prestige? Even as Ab’s sister “warms” to Ash, his popular dad the “Big B” considers this a good match, not only being protective and supportive of the couple now, but also likely to be instrumental in making sure this merging of two film dynasties endures.
I myself think Ab always looks homeless and angry, and my fiance calls him the “ugly one from Dhoom 2.” (Note: The “hot one” is married with one child and occasionally makes racist remarks, which in my opinion makes him a lot less “hot.”)
