Ash ain’t giving up yet

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan might be all of 35 and is losing out on endorsement deals and positions to the likes of Kareena Kapoor and plastic actress gone lucky, Katrina Kaif, but she still is going strong in more ways that one.

Not just Ash, her contemporaries like Sushmita Sen, Rani Mukerji, Preity Zinta and Kajol too have been replaced by the likes of Kat, Bebo, Deepika Padukone, even Sonam Kapoor and Genelia D’Souza.

But Ash is doing better than her contemporaries. She may not be the face of Coca-Cola and Nakshatra diamond jewellery in India, but she still has successful and long-standing international endorsements.

She has completed nearly a decade of endorsing Swiss luxury watch brand Longines, international soap Lux and is the brand ambassador of global haircare brand L'Oreal since 2003.

And unlike Shilpa Shetty and Preity Zinta who have moved on to businesses like IPL with rich boyfriends, Ash still has some good movies like Maniratnam’s ‘Raavan’, Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s next with Hrithik Roshan, Vipul Shah’s ‘Action Replay’ with Akshay Kumar and a movie with Excel entertainment, probably one with Rajiv Menon as well. Hollywood top star Will Smith is still willing to work with her.

That very well makes clear the fact that the dame is here to stay put in the glitzy world of showbiz for a few more years.

The Kats, Bebos and Dipsys of the world be damned.

--SAMPURN