[Natee471]

Most of these women are gorgeous and yes, they ARE 'white', light-complected Indians. I wonder if being light-complected is an advantage for them in their industry/culture. I know in Latin America, if you have blue/green eyes and light skin, you get more attention than if you were a indigenous looking hispanic actress. The more European you look, the more appealing it is. You should see some of these Mexican novelas--the 'hot' women, the main stars look more Spanish than Mexican indian (Aztec, Mayan, etc...).

Aishwarya Rai's features are clearly in the minority and yet for all the millions of Indian women, this minority one represents the beauty of the country.

If one looks at the Bombay Times, Bollywood films, or Indian models, he will notice that the paragon of beauty is that of a light-skinned person with aquiline features. Indian movie stars do not resemble the men and women on the streets of Bombay or other Indian cities. India's movie stars look like light-skinned Iranians, Turks, or Spaniards who speak Hindi. How many Indians have complexions like Preity Zinta or Hrithik Roshan? How many Indians have green eyes like Aishwarya Rai? Probably less than 0.5% of Indians.

I've had a friend who has lived in India for 10 years and many of the women there live and breath bleaching cremes. If someone is even tannish... My goodness they are considered ugly and unattractive and will do anything at all to try to lighten their skin. The fairer ones are put on such a pedestal. They truly worship "white" and when looking for suitable mates, the first thing they look at is the color of that person's skin. When a child is born, they are looking to see what color the child will be. From soaps, to lotions, to cremes, the whole damn epidemic is sad.

Here is a direct quote from an Indian actress:

Rimi Sen who plays Nirali confesses that she also felt that she was a boy in the company of Ajay, Tusshar, Sharman and Arshad. “I play a sweet and beautiful girl in the film. The best thing that I like about the film is that though it has four heroes, I am the only heroine. Rohit Shetty is amazing as a director. He can make even a black African look pretty“.

As well, There is no discounting that Aishwarya Rai is attractive... but many put her on a pedestal as the best, deemed her "The most beautiful woman in the world" and all I see is an above average Indian woman with blue eyes - nothing phenomenal, nothing so overwhelming earth shattering about this woman's look that I haven't seen a billion times.