The most beautiful woman in the world?

Flukey

A very subjective question, but anyway...

http://wwwimage.cbsnews.com/images/2004/12/29/image663855x.jpg

Click above to see her.
(Note- when you click on the link you will need to remove the . before www which will be inserted again.)

(CBS) Who is the most beautiful woman in the world? Half a century ago, Hollywood would have presented her to us. Grace Kelly, Ingrid Bergman or perhaps Elizabeth Taylor.
But today? Correspondent Bob Simon reports the woman who currently holds the title, at least according to thousands of Web sites, Internet polls and even Julia Roberts, is someone you've probably never heard of.

Her name is Aishwarya Rai, and she is an actress living and working in Bombay, India. The reigning queen of Indian cinema, and also a classically trained dancer, Rai has starred in 24 films over the last seven years.

That may seem like a lot of movies, but Bollywood, India’s film capital, is famous for churning out more movies a year than Hollywood. Three new films are produced and distributed worldwide every day, attracting a global audience of 5 billion people. That’s twice the reach of Hollywood.

The reason Bollywood films have such universal appeal is because they’re squeaky-clean. There are no sex scenes, not even kissing. Every time you think someone’s going to do it, they'll burst into song instead.

"I'd assume that's really a reflection of our society," Rai says, when asked to explain the films' modesty. "Of course people kiss and of course people have a very healthy love life. This is the land of the Kama Sutra. But nevertheless, in our society you don't really see people around the street corner kissing or being extremely, overtly, physically demonstrative publicly. They do it privately but not publicly."

Unlike some of her Hollywood counterparts, Rai's very much like the women she portrays: wholesome, dutiful and deeply religious. So much so, she insisted we visit her favorite temple for this interview. It’s more than 200 years old and every week more than 100,000 people come from all over India to make offerings and pray to Lord Ganesh, the half-elephant/half-man Hindu god of happiness.

At the temple, Rai started attracting more worshippers than Lord Ganesh.

She says being treated as sort of a goddess in this way, "makes me feel guilty. I'll be very honest. When there's a distraction at the place of worship I kinda get a bit guilty. And I kind of say, 'Lord, forgive me. This isn't intended.'"

Despite the attention, Rai says she doesn’t think much about the way she looks.

"I am really OK with the way I look, It's fine," she says. "All this is transient. I mean, it's really, you know, it changes with time, and that's the external."

Rai never dreamt of being an actress. She grew up in a strict middle-class home, the daughter of a merchant marine and a writer. She was an "A" student on track to becoming an architect, until the “Miss World” pageant came along. She entered because, she says, she wanted to change the way the world sees India.

Rai explains that, "for me, it went beyond being a beauty queen. For me, it was about being the 20-year-old girl from India on international platform and a lot of people actually would assume that I wasn't even educated in India because of the way I'd speak. And they'd be like, 'Have you studied in India? Do you actually speak English out there?' and, I was like, 'This is so interesting that so many people know so little about my country.' and this is exactly what I wanted to do when I set out on this little mission in my head."

At age 21, Rai became Miss World. It didn’t take long after that for her to become the brightest star in Bollywood. Now 30, she’s still a traditional Indian girl - which, by the way, means she still lives with her parents.

"By virtue of my job, I’m traveling," she explains. "You get to spend very little time with your family. We hardly get to meet each other except on the one odd day we really get to spend time, have dinner together. And that's rare, and we cherish it."

Still, Rai considers herself an independent woman, and she doesn’t have anything to prove. She’s an astute businesswoman who negotiates her own contracts, including endorsements for L’Oreal, Coca-Cola and DeBeers diamonds.

She is not only one of the wealthiest women in India, but Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people on the planet. When she’s seen in new clothes, it invariably sparks a new fashion trend. Choosing what to wear, she says, is not so much about caring as it is, "just about being open to life and trying different things out."

Right now for Rai, trying different things means going to Hollywood. She’s already got several films lined up. Her first is from the director of "Bend it Like Beckham." It's called "Bride and Prejudice," and it’s a very proper film. But eventually, in Hollywood, India’s “good girl” is bound to run up against something of a cultural hurdle: kissing men on the big screen.

"We'll cross the bridge when we reach it," Rai says. "But yeah. We - let's see. We'll work on the story, work on the scene. I'll work on the part and, and let's see."

Would an onscreen kiss create a scandal for Rai back in India? "It would definitely be a topic of discussion," she says. "They're gonna enjoy it."

Sure, there are people in India who resent sharing their star with America. But, Rai notes, "then again there are so many Indians who have expressed so much of pride. They look at this as such a positive possibility. Because there really hasn't been that strong a representation of the Indian in Hollywood."

With Rai in the vanguard of an Indian invasion, that could change. Is Hollywood ready?

"Someone said to me this week that you are a Greek goddess with the soul of an Indian. What is the finest complement you have ever received? The one that touched you the most," Simon asks Rai.

"Well, when people call me real. I love it. And it has a lot of meaning," says Rai. "It means a lot to me and it's touching. People would see that and acknowledge it."

And one last question -- one that every man watching is going to want to know. Does she have a steady boyfriend?

"That's for the autobiography," says Rai, laughing.

simu

It's an unanswerable question. There are many beautiful women but no one stands out exceptionally from the rest. Anyone who was really that unusual looking would probably appear freakish and repulsive to humans.

BolBill

She was in a Hollywood movie recently, remember seeing her on the side of a bus - shes goooooorrgeous (as Max might say)

fade2black

Crazy question. My guess is the most beautiful woman in the world has never, or never will be in the movies. She probably lives in Barcelona though.

galactus

fade2black wrote:

Crazy question. My guess is the most beautiful woman in the world has never, or never will be in the movies. She probably lives in Barcelona though.

...and has one eyebrow.

fade2black

galactus wrote:

...and has one eyebrow.

And an atitude problem.

Blisterman

Well, I think the most perfect woman in the world wouldnt actually be that hot. She wouldn't have any character.

Tha Gopher

Link aint workin for me,but anyway

Most beautiful famous woman is prolly Keira Knightley,truly is absoloutely stunning. Know a bird who looks quite like her-unfortunately shes a bit of a bollix. Beyonce second best famous-looker. And the scobe from Girls Aloud who was in court is cute as hell,even tho she is an absoloute skanger(knocking about with Kieron Dyer isnt she? Lordy,the scobtisicity of any kids they might hav would be through the roof lol) Much of the rest in pop music these days,yid find nicer round the back of Dunnes havin a smoke. Like,honestly,Britney Spears,shes nice,but shes not draw droppingly stunning is she? Id say back in school you had 2 or 3 better lookin in your class. Ive been with MUCH better,and Im rough as hell.

P.S- A survey revealed that 1% of Irish women describe themselves as beautiful recently. Another survey probably revealed that 100% of these are big headed arrogant assholes. Fair enough,as a man,Id probably class 1% of birds as "beautiful",the rest falling into categories such as "RIDE!" "nice" "not bad" "if the telly was broke" and "aw jaysus". I can think of 3 birds i personally know who id class in the top 1%-the snobby Keira lookalike i mentioned,a semi-ex,and someone else i know well but unfortunately is spoken for. But describin yourself as beautiful? Theyre like female Zap Brannigans

seamus

I've seen more attractive than her.

While it's simple enough to indentify someone who's "attractive", finding a universal "Most gorgeous" male or female will never happen because there are always subtleties between what people find more attractive.
I for example, acknowledge that the above girl is attractive, but I can say, hand on heart, that I would be more attracted to my gf.

joejoem

Angelina Jolie hands down

littlejay

i like hispanic women
apart from my wife of course

aidan_walsh

littlejay wrote:

i like hispanic women
apart from my wife of course

You don't like your wife?

Iago

seamus wrote:

I've seen more attractive than her.

While it's simple enough to indentify someone who's "attractive", finding a universal "Most gorgeous" male or female will never happen because there are always subtleties between what people find more attractive.
I for example, acknowledge that the above girl is attractive, but I can say, hand on heart, that I would be more attracted to my gf.

Boards user is she

seamus

Iago wrote:

Boards user is she

Heh, no actually, and she'll never see this, I'm just being honest

NotMe

The most beautiful woman in the world probably wouldn't need to wear that much make-up tbh.

impr0v

NotMe wrote:

The most beautiful woman in the world probably wouldn't need to wear that much make-up tbh.

If you had a lucrative contract to promote it, you'd wear it too, whether you needed it or not.

littlejay

there was this web site showing fotos of beautyfull women with and without make up.fcukn hell ya should of seen the state of britney. ahhh in rag order lol.
ill have to search for the url again.

Miles

I think it is less the fact that she is beautiful women and more that she is doing a film with Michael Douglas.

CBS news is less news and more a servant for the entertainment industry. They are creating a buzz and familiarity for a future film release.

They are just getting crafty at it. Make it sound like news and get the public to take an interest in the hype.

Lump

URL Didn't work for me so I can't comment

John

Ro: maaan!

Isn't there a forum for this kind of thing?

the evil belly

cbsnews.com/images/2004/12/29/image663855x.jpg

copy and paste and that should work

Nuttzz

http://www.aishwarya-rai.com/

ven0m

She's HOT - but in fairness, she hasn't a patch on my recent ex. My ex never had to wear makeup & she was hot!!!!!!!


::: ven0mous :::

eirebhoy

Here's an interview with here thanks to Yahoo's video search (which I seem to be promoting today ):
http://rds.yahoo.com/S=96781308/K=%22Aishwarya+Rai%22/v=2/SID=w/l=VDP/SIG=12khvj8j2/EXP=1106933113/*-http%3A//www.bollyvista.com/bollyvistaexclusive/ram/aishwarya7.ram

jester77

It's all down to personal taste... ok, she looks good, but doesn't do it for me. But Jessica Alba.... omg.... she very much does...

stagolee

joejoem wrote:

Angelina Jolie hands down

heck even with her hands up she aint bad "badoom tshh"

sorry...

ive sunk to a new low

Pet

I would be in the Angelina Jolie camp as well. She has amazing bone structure, and a fantastic body too.

popinfresh

What about that porn-star Aria Giovari (or somthin like that). Cant really post a link to her pic..

Civilian_Target

Amazing bone structure?! Only a woman would look for that

*adele*

but who knows if the most beautiful girl cud never be livin as a slave somewhere?i dont think any famous woman cud be called most beautiful im sure if u saw any of them without make-up ud run a mile...

fragile

Milla Jovovich, although I havn't seen all the women in the world (yet!), but so far it would have to be Milla

Shrimp

"but who knows if the most beautiful girl cud never be livin as a slave somewhere?"

paraphrase please?


In my opinion there's quiet a few beauties.. enjoy..

http://usuarios.lycos.es/paraisohuries/Tiffany%203.jpg

http://www.camp911.com/viewimage.php?id=4699.jpg

pickarooney

Breast implants automatically rule you out of any MBWITW compo.

Shrimp

i think there all natural

aidan_walsh

Shrimp wrote:

"but who knows if the most beautiful girl cud never be livin as a slave somewhere?"

paraphrase please?


In my opinion there's quiet a few beauties.. enjoy..

http://usuarios.lycos.es/paraisohuries/Tiffany%203.jpg

http://www.camp911.com/viewimage.php?id=4699.jpg

pickarooney

Shrimp wrote:

i think there all natural

Sorry to shatter your illusions, but you think wrong.

simu

Shrimp wrote:

"but who knows if the most beautiful girl cud never be livin as a slave somewhere?"

paraphrase please?


In my opinion there's quiet a few beauties.. enjoy..

http://usuarios.lycos.es/paraisohuries/Tiffany%203.jpg

http://www.camp911.com/viewimage.php?id=4699.jpg

Having orange skin and a weird mole is beautiful???

*adele*

gods sake shrimp u cud only expect that from u!lots of girls cud look like her if the had 3 tonnes of make-up 2 waste!i have one more thing 2 say :"have u been tangoed?"

Gordon

simu wrote:

Having orange skin and a weird mole is beautiful???

Generally yes, unless the mole is wearing a cravat, that's a bit too weird.

*adele*

he he he depends on who theyre on she is kinda pretty i have 2 admit but the mole is unsettling

40crush41

i watched that interview with her
yea, she is beautiful: shes got big eyes and a beautiful smile
shes seems nice too, but ive never met her so what do i know?
coolest thing about her is that she can eat all that indian food and still look like that, stink! (yea, there was a part of the interview where they went out for dinner and she kept on ordering food.)

kinkstr

kiera knightley would get my vote

NotMe

kinkstr wrote:

kiera knightley would get my vote

*google*
oh yes

Shrimp

I recognise that she is wearing loads of make up.. but her figure, face, smile.. etc. are great..

Why do you crtisize?

simu

Shrimp wrote:

I recognise that she is wearing loads of make up.. but her figure, face, smile.. etc. are great..

Why do you crtisize?

She's nice looking but hardly earth-shattering.

seamus

simu wrote:

She's nice looking but hardly earth-shattering.

Proving my point exactly

fragile

Shrimp wrote:

I recognise that she is wearing loads of make up.. but her figure, face, smile.. etc. are great..

Why do you crtisize?

Look at the thread title, "The most beautiful woman in the world?", thats setting the stakes pretty high, you have to expect some criticism no matter what your opinion is..

And I still think Milla Jovovich is the clear winner

Shrimp

No way.. milla is like too butch.. or something..

banquo

lads, it's jennifer love hewitt.





so we can stop debating now.

rabbitinlights

Jessica Alba

God Damm

Spunog UIE

orginal pic^ stupid images not turned on, on afterhours?