Over the past few years, Aishwarya Rai has been under constant attack by the media and the internet for her wardrobe choices. She's also been body-shamed for not looking the way she used to. As if her annual Cannes Film Festival red carpet appearances weren't enough, she also got flak for her recent presence at the wedding festivities of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant. She attended the Shubh Vivah and Shubh Aashirwad ceremonies with her daughter Aaradhya Bachchan on Friday and Saturday respectively at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai. 

Journalist defends Aishwarya

Haroon Rashid, an Indian-origin BBC journalist, defended Aishwarya in a video he shared on his Instagram handle on Monday. He captioned the post, “This needed to be said… @aishwaryaraibachchan_arb is a Queen (bow down emoji)." He also added the hashtags – Aishwarya Rai and Ambani wedding. In the video, Haroon can be seen arguing why “we need to start giving Aishwarya Rai her flowers."

He claimed that despite getting flak constantly for her saratorial choices, hair and make-up, and even her body, she's only repeatedly proven that she's a “global superpower.” He quoted the example of how last year, at the launch of the Nita and Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre in Mumbai, renowned American model and TV personality Gigi Hadid shared a picture of her posing with Aishwarya. There was another instance at the Shubh Aashirwad ceremony of Anant and Radhika last week, when actor and reality TV star Kim Kardashian also shared a selfie with Aishwarya and hailed her as a “queen” on her Instagram Stories.

Haroon added that proves Aishwarya was the first actor to cross over, to put India on the international map, to be recognised by international celebrities who may not even speak the language and know much about Indian movies and other Indian celebrities. He echoed that Aishwarya is a queen and one can't deny her stardom. Bollywood celebrities like Bhumi Pednekar and Sonam Bajwa endorsed Haroon's stance. Bhumi commented the bow down emoji on his video, while Sonam wrote, “Thank you for saying no this. (red heart emoji).”

Aishwarya's international career

Aishwarya first made waves internationally when her 2002 film Devdas premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. She went on to star in international projects like Bride and Prejudice, The Mistress of Spices, Provoked, The Last Legion, and The Pink Panther 2. She was last seen in Mani Ratnam's Tamil period drama Ponniyin Selvan: II.

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