Just months ago did the whole world go gaga over Priyanka Chopra’s ‘unrealistic’ armpits in a photo that appeared on a magazine cover. The crease-free armpit caught the eye of many, forcing the actor to finally respond by tweeting a no-filter photograph of her armpits. And now, the flawless photographs of the ravishing Aishwarya Rai Bachchan remind us of the ‘armpit gate’.
As part of the latest photoshoot for L'Oréal advertisement, ahead of her customary Cannes appearance, two photographs of the 43-year-old actress have been released. The actor poses for photographer Prasad Naik in a baby pink dress for one photo and a shimmery grey gown for another. Though she looks gorgeous in the first photograph, one can’t help but notice the plastic look on her face — more like a frozen painting — on the second one. Sporting an open hair, light make-up and plum pink lipstick, she resembled the Kardashians to an extent, felt many, whereas some felt she looked ‘scary’. Why is the otherwise stunning actor Photoshopped to ‘perfection’ — if that’s what they call this? Why are natural looks being killed as part of marketing?
Celebrity photographers are of the opinion that airbrushing is just standard procedure. “I think it’s just a natural progression. Though there is a trend to keep pictures natural, there is also a desire among people to look flawless and perfect, which is capitalised by market. You wouldn’t want to see a face with too many pimples on a magazine, right? Earlier, we used to overexpose photographs to make the faces look flawless. Now, we can manage to achieve it using Photoshop. So it’s all about marketing,” says ace photographer Subi Samuel. Fashion photographer Dabboo Ratnani, too, agrees with him, but feels that ads shouldn’t go overboard with touch-ups.
Aishwarya Rai
“Airbrushing is a requirement these days. All photos need to be Photoshopped. Again it’s up to the photographer to decide how far you want to go. I usually keep my touch-ups very minimal and real. But I feel you shouldn’t overdo it. Airbrushing according to the needs of the image without making it appear artificial would be fine,” feels Ratnani.
Whatever be the case, we feel it’s high time our actors follow the Kate Winslet route — the Oscar-winning actress has a no-Photoshop clause in her contract with L'Oréal. In her own words, “I’d rather be the woman they’re saying ‘She’s looking older’ about than ‘She’s looking stoned’.”
