Aishwarya: Mannequin or magic?

She is in Roland Joffe's The Invaders. She is in Gurinder Chadha's Bride And Prejudice. She has an offer to act opposite Pierce Brosnan in the next James Bond film.

Big money is being invested on Aishwarya Rai.

Will she deliver? In January, Rai's home co-production Dil Ka Rishta, costarring Arjun Rampal, released with the Bipasha Basu-John Abraham film, Jism. The latter film was a hit.

Cut to the reviews. Critics politely anointed her with descriptions like eye candy, gorgeous and stunning, but stopped short of commenting on her acting abilities.

The writing was on the wall: even the former Miss World could not salvage Dil Ka Rishta.

In 2002, her Paro in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Devdas, costarring Shah Rukh Khan and Madhuri Dixit, won her rave reviews both in India and abroad (Cannes).

Is it a case of the light-eyed actress reserving her best for Bhansali?

From her first Hindi film -- Rahul Rawail's Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya to Naresh Malhotra's Dil Ka Rishta, Rai does not seem to have any performance she can call her own in Hindi films, save Bhansali's Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, opposite Salman Khan, and Devdas, which fetched her popular film awards.

Indu Mirani, of the trade magazine Box Office, says, "She is not a naturally gifted actress. She is a director's actress. Before Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, she was so bad. I think Bhansali can really make her forget herself, forget who she is and perform. You can see the time and effort Bansali spent on her in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Devdas. Give her a good director and I feel she can deliver."

Veteran film critic Maithili Rao adds, "It is very rare for her to come out of her 'model' image. Even in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Devdas, I don't think she did anything much. What happens in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's films is that everything is in a heightened state -- the emotions, the ambience, the lighting, the drama, and the pitch -- that you feel Aishwarya Rai is acting. But she is not.

"More than an actress," continues Rao, "I think she is a model who is too conscious of her looks. Even in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, she just could not bring out the ecstasy of first love. In the second half, all she had to do was look morose when she is married to Ajay Devgan. I do not think emoting is one of her strong points. She finds it very difficult to convey strong and complex emotions. It shows. In [Subhash Ghai's] Taal [with Akshaye Khanna and Anil Kapoor], too, she came across more like a mannequin."

Film critic Deepa Gahlot agrees with Rao, "The only film I think she 'acted' in was Mansoor Khan's Josh [with Shah Rukh Khan and Chandrachur Singh]. In the rest, she just dresses up and looks pretty."

Many people who did not wish to be quoted agree: Rai is a great model who can set the ramp and screen on fire, but she has to go a long way before she can be called an actress. She just does not have the ability to reach out to her audience.

To them, she is still the light-eyed Miss World.

To look stunning in a film and have the most cynical film critic go wobbly-kneed is one thing and to carry off a strong role is another. Unless, of course, the director can work some magic.

Yash Chopra, who produced his son Aditya's Mohabbatein (Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Jimmy Shergill, Jugal Hansraj, Uday Chopra, Preeti Jhangiani, Kim Sharma, Shamita Shetty), in which she acted, says, "She acted very well in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam though one cannot deny Sanjay Leela Bhansali's contribution to her performance. Since I have not directed her, it is really difficult for me to comment on her acting abilities."

Filmmaker Raj Kanwar, who worked with Rai in Dhaai Akshar Prem Ke, costarring Abhishek Bachchan, maintains she is one of the finest actresses in the country: "I have worked with actresses from Sridevi to Aishwarya. I can confidently say she is one of the best we have. Apart from Bhansali's films, she acted very well in Taal. Even in my film, she gave a good performance. She knows how to understand a character. Besides, when films fail, it not right to blame or doubt her abilities as an actress."

Gurinder Chadha, who has cast Rai in Bride And Prejudice, considers her a skillful performer. "I thought she was great in her first film [Mani Ratnam's Iruvar with Mohanlal], and in the south Indian version of [Jane Austen's novel] Sense And Sensibility [Rajeev Menon's Kandukondain Kandukondain]. She has great performance skills and a lot of intelligence. With me and my style of working, I know she will give a blinding performance."

India News Feature Service