Did Aishwarya Rai just re-debut her maiden name? Missing ‘Bachchan’ tag at Global Women’s Forum Dubai 2024 suggests so
We know how it looks but logically speaking, the jury is still out on this one. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (?) is without a doubt a top-ranking name in the l of Indian global icons. Not just her beauty and craft, but her humanitarian pursuits are also what keeps her legacy in the public eye thriving. Part of this then, was her appearance at the Global Women’s Forum Dubai 2024 last night, where she addressed the starry-eyed gathering of women on the platform’s consent efforts in using diversity to effect empowerment and equality. Did Aishwarya Rai just re-debut her maiden name?: Missing ‘Bachchan’ tag at Dubai event sends internet into emergency speculation(Photos: X) Though Aishwarya delivered an impactful piece, her words appear to have entirely drowned out in the face of what was displayed on the screen behind her — or at least the public reactions to it make it seem so. As Aishwarya was introduced and she walked on stage, the screen behind her credited her as an ‘international star’ — and here’s the cincher — just ‘Aishwarya Rai’. Aishwarya was always Aishwarya Rai. Be it her successful pageantry run ending in the 1994 Miss World victory or the most successful chunk of her acting career — much of her favour with the audience was achieved on the steam of her maiden name. It was only much later, in 2007, that her marriage to Abhishek Bachchan made her Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, an addition she has proudly made use of since. So seeing it just ‘gone’, that too on such a massive global platform, not to mention amid the raucous rumours of divorce, has understandably been gauged as a statement in itself. So was this a big maiden name re-debut? This is what the internet is saying. They’re all for it! For those who do believe that this was actually a re-debut, comments congratulating Aishwarya read: “Queen is back to business”, “She looks gorgeous. She looks free somehow”, “She was and will always be THE Aishwarya Rai for the world”, “SHE IS FINALLY FREE” and “She kind of looks happy here and it’s almost like so much weight has been removed from her heart and own self”. Some comments also expressed how never has ‘Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’ been a bigger brand than ‘Aishwarya Rai”: “to me she was always Aishwarya Rai and ‘Bachchan’ was something I had to mentally add on. Just like Kim K was always Kim K and Angelina was always Angelina Jolie. They built their identity as such and that is honestly how I remember them always”. In the same breath, some comments took the ‘what’s in a name route’: “She was always THE Aishwarya Rai to me. Bachchan who?” and “What good is a name when the husband is disrespectful? She’s better off. Good for her”. On a lighter note, one comment quipped: “Meanwhile the intern who skipped her surname cause there wasn’t enough space is shitting bricks right now”. Adding reason to the already speculative thread of comments, one internet user shared: “Why do I think it was not intended? Maybe the organizers did not care about this detail. She is known around the world as Miss World Aishwarya Rai more than as an actress or Bachchan Bahu”. Some comments also rightly pointed out how Aishwarya has not made any changes to her Instagram handle, still carrying the Bachchan name: “It’s still there on her IG? I think it would really set things straight once she removes it from IG”. Well Bachchan or no Bachchan, one of the comments read how “that face can still cause wars”, and to that we absolutely agree.