Aishwarya Rai Bachchan once graced David Letterman’s The Late Show, where the actor’s comments about living with her parents and her idea of independence attracted attention. Clips from the interaction often find their way back to social media.
In the conversation, Aishwarya shed light on the differences between Indian and American family cultures, particularly when it comes to young adults moving out of their parents’ homes.
During the interview, Aishwarya said, as reported by ETimes, “I wouldn’t understand why, but that’s probably because that’s the way of life there. Would that generally be so? Would that be like everybody has to or does move out? Is there like a social rule?”
Aishwarya explained that her career already meant spending considerable time away from her family.
The actor said, “By virtue of my job, I’m traveling out. 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.”
The conversation also shed light on the meaning of independence. When Letterman asked Aishwarya if she considered herself an independent woman, she agreed but made it clear that, in her view, independence did not require someone to leave their family home.
She said, “Yes, yes. And I don’t see any reason why moving away from your family is a statement of independence.”
Talking about Aishwarya’s career, she made her acting debut in Mani Ratnam’s Tamil film Iruvar and went on to establish herself as a prominent name in Indian cinema.