Indian film star mulls first screen kiss

LOS ANGELES - Aishwarya Rai, one of the top stars of India's prim film industry, says in a television interview to be aired on Sunday she won't rule out kissing in films when she moves from "Bollywood" to Hollywood -- although she says it is certain to create a minor scandal among her fans.

In an interview on CBS' "60 Minutes," Rai, recently named by a British magazine as the world's most beautiful woman, danced around the subject of screen sex, which is banned in India and many other countries where her films play.

"We'll cross the bridge when we reach it," she said, adding: "We'll work on the story, work on the scene. I'll work on the part and -- and let's see.

Rai, 31, stars in the new British film "Bride and Prejudice," an adaptation of Jane Austen's classic tale, and is considering several projects that will bring her to Hollywood.

She is virtually unknown in the United States even though fans have created more than 17,000 websites devoted to her and her beauty compared to Grace Kelly, Ingrid Bergman and Elizabeth Taylor.

She has never kissed on screen -- not even after 24 films, because kissing is taboo in the Indian cinema. Rai said if she did kiss someone on screen in a Hollywood movie, it would create a minor scandal among her fan.

"It would definitely be a topic of discussion. ... They're going to enjoy (talking about it). ... In our society, you don't really see people around the street corner kissing or being extremely or overtly physically demonstrative," she said.

- REUTERS