What comes to your mind when you hear the name, Barbara Mori? That she is hot. And that she is Hrithik Roshan's girl in Kites. Surely there's more to this actress than just oomph. Let's find out.
RootsThirty-two-year-old Barbara's full name is Barbara Mori Ochoa. Her roots make her truly belong to the 'exotic' category. She was born on February 2, 1978 in Uruguay, and her Japanese roots come from her father's side. Her mother is Mexican. Her parents, Yuyi Mori and Rosario Ochoa, divorced when she was barely three. Barbara spent her childhood in Mexico and Uruguay. Mexican actor, singer and producer Sergio Mayer and Barbara have a son in his pre-teens.
How did Barbara enter showbiz?
She was a 14-year-old waitress when fashion designer Marcos Toledo discovered her mesmerising beauty. Barbara went on to model, and act in Mexican telenovelas and soaps where she became popular. She later studied acting at the Center for Acting Studies. She also won the Best New Actress award for Mirada de Mujer among others.
Bollywood break
Directors Rakesh Roshan and Anurag Basu were sure they wanted to look for an actress fluent in Spanish and who did not know either Hindi or English for Kites. So, Rakesh met some artistes in Hollywood, but later decided to take a Spanish actress on his friend's recommendation. On seeing his first Spanish film which incidentally had Barbara in it, he instantly liked her and got Anurag's approval as well. Needless to say, Hrithik Roshan loved her, too. Rakesh, Anurag and Barbara met in Los Angeles for a narration and decided to work together.
Kissing Controversy
Like all films in B'wood, the Hrithik-Barbara hot scenes in Kites generated a lot of buzz, and led to rumours of a torrid affair between the two. So much so that, apparently Hrithik's wife Sussane and his father and filmmaker Rakesh Roshan took up the matter with the actor. Hrithik and Sussane later kissed in public to show their love for each other. But in hindsight, it all seems like part of the promotional strategy for the film. Now Barbara claims to talk to Sussane everyday on the phone as a friend. The two women in Hrithik's life also posed together for pictures at the Kites premiere in New York. Of course, Sussane was standing in between the two.
Bold and beautiful
When Rakesh and Anurag met Barbara in LA, they were taken aback as she was almost bald. She had shaved her head for her film Cosas Insignificantes where she played mother to a cancer-stricken son (and going bald was her way of showing love and support towards the child). But the actress promised that her hair would grow soon enough to start shooting for Kites.
Cancer survivor
Barbara did not just play mother to a cancer patient; she was a struck by the disease herself which was fortunately diagnosed in its early stages. Director Anurag Basu and Barbara Mori are both cancer survivors, and bonded over that big time on the sets of Kites. And just like actress Lisa Ray shared her struggle against the dreaded disease on her blog, Barbara has shared hers in Namrata Singh Gujral's docu-drama titled 1 a Minute, to release in 2010. In fact, Lisa Ray also stars in the film as a survivor, apart from other celebs like Olivia Newton-John, Diahann Carroll, Melissa Etheridge, Mumtaz, William Baldwin, Daniel Baldwin, Priya Dutt, Deepak Chopra and
Morgan Brittany.
Future
The success or failure of Kites will determine how the Hindi film industry welcomes Barbara. She starred in Kites as she couldn't speak Hindi or English – which essentially means she will really have to work hard if she wants big banner films in both Bollywood and Hollywood. But when did language really pay a hurdle if you have the talent and the looks? So here's wishing Barbara great success.