Aishwarya Rai Bachchan photoshoot for Elle magazine: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is in a foul mood and it’s all owing to her recent Elle magazine photo-shoot that spurred quite a racial row. The actress, who appears to be a few tones fairer than her original skin tone, is peeved with the publication for making her look several shades lighter. The actress, who is always politically correct and rarely indulges in any show of emotion, has been fuming ever since the cover hit stands.

Confirming the news, a source close to her told a daily, “Aishwarya’s first reaction was disbelief. She believed that these things don’t happen anymore. Not in this day and age when women are recognized for their merit, and not for the colour of their skin. She is currently verifying this skin-whitening allegation. If there is any proof of this, she might even take action.”

As per reports, the doctored image was brought to Ash’s attention by her fans, who flew into a rage after they saw that their icon was made to look ghastly white on the cover.

However, this isn’t the first time that the magazine has preached Caucasian standards of beauty. It might be recalled that in September this year, the US edition of the same magazine had featured on its cover an African-American actress, Gabourey Sidibe, with a much paler complexion.

A close friend of Ash further said, “No one in any part of the world looks at Ash with culture-specific eyes. Though she has represented India on many international forums she is regarded as a world citizen. She is clearly the global face of the contemporary Indian woman. The last thing she’d want is to have a global image coloured by a racial suggestion.”