Dressed in a gold Gucci gown, Aishwarya Rai wowed the US audience at the premiere of Gurinder Chadha's "Bride & Prejudice".

In the US on a three-day tour, she gave the Americans enough reasons to swoon over before zipping off to Britain to film a screen adaptation of the novel "The Mistress Of Spices" to be directed by Chadha's husband Paul Berges.

"I'm of course there to supervise and act as official producer. But 'Mistress...' is my husband's baby all the way. And we're so glad to have Ash with us again," says Chadha.

The US premiere has resurrected Chadha's belief that "Ash is the only Bollywood actress who can win us brownie points abroad. They love her poise and beauty".

Aishwarya's presence at the premiere in New York attracted tremendous media attention. It was Fashion Week in New York. Photographers temporarily abandoned their commitments at fashion shows to be at the premiere to capture Ash's glorious debut in America.

"It was an incredible experience. Absolutely top of the line!" exults Ash. "I couldn't have hoped for better. The Americans seem to have accepted the film with pride and without prejudice."

Though "Bride & Prejudice" opened at only 32 screens in the US, its box-office collections were next only to the new Will Smith starrer "Hitch". Which is really as top notch as it gets.

In addition, Aishwarya made prestigious appearances on several talk shows, including David Letterman and Oprah Winfrey. Her appearance on both the shows was greeted with a great deal of warm affection in the US.

Now the Bollywood star is shooting in Britain for "The Mistress Of Spices" with Dylan McDermott.

The American triumph comes at a time when Aishwarya seems to be on the brink of a reinvention in Bollywood. In the last two months, her efforts to do more mature and mellower roles - Rituparno Ghosh's "Raincoat" and Leena Yadav's "Shabd" - came to nought with both the films biting the dust.

A move ahead, especially towards international cinema, was inevitable. It looks like "Bride & Prejudice" has given her that impetus.