On her first trip abroad to Dubai with Beti B , as Aradhya is lovingly called, Longines Ambassadress of Elegance, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan , 38, seemed at ease with her status as new mother, as well as her new dimensions. Associated with the 180-year-old watch brand, Longines, for the past 12 years, the actor spoke exclusively to India Today about her work and life at Dubai's Meydan Hotel.

Q. What brings you to Dubai?

A. Longines. Its motto is 'elegance with an attitude'. Despite being in showbiz, I have a very real approach to my life. It plays off with my social life.

Q. So would you say comfort comes first now?

A. Comfort, time, scheduling. I have many more aspects to my life now. You have just that much time to get yourself together. You don't have that much time to straighten every strand, curl every lash and get everything bang on. But everybody else around you is like that. I like to be human and not lose myself in becoming a mannequin, which people in showbiz are accused of.

Q. How do you decide the way you will look?

A. I have been in this business for a long time and I kind of know what to do for every event. Because this was Dubai, there was a bit of fluidity (She wore a coral red Sabyasachi Mukherjee tubular kalidaar dress). Sometimes I feel if you are judging someone, have a line-up of everybody who was dressed for the occasion, otherwise it isn't a fair analysis. For instance, you can't compare an Indian award function to Cannes.

Q. What is your life like now?

A. What's blessed about my life is that I have been able to connect with the global audience on a regular basis. I am thankful for everybody's love and I reciprocate that, but I also have to deliver on every occasion. It need not always entail personal choice. You may be submitting to the requirements of a brand, what a group wants or even what an occasion demands. That's why I don't take it as seriously as the world does, because for me, it's like art. I am playing with art every waking day of my life, so I cannot make that the reason for my existence. That's why I approach these things the way I do. I don't think everybody else gets that.