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Champa And Tulsi Go to Hollywood

Arthur J Pais

Raj Kanodia says he cannot, simply cannot give out the names of Hollywood celebrities who have sought his help. He will not discuss if he "perfected Cher's nose or helped fix the chin of another star."

"But on any day, if you are watching a television show, you can be sure many stars in it have sought my treatment," he says. "And then there are a number of top movie stars."

One of the top plastic surgeons on the West Coast, Dr Kanodia believes his success has indeed something to do with the satisfaction of his famous clients who suggest his name to their peers, but more important to his success is that the treatment stems from his faith in holistic medicine.

And it is not just herbs that do the wonder, he says, for no amount of plastic surgery and herbal medication can make a person look better unless there is beauty deep inside them.

After two decades of practice in Beverly Hills, Dr Kanodia has entered the ever-growing alternative healthcare market by introducing a slew of Ayur-Medic products. His regimen uses not only Tulsi and Champa from India but also Chinese and Western herbs, including echinacea. He has also co-founded an Internet wellness center.

The products' aim, among other things, is improving the skin. He says unless people maintain good skin, face-lifts are not going to help them in a serious way. "When you do a face-lift on a person who is fifty or fiftyfive," he says, "You realize that something is not right about the face." For if the face has to be pulled and made to look like that of a person 10 or 15 years younger, the skin should also look the same age. Unless the skin is youthful looking, the face surgery is not going to work miracles, he warns. As per the holistic tradition, he believes that devoted care of skin over years holds the key to successful face-lifts.

His comprehensive approach to facial surgery, Dr Kanodia says, brings in dramatic results. "Our patients bruise much less -- sometimes not at all -- because of these herbs," he says.

No fear of a big budget movie or an expensive television show being postponed because of the hush-hush surgery.

"They can return to work a week after the procedure."

Another reason for his success is his candid approach. He is blunt in telling people that surgery cannot make them look better or their expectations are too much. "I would like to be honest with them right in the beginning," he says. "I don't want them to be unhappy with me later."

He also does not believe in alteration. "Refining" is the word he likes.

Dr Kanodia tells the patients he refines what they have. If a patient has a strong nose, he will not reduce it all the way, he says. He likes to "preserve the character of the nose." He would "individualize" it in such a way, "the patients look like themselves -- only better." Any part of the face that requires surgical attention should be refined, not altered, he stresses.

Hollywood likes his concept because his clients are already well-recognized, and they are looking for subtle alterations that will make them even more photogenic.

Some of the aspirants bring him pictures of models and tell him that they want to look like a Julia Roberts or ...

He tells them he cannot change their nose to a Cindy Crawford or a Christy Turlington or a chin to look like that of another celebrity. But he offers to work with what they have.

Many of the stars go through mini-lifts which last for six to 12 months, he says, and they come back to him for another mini-lift. "For a lot of people in the movie and television industry that is the best approach," he says, because they do not miss work.

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