STOP faking an American accent, Priyanka Chopra and Salman Khan!

I agree to a certain extent. But I think the reason they do this is because they hope that they may get a hollywood film offer. If they show that they can speak in a non indian accent some producer might be impressed and sign them for a project. That's why they could be doing this.

I don't agree. There is nothing appealing about strong Indian accents. Has anyone heard Hrithik Roshan or Deepika Padukone's attempts to be speak English? I'm sorry, but it's a mess. Whenever I hear them (or most other Indian actors) speak English, I always wonder why they don't stick to Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, or whatever Indian language instead of trying to speak English in their interviews.

Priyanka, on the other hand, actually sounds good whether she's trying to sound American or not. The only problem I have is that she goes back to that weird FOB Indian accent in interviews with Indian press. She should keep it consistent and stick to this accent:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnU7AkVwW5A

Finally, I don't see how it's evidence of being "ashamed" to try to speak English better. I think it's admirable to make an effort to pronounce words properly (like actually differentiate between W and V, which many native Hindi/Urdu/Punjabi/Gujarati speakers fail to do). Also, it's not trying to be "western" since most westerners don't speak English with a general American accent.

What's appealing or not is subjective. She's not speaking in English "better". Changing one's accent doesn't improve language skills. If she wants to pronouce English words properly, then she should speak in an English accent, not an American accent. And no - Americans are not the only Westerners and there are more than one Western accent.

It might be subjective, but the reality is that the vast majority of people abroad do not find the accent she uses with Indian media appealing. As for speaking with an English accent, there's no such thing; there are different accents in different parts of England. The general American accent (again, no such thing as one American accent) is more universally appealing anyway so it's preferable over the route Freida Pinto took with her speech coach. And yes, I'm aware that Americans aren't the only westerners. That's what I was trying to say to you since you claimed she was trying to be western.

As an Englishwoman, I can assure you, there is such thing as a generic English accent.

Why did you run away from the Indian Cinema Board? Chicken?

Sergio Leone: If you cut the woman's role from a Western, the film becomes far better.

And we have a generic American accent, but not all Americans have it.

Strong Indian accents don't sound educated outside India,
that's why most Indians try to hide them when abroad.
There are exotic accents that sound appealing (South African, Jamaican) but
Indian accents sound ugly to Americans, Australians, Canadians, Kiwis, Irish and the British.