AISHWARYA RAI

Aishwarya Rai in 2010

Aishwarya Rai
Born 1 November 1973 (age 37)
Mangalore, Karnataka, India
Other names Aishwarya Rai Bachchan
Occupation Actress
Years active 1997 – present
Spouse Abhishek Bachchan (2007–present)

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan[1] (née Aishwarya Rai,Tulu:; born 1 November 1973) is an Indian
actress and former Miss World. Before starting her acting career, she worked as a model and
gained fame after winning the Miss World title in 1994. During her career, Rai has acted in over
40 movies in Hindi, English, Tamil and Bengali, which include a number of international
productions.

Often cited by the media as the most beautiful woman in the world, Rai made her movie debut in
Mani Ratnam's Tamil film Iruvar (1997) and had her first commercial success in the Tamil
movie Jeans (1998). She came to the attention of Bollywood in the movie Hum Dil De Chuke
Sanam (1999), directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Her performance in the film won her the
Filmfare Best Actress Award. In 2002 she appeared in Bhansali's next project, Devdas (2002), for
which she won her second Filmfare Best Actress Award.

After a low phase in her career during 2003–2005, she appeared in the blockbuster Dhoom 2
(2006), which turned out to be her biggest Bollywood commercial success. She later appeared in
films like Guru (2007), Jodhaa Akbar (2008), and Enthiran (2010) which were commercially
and critically successful. Rai has thus established herself as one of the leading contemporary
actresses in the Indian film industry.

Early life
Rai was born in Mangalore to Krishnaraj Rai and Vrinda Rai. She has one elder brother, Aditya
Rai, who is an engineer in the merchant navy and has also co-produced one of Rai's movies, Dil
Ka Rishta (2003). At an early age her parents moved to Mumbai where she attended the Arya
Vidya Mandir high school in Santa Cruz. Rai then entered Jai Hind College at Churchgate for
one year, and then moved to Ruparel College in Matunga to finish her HSC studies. She planned
to become an architect, and started studying architecture, but gave up her education to pursue a
career in modelling.

She can communicate in several languages, including her mother tongue Tulu, as well as Hindi,
English, Marathi and Tamil.

Miss World
While pursuing her studies in architecture, Rai began modelling on the side. In the 1994 Miss
India contest, she won the second place behind Sushmita Sen, and was crowned Miss India
World. She went on to win the Miss World title the same year, where she also won the Miss
Photogenic award. She abandoned her academic education after winning the pageant and spent
one year reigning as Miss World in London. Rai then started working as a professional model
and then moved on to her current profession as an actress.

Film career
Early career (1997–1998)

Rai made her acting debut in Mani Ratnam's Tamil biopic film, Iruvar (1997) with Mohanlal,[8]
The controversial film was a critical success and won many awards including Best Film award at
the Belgrade International Film Festival, two National Film Awards, and two Filmfare Awards
South. Rai appeared in dual roles, opposite veteran actor Mohanlal, with one of her roles being a
cinematic depiction of political leader and ex-actress J. Jayalalithaa.[9] Rai made her Bollywood
debut in the film, Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya opposite Bobby Deol, which also released that year; the
film did not do well at the box office, and was also panned by critics. However, her third project,
S. Shankar's Tamil film, Jeans (1998) was a commercial success. The film was also noted for the
song "Poovukkul", written by Vairamuthu, in the lyrics of which, she is compared to the seven
wonders of the world and described as the eighth.
Personal life

Aishwarya Rai with her husband Abhishek Bachchan at the IIFA Awards (2007)

Aishwarya is Hindu and deeply religious. Her favourite temple is a 200-year-old Lord Ganesha
Temple.[53]

In 1999 Aishwarya began dating Bollywood actor Salman Khan; their relationship was often
reported in the media until the couple separated in 2001. Rai cited "abuse (verbal, physical and
emotional), infidelity and indignity" on the part of Khan as a reason for ending their relationship.
However, in a 2009 Times of India article titled "Salman didn't hit Ash!" Khan denied ever
beating her: "It's not true that I hit a woman."

Rai is married to actor Abhishek Bachchan. After much speculation concerning their
relationship, their engagement was announced on 14 January 2007. The announcement was later
confirmed by his father, Amitabh Bachchan. The couple got married on 20 April 2007 according
to traditional Hindu rites of the Bunt community to which she belongs. Token North Indian and
Bengali ceremonies were also performed. The wedding took place in a private ceremony at the
Bachchan residence "Prateeksha" in Juhu, Mumbai. Though the wedding was a private affair
intended for the Bachchan and Rai families and friends, the involvement of the media turned it
into a national extravaganza. They have been cited as a supercouple in the Indian media. Rai has
been very close to her family and lived with them in Bandra, Mumbai, until her marriage.

International media
Rai has been the most popular face of Indian cinema globally. In 2004 she was chosen by Time
magazine as one of the World's "100 Most Influential People",[61] and appeared on the cover of
Time magazine, Asia Edition in 2003. In October 2004 a wax figure of Rai was put on display in
London's Madame Tussaud's wax museum. She was the sixth Indian and the second Bollywood
personality after her father-in-law Amitabh Bachchan to get this honour.

She was the subject of a 60 Minutes profile on 2 January 2005, which said that "at least
according to thousands of Web sites, Internet polls and even Julia Roberts", she was "The
World's Most Beautiful Woman".[2] In that same year she became a global brand ambassador of
L'Oreal alongside Andie Macdowell, Eva Longoria and Penelope Cruz. The same year, a special
tulip in the Netherlands was named "Aishwarya Rai" after her.[64] Rai became the first Indian to
appear on such shows as Late Show with David Letterman, and was the first Bollywood
personality to appear on Oprah's "Women Across the Globe" segment. In 2005, Harpers and
Queen's list of 10 Most beautiful women in the world ranked her at the ninth spot.[65] In 2009 she
made an appearance on Martha Stewart's show Martha. The same year she also appeared on The
Tyra Banks Show hosted by Tyra Banks.

In 2010 she appeared for the second time in list Time Magazine's "100 Most Influential People in
the World".

Awards and nominations

Main article: List of Aishwarya Rai's awards and nominations

Filmography

Year Title Language Role Notes

Iruvar Tamil Pushpa / Kalpana
1997
Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya Hindi Ashi Kapoor
1998 Jeans Tamil Madhumita
Aa Ab Laut Chalen Hindi Pooja
Hum Dil De Chuke Winner, Filmfare Best Actress
Hindi Nandini
Sanam Award
1999
Ravoyi Chandamama Telugu Special appearance
Nominated, Filmfare Best Actress
Taal Hindi Mansi
Award
Mela Hindi Champakali Guest appearance
Kandukondain
Tamil Meenakshi Bala
Kandukondain
Josh Hindi Shirley
2000 Hamara Dil Aapke
Hindi Preeti Virat
Nominated, Filmfare Best Actress
Paas Hai Award
Dhaai Akshar Prem
Hindi Sahiba Grewal
Ke
Nominated, Filmfare Best
Mohabbatein Hindi Megha
Supporting Actress Award
2001 Albela Hindi Sonia
2002 Hum Tumhare Hain
Hindi Suman Guest appearance
Sanam
Hum Kisi Se Kum Hindi Komal Rastogi
Nahin
 23rd March 1931:
Hindi Special appearance
Shaheed
Winner, Filmfare Best Actress
Devdas Hindi Parvati (Paro)
Award
Special appearance in song "Ishq
Shakti: The Power Hindi Herself
Kamina"
Chokher Bali Bengali Binodhini
2003 Dil Ka Rishta Hindi Tia Sharma
Kuch Naa Kaho Hindi Namrata Shrivastav
Bride & Prejudice English Lalita Bakshi
Khakee Hindi Mahalakshmi
2004 Kyun...! Ho Gaya Na Hindi Diya Malhotra
Nominated, Filmfare Best Actress
Raincoat Hindi Neerja
Award
Antara
Shabd Hindi
Vashist/Tammana
2005 Special appearance in the song
Bunty Aur Babli Hindi
"Kajra Re"
Mistress of Spices English Tilo
Umrao Jaan Hindi Umrao Jaan
2006 Nominated, Filmfare Best Actress
Dhoom 2 Hindi Sunehri
Award
Nominated, Filmfare Best Actress
Guru Hindi Sujata
Award
Journey Across India English Mumtaz Mahal
2007
English
Provoked Kiranjit Ahluwalia
Hindi
The Last Legion English Mira
Nominated, Filmfare Best Actress
Jodhaa Akbar Hindi Jodhaa Bai
2008 Award
Sarkar Raj Hindi Anita Rajan
2009 The Pink Panther 2 English Sonia Solandres
Raavan Hindi Ragini Sharma
Raavanan Tamil Ragini Subramaniam

2010 Enthiran Tamil Sana

Action Replayy Hindi Mala

Guzaarish Hindi Sofia D'Souza