Aishwarya Rai (Kannada: ಐಶ್ವರ್ಯಾ ರೈ, Hindi: ऐश्वर्या राय; born on November 1 1973; Ash for fans and media) is a supermodel and actress from India. She is currently regarded as one of the biggest names in Bollywood.

Early life

Rai was born in Mangalore to Krishnaraj and Vrinda Rai, in the South Indian state of Karnataka; her mother tongue is Tulu.

In the 1994 Miss India Contest Rai came second to Sushmita Sen but went on to win a Miss World title.

As a professional model, Rai has appeared in many Indian fashion magazines, including the Indian Vogue; more recently she has featured in international ads for L'OrГ©al, De Beers Diamonds, and Coca-Cola.

Bollywood breakthrough

The first film she acted in was the popular Tamil movie Iruvar in (1997), directed by Mani Rathnam. Rai's earliest films made money, but Rai herself did not impress critics -- they commented that her performances were stilted, as if she were still modeling.

Her breakthrough came with Sanjay Leela Bhansali's film Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. Later successes include Taal and Devdas. Rai has also acted in films for the Tamil-speaking regional film industry, such as Jeans, Kandukondain Kandukondain, and for the Bengali film industry, in Chokher Bali.

International stardom

Devdas, in which Aishwarya joined Bollywood superstars Shahrukh Khan and Madhuri Dixit, was a huge hit, lavishly-produced as it was. The film attracted overseas attention as well - receiving a special screening at the Cannes Film Festival.

Rai was becoming an international star rather than simply a Bollywood one. In 2003, Rai was a member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival. In 2004, she was chosen by TIME Magazine's Asian Edition as one of Asia's "100 Most Influential People." Rai was the subject of a 60 Minutes profile on January 2, 2005 - "The Most Beautiful Woman in the World." A month later she appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman, and on April 25, 2005, she was featured on Oprah's "Women Across the Globe" segment. A wax figure of Rai is on display in London's Madame Tussaud's wax museum.

Although frequently the subject of gossip column speculation about an imminent Hollywood career, it was only in 2004 that Rai finally acted in a foreign film. British director Gurinder Chadha hired her to play the heroine in Bride and Prejudice, a Hollywood-funded but Bollywood-ized version of Jane Austen's classic novel, Pride and Prejudice. The movie did well at the box office and Aishwarya's Hollywood profile rose a notch.

• Rai is now said to be signed for another Hollywood movie, Rolland Joffe's project Singularity. She will play opposite Brendan Fraser.
• She is in the cast for The Last Legion co-starring Colin Firth and Ben Kingsley.
• She recently (summer of 2005) completed filming on Director Jagmohan Mundhra's film Provoked. She is co-starring with Nandita Das. The film was shot mainly in Britain.

Personal life

Earlier in her career, Aishwarya was involved in a high profile, allegedly turbulent relationship with Bollywood star Salman Khan. It apparently caused her to be dropped from a Shah Rukh Khan film when Salman's supposedly numerous and rowdy visits disrupted filming and Shah Rukh's personal safety.

Since then she has been romantically linked to rising star Vivek Oberoi and film dynasty scion Abhishek Bachchan (the former fiance of Karisma Kapoor)

Awards

Aishwarya Rai has won two Filmfare Awards to date:-

• 2000, Filmfare Best Actress Award, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam
• 2003, Filmfare Best Actress Award, Devdas

She has been nominated four times in the Best Actress category and once in the Best Supporting Actress category.

She has also won three IIFA Awards, three Z-Gold Awards, four Screen Awards, one Filmgoers Award, three Zee Cine Awards and a Rajiv Gandhi Award.

Filmography

Aishwarya's films are in Hindi, except where noted below.

• 1997 : Iruvar by Mani Ratnam (in Tamil) (Telugu title: Iddaru)
• 1997 : Aur Pyar Ho Gaya by Rahul Rawail
• 1998 : Jeans by S. Shankar (in Tamil)
• 1999 : Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam by Sanjay Leela Bhansali (Filmfare Best Actress Award)
• 1999 : Aa Ab Laut Chalein by Rishi Kapoor
• 1999 : Taal by Subhash Ghai
• 2000 : Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai by Satish Kaushik
• 2000 : Mohabbatein by Aditya Chopra (cameo)
• 2000 : Dhai Akshar Prem Ke by Raj Kanwa
• 2000 : Josh by Mansoor Khan
• 2000 : Kandukondain Kandukondain by Rajiv Menon (in Tamil)
• 2000 : Sanam Tere Hain Hum by Jayant Paranji (special appearance)
• 2001 : Albela by Deepak Sareen
• 2002 : Devdas by Sanjay Leela Bhansali (Filmfare Best Actress Award)
• 2002 : Hum Kisise Kum Nahin by David Dhawan
• 2002 : Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam by K.S. Adiyaman (special appearance)
• 2002 : 23rd March 1931 : Shaheed by Guddu Dhanoa
• 2002 : Shakti (movie) by Krishna Vamshi (special appearance)
• 2003 : Kuch Na Kaho by Rohan Sippy
• 2002 : Nee Kidappen Njan Adippen: The Power by Krishna Vamshi
• 2003 : Dil Ka Rishta by Naresh Malhotra
• 2003 : Chokher Bali by Rituparno Ghosh (in Bengali)
• 2003 : Khakee by Rajkumar Santoshi
• 2004 : Kyun...! Ho Gaya Na by Samir Karnik
• 2004 : Bride and Prejudice by Gurinder Chadha (in English)
• 2004 : Raincoat by Rituparno Ghosh
• 2005 : Shabd by Leena Yadav
• 2005 : Bunty Aur Babli by Shaad Ali (special appearance)
• 2005 : The Heart of India by Ganapathy Bharat (in English)
• 2005 : Mistress of Spices by Paul Mayeda Berges (in English)
• 2006 : Provoked by Jagmohan Mundhra (in English) (filming)
• 2006 : Dhoom 2 by Sanjay Gadhvi (filming)
• 2006 : Saamna by Rajkumar Santoshi (filming)
• 2006 : Singularity by Roland JoffГ© (in English)
• 2006 : The Last Legion by Doug Lefler (in English)
• 2006: "Chaos" by Coline Serreau (in English)

Trivia

• Was positioned at number 3 in the Filmfare Top Ten Actress' List.
• Praised by several people, including Julia Roberts ([1] & [2]) and film critic Roger Ebert ([3]) as the most beautiful woman in the world.
• Linda Evangelista is reported to have called her "stunning".
• She is said to have been offered a stint as a runway model for Robert Cavalli.

External links

• Official website
• Aishwarya Rai at the Internet Movie Database

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