Aishwarya Rai Bachchan[1] or Aishwarya Bachchan[2][3] (Birthname:Aishwarya Rai; Tulu: ಐಶ್ವರ್ಯಾ ರೈ; born November 1, 1973) is an internationally renowned Indian actress. Before starting her acting career, she worked as a model, and gained fame after winning the Miss World contest in 1994.
Often acclaimed as the most beautiful woman in the world,[4] Rai made her movie debut in Mani Ratnam's Tamil film, Iruvar (1997). She had her first commercial success in the Tamil movie Jeans (1998), and came to the attention of Bollywood in the Hindi movie, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam(1999), directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Her performance in the film won her the Filmfare Best Actress Award, and she successfully performed in Bhansali's next project, Devdas (2002), for which she won her second Best Actress Award at the Filmfare. Since then, she has acted in over forty movies in Hindi, Tamil, Bengali and English, including the international productions, Bride & Prejudice (2003),Mistress of Spices (2006) and The Last Legion (2007) in English.
Aishwarya Rai was born in Mangalore to Krishnaraj Rai, a marine biologist, and Vrinda Rai, a writer. Her family belongs to the Bunt community of Mangalore. She has one elder brother, Aditya Rai, who is an engineer in the merchant navy and also co-produced one of Rai's movies, Dil Ka Rishta (2003).
After she was born, her parents moved to Mumbai where she attended the Arya Vidya Mandir high school in Santa Cruz. Rai then entered Jai Hind College atChurchgate for one year, and then moved to Ruparel College in Matunga to finish her "HSC" studies. She did well in school and planned to become an architect.
She can communicate in several languages, including Tulu, Hindi, English,Marathi and Tamil .While pursuing her studies in architecture, Rai began modeling on the side. In the 1994 Miss India contest, she won the second place (behindSushmita Sen), and went on to win the Miss World title the same year, where she also won the Miss Photogenic award. She abandoned her studies 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.
Rai has previously dated Bollywood actors Salman Khan and Vivek Oberoi. She is now married to Indian actorAbhishek Bachchan. The wedding took place on April 20, 2007.
Early career
Rai made her acting debut in Mani Ratnam's Tamil film, Iruvar (1997) with Mohanlal,[5] and was introduced toBollywood in the film, Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya opposite Bobby Deol, which also released that year; the film didn't do well at the box office.[6].
However, her third project, S. Shankar's Tamil film, Jeans (1998) was a critical and commercial success, earning her the Filmfare Best Actress Award South.
Breakthrough
She went on to appear in many Bollywood films; a few successful films of her career include Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999), which earned the actress her first Filmfare Best Actress Award and Taal (1999), which gave her another nomination for Best Actress at the Filmfare; her performances in both the films were lauded.[7] In 2000, she played a supporting role in the hit films Mohabbatein and Josh. Later that year, she starred in the Tamil filmKandukondain Kandukondain, which won her positive reviews.
Success (2002-present)
In 2002, Rai appeared alongside Shahrukh Khan and Madhuri Dixit in Sanjay Leela Bansali's lavishly producedDevdas. The film attracted overseas attention as well, receiving a special screening at the Cannes Film Festival.[8] It was during this time that she garnered the attention of the West as an Indian actress and went on to appear in a fewHollywood projects. Devdas went on to become the highest grossing film of the year both in India[9] and overseas,[10]earning the actress her second Filmfare Best Actress Award.
As her name gained popularity overseas, she was chosen by Time magazine in 2004 as one of the World's "100 Most Influential People", and appeared on the cover of Time magazine, Asia Edition (TIMEasia) in 2003. She was the subject of a 60 Minutes profile on January 2. A month later she appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman. She also featured on Oprah's "Women Across the Globe" segment. In 2003, she acted in the critically acclaimed and commercial success Bengali film, Chokher Bali, an adaptation of one of Rabindranath Tagore's novels by the same name.
Rai has been a regular at the Cannes Film Festival since 2002, and was a member of the Jury at Cannes in the year 2003. In October 2004, a wax figure of Rai became on display in London's Madame Tussaud's wax museum.[11] The same month, her first foreign film, Bride and Prejudice released. The film was an Indian version of Jane Austen'sclassic novel Pride and Prejudice. Her next overseas venture was The Mistress of Spices. She then appeared at the closing ceremony of the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, as part of a performance showcasing Indian art, on behalf of the 2010 Commonwealth Games, to be held in New Delhi. In between her overseas acting stints, she appeared in the Indian film Bunty Aur Babli in a hugely popular seven minute dance sequence for the song "Kajra Re".
In 2005, Rai signed a three-year contract with L'Oréal, as a spokesmodel for the cosmetics company. At the end of the year 2006, she had two releases: Umrao Jaan and Dhoom 2. While the former did poorly in India, her role in the latter, which was a sequel to the 2004 hit movie Dhoom brought her great attention. The film went on to become the biggest hit of the year,[12] and sparked a controversy for a scene containing a kiss between her and Hrithik Roshan.[13] For her performance, she received nominations for Best Actress at a number of award ceremonies, including Filmfare.
2007 saw the release of Mani Ratnam's Guru which premiered in Toronto. The film, based on the life of Indian businessman Dhirubhai Ambani, was critically acclaimed and did well at the box office.[14] Her most recent film,Provoked, based on the book "Circle of Light" where she portrays a real life character, was released on April 6, 2007in India and the UK. The biographical movie portrays the life of Kiranjit Ahluwalia who faced severe domestic violence. The movie won Aishwarya a lot of critical acclaim. At the end of April 2007, her first American film, The Last Legion released in Russia and the Netherlands and later opened in North American theaters in August 2007 disappointingly. In 2008 she starred alongside Hrithik Roshan in Ashutosh Gowariker's historical drama Jodhaa Akbar. She played the role of Jodha Bai, the wife of the Mughal emperor Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar, played by Roshan. Aishwarya will now be seen in Sarkar Raj which costars husband Abhishek Bachchan and father-in-lawAmitabh Bachchan.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Language | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Iruvar | Tamil | Pushpa/Kalpana | Dubbed in Telugu as Iddaru |
| Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya | Hindi | Ashi Kapoor | ||
| 1998 | Jeans | Tamil | Madhumitha/Vaishnavi | Winner, Filmfare Best Actress Award South India's official entry to the Oscars Dubbed in Hindi and Telugu as Jeans |
| 1999 | Aa Ab Laut Chalen | Hindi | Pooja | |
| Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam | Hindi | Nandini | Winner, Filmfare Best Actress Award | |
| Ravoyi Chandamama | Telugu | Special appearance (item number) | ||
| Taal | Hindi | Mansi | Nominated, Filmfare Best Actress Award Dubbed in Tamil as Taalam | |
| 2000 | Mela | Hindi | Champakali | Special appearance |
| Kandukondain Kandukondain | Tamil | Meenakshi Bala | Dubbed in Telugu as Priyuraalu Pilichindi | |
| Josh | Hindi | Shirley | ||
| Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai | Hindi | Preeti Virat | Nominated, Filmfare Best Actress Award | |
| Dhaai Akshar Prem Ke | Hindi | Sahiba Grewal | ||
| Mohabbatein | Hindi | Megha | Nominated, Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award | |
| 2001 | Albela | Hindi | Sonia | |
| 2002 | Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam | Hindi | Suman | Cameo |
| Hum Kisi Se Kum Nahin | Hindi | Komal Rastogi | ||
| 23rd March 1931: Shaheed | Hindi | Cameo | ||
| Devdas | Hindi | Parvati (Paro) | Winner, Filmfare Best Actress Award India's official entry to the Oscars | |
| Shakti: The Power | Hindi | Aishwarya Rai | Special appearance (item number) | |
| 2003 | Chokher Bali | Bengali | Binodhini | |
| Dil Ka Rishta | Hindi | Tia Sharma | ||
| Kuch Naa Kaho | Hindi | Namrata Shrivastav | ||
| 2004 | Bride & Prejudice | English | Lalita Bakshi | Dubbed in Hindi as Balle Balle! From Amritsar To L.A |
| Khakee | Hindi | Mahalakshmi | First villain role | |
| Kyun...! Ho Gaya Na | Hindi | Diya Malhotra | ||
| Raincoat | Hindi | Neerja | Nominated, Filmfare Best Actress Award | |
| 2005 | Shabd | Hindi | Antara Vashist | |
| Bunty Aur Babli | Hindi | Special appearance (item number) | ||
| 2006 | Mistress of Spices | English | Tilo | |
| Umrao Jaan | Hindi | Umrao Jaan | ||
| Dhoom 2 | Hindi | Sunehri | Nominated, Filmfare Best Actress Award | |
| 2007 | Guru | Hindi | Sujata | Nominated, Filmfare Best Actress Award |
| Provoked | English | Kiranjit Ahluwalia | ||
| The Last Legion | English | Mira | ||
| 2008 | Jodhaa Akbar | Hindi | Jodhaa Bai | |
| Sarkar Raj | Hindi | Anita | ||
| 2009 | The Pink Panther Deux | English | Sophie Solandres | Releasing on February 13, 2009 |
| 2010 | Robot | Tamil | Pre-production |