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Aishwarya Rai (IPA: Æʃ.vərijə raj, Kannada: ಐಶ್ವರ್ಯಾ ರೈ, Hindi: ऐश्वर्या राय; born on November 1, 1973; Ash to fans and media) is a Bollywood and Hollywood actress, also a supermodel and Miss World of 1994.
Early life
Rai was born in Mangalore to Krishnaraj and Vrinda Rai, in the South Indian state of Karnataka; She speaks English, Hindi, Kannada, Tamil and Tulu. Her brother Aditya Rai is a film producer.
In the 1994 Miss India Contest Rai placed second behind Sushmita Sen and went on to win the Miss World title. She then worked as a model, in advertising and Indian fashion magazines.
Bollywood breakthrough
The first film she acted in was the popular Tamil movie Iruvar in (1997), directed by Mani Ratnam. 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 performance came in 1999 with Sanjay Leela Bhansali's film Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. Later successes include Taal and Devdas. Rai has also acted in other Tamil films such as Jeans, Kandukondain Kandukondain, and in the Bengali film Chokher Bali.
International stardom
Devdas, in which Aishwarya joined Bollywood superstars Shah Rukh 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 Cannes. 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.
Aishwarya in a scene from Bride and Prejudice.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. She has since appeared in a number of Hollywood films, some released, some still filming or in post-production. This cut into her Bollywood film work. However, she did make time to play the lead in a remake of the classic film Umrao Jaan, now in post-production.
Personal life
Earlier in her career, Aishwarya was involved in a high profile, allegedly turbulent relationship with Bollywood star Salman Khan. Gossip has it that she was forced to drop out of the film Chalte Chalte after visits from Salman disrupted filming. She broke up with Salman and was then romantically linked to rising star Vivek Oberoi as well as to film dynasty icon Abhishek Bachchan.
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 at the Filmfare. She has also won three IIFA Awards, three Z-Gold Awards, four Screen Awards, an EU's Global Diversity Award, three Zee Cine Awards and a Rajiv Gandhi Award.
Trivia
Praised by several people, including Julia Roberts ([1], [2]) and film critic Roger Ebert ([3]) as the most beautiful woman in the world.
India Times named Aishwarya #1 on the list of the "100 Most Beautiful Indian Women in the Past Century".
Was positioned at number 3 in the Filmfare Top Ten Actress' List in 2004 and at number 2 in 2005.
Was featured in the 2004 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records.
Shah Rukh Khan, Rani Mukerji and Aishwarya Rai are going to make their graphic debut in a comic book series called "Bollywood" that is due to hit the stands at the end of March 2006.
Filmography
Most of Aishwarya's films are in Hindi, except where noted below.
Chaos (2007) ... (pre-production) (in English)
The Rebel (2007) (announced) ... Rani Laxmibai
Singularity (2006) (announced) ... Tulaja (in English)
Guru (2006) ... (announced)
Jodha-Akbar (2006) (pre-production) ... Jodha Bhai
Dhoom 2 (2006) ... (filming)
The Last Legion (2006) (post-production) ... Mira (in English)
Umrao Jaan (2006) (post-production) ... Umrao Jaan
The Heart of India (2006) ... Mumtaz Mahal
Provoked (2006) ... Kiranjit Ahluwalia (in English)
Mistress of Spices (2005) ... Tilo (in English)
Bunty Aur Babli (2005) ... Dancer ("Kajre Re" song)
Shabd (2005) ... Antara Vashisht
Bride & Prejudice (2004) ... Lalita Bakshi (in English)
Kyun...! Ho Gaya Na (2004) ... Diya Malhotra
Raincoat (2004) ... Neerja/Neeru
Khakee (2004) ... Mahalaxshmi
Kuch Naa Kaho (2003) ... Namrata Shrivastav
Chokher Bali (2003) ... Binodini (in Bengali)
Dil Ka Rishta (2003) ... Tia Sharma
Shakti: The Power (2002) ... Dream Girl
23rd March 1931: Shaheed (2002) ... Special Appearance (song)
Hum Kisi Se Kum Nahin (2002) ... Komal Rastogi
Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam (2002) ... Special Appearance
Devdas (2002) ... Parvati ('Paro')
Albela (2001) ... Sonia
Mohabbatein (2000) ... Megha
Dhaai Akshar Prem Ke (2000) ... Sahiba Gareval
Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai (2000) ... Preeti Virat
Josh (2000) ... Shirley
Kandukondain Kandukondain (2000) ... Meenakshi (in Tamil)
Mela (2000) ... Champakali
Sanam Tere Hain Hum (2000) ... Special Appearance
Ravoyi Chandamama (1999) ... Special Appearance (Song) (in Tamil)
Taal (1999) ... Mansi
Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999) ... Nandini
Aa Ab Laut Chalen (1999) ... Pooja Walia
Jeans (1998) ... Madhumitha/Vaishnavi (in Tamil)
...Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya (1997) ... Ashi Kapoor
Iruvar (1997) ... Pushpa/Kalpana (in Tamil)
Provided by wikipedia.org
