Aishwarya Rai

Trivia

• Her wax statue at Madame Tussauds Museum in London was borrowed by themuseum in New York for six weeks. The statue was flown to New York andmade its debut on August 15, 2007, making her the first Indian actress inthe American version of the museum.
• Was considered for the part of Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale (2006).
• Director Brett Ratner is a fan of Aishwarya's and he wanted her to becast in Rush Hour 3 (2007), but she turned down the offer.
• Has appeared on more magazine covers worldwide than any other Bollywoodor Indian star.
• (The Time 100, 2007).
• Ranked #30 in TIME magazines issue of '100 Most Influential People of theYear'. This is her second time making the list, her first being in 2004.
• Is the second of five Indian women to win the Miss World title. The firstwas Reita Faria, who won in 1966. Others include Diana Hayden who won in1997, Yukta Mookhey in 1999, and Priyanka Chopra in 2000.
• Her favorite Western designer is Giorgio Armani. Whenever she is inLondon, clothes are taken to her hotel for her to choose from.
• Is active in various charities and often visits orphanages.
• Was invited in 2005 to be a presenter at The 77th Annual Academy Awards(2005) (TV), but was unable to attend because she was busy filming forThe Mistress of Spices (2005).

Quotes

• “For me, it went beyond being a beauty queen. For me, it was about being the 20-year-old girl from India on international platform and a lot of people actually would assume that I wasn't even educated in India because of the way I'd speak. And they'd be like, 'Have you studied in India? Do you actually speak English out there?' and, I was like, 'This is so interesting that so many people know so little about my country.' and this is exactly what I wanted to do when I set out on this little missi
• “It's a wonderfully told story, ... I look for work that is meaningful and where I can be able to contribute to tell a story.”
• “The most beautiful woman in the world.”
• “My family is my strength and my weakness.”
• “Sexy in India is not considered positive. But, with today's crop of fresh faces in the modelling arena, being sexy is an asset.”
• “Unfortunately my personal involvement in some of my projects is being misconstrued as high-handedness.”
• “People just came in throngs and stood around, ... It was very overwhelming for my co-stars.”
• “Even in India the Hindi film industry might be the best known but there are movies made in other regional languages in India, be it Tamil or Bengali. Those experiences too are different from the ones in Bombay.”
• “That's for the autobiography.”
• “Well, when people call me real. I love it. And it has a lot of meaning, ... It means a lot to me and it's touching. People would see that and acknowledge it.”

Biography

Aishwarya Rai

Last Updated: Wednesday, September 30, 2009

The Beauty Queen, Aishwarya Rai was born in a traditional south Indian family. She got her education at Mumbai (Bombay) and started modeling during her graduation. Aishwarya became a household name in India when she featured in Pepsi advertisement with Mahima Chaudhary. This gorgeous model was now set to rock the world with her beauty and intelligence. Aishwarya Rai took the glamour world by storm by winning the Miss World crown at Sun City in 1994. The leading directors of Bollywood were soon lined up to work with Ash.

Aishwarya Rai made her debut with Mani Ratnam's "Iruvar" (Tamil). Aishwarya received critical acclaim for her performance in "Iruvar". She was introduced to Bollywood by film director Rahul Rawail in his film"Aur Pyar Ho Gaya" and she won the Best Female Debutant Award for her performance in this film. The turning point in her acting career came with Sanjay Leela Bhansali's " Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam" and she went on to win International Indian Film Academy Best Actress award and the Fimlfare Best Actress Award for her performance.

Aishwarya did a number of movies with different directors such as Aditya Chopra (Mohabbatein) and Satish kaushik (Hamara Dil Aap Ke Pas Hai). Aishwarya again worked with Sanjay Leela Bhansali in the film "Devdas" which became memorable in a number of ways- "Devdas" was the biggest blockbuster of the film Industry and the first Bollywood movie to have special screening at Canne's Film Festival. Later, Ash was made a member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival, the first Indian actress to have this honour. She also featured on the covers of India Today and the Time Magazine. Time Magazine has also listed her in their list of the "100 Most Influential People in the World Today". She also became the first Indian female actress to be immortalized in wax at the world famous Madame Tussaud's wax museum in London. Aishwarya is married to Bollywood star Abhisekh Bachchan.