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 gained the attention of Bollywood through the film Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999), directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Her performance won her the Filmfare Best Actress Award. In 2002 she appeared in Bhansali's Devdas, for which she won her second Filmfare Best Actress Award.
After a setback in her career during 2003–2005, she appeared in Dhoom 2 (2006), which was her biggest commercial success in India. She later appeared in films like Guru (2007), Jodhaa Akbar (2008), and Enthiran (2010), which were commercially and critically successful. Rai has established herself as one of the leading actresses in Bollywood
Rai's off-screen roles include her being appointed as the brand ambassador for the Eye Bank Association of India's campaign to promote eye donation in India, and for Pulse Polio, a campaign established to eradicate polio in India. In 2009 she was appointed as the first Goodwill Ambassador of Smile Train, an international charity. She is married to actor Abhishek Bachchan. In 2009 she was honoured with Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian award given by the Government of India.
* 1 Early life
* 2 Modelling career
* 3 Film career
o 3.1 Early career (1997–1998)
o 3.2 Success (1999–2002)
o 3.3 Setback (2003–2005)
o 3.4 Recent work (2006–present)
* 4 Social work
* 5 Personal life
* 6 Awards and honours
* 7 Filmography
* 8 See also
* 9 References
* 10 Further reading
* 11 External links
Rai was born in Mangalore to Krishnaraj Rai and Brindya Rai. Her father was a marine biologist She has one elder brother, Aditya Rai, who is an engineer in the merchant navy. He co-produced one of her movies, Dil Ka Rishta (2003) The family moved to Mumbai, where Rai attended the Arya Vidya Mandir High School Rai did her intermediate schooling at Jai Hind College for a year and then joined DG Ruparel College in Matunga, securing 90 percent in the HSC exams She trained in classical dance and music for five years during her teens Her favourite subject was zoology, so she initially considered a career in medicine. With plans to become an architect, she enrolled at Raheja College, but later gave up her education to pursue a career in modelling
Modelling career
Rai did her first modelling assignment when she was in the ninth grade, for Camlin Pencils One of her professors at Jai Hind College took pictures of her which were published in a fashion magazine.
Rai became popular after appearing in a Pepsi commercial with actor Aamir Khan. She modelled for Longines watches, Coca-ColaLakmé Cosmetics, Casio pager, Philips, Palmolive, Lux, and Fuji films She continued to model while pursuing her studies in architecture was named the official brand ambassador for De Beers diamonds in India
In the 1994 Miss India contest, she won second place, behind Sushmita Sen, and was crowned Miss India World She went on to win the Miss Worldtitle the same year, where she also won the Miss Photogenic award. After winning the pageant, she gave up her studies and spent one year reigning as Miss World in London Rai continued to pursue a career as a model until she became an actress.
Film career
Early career (1997–1998)
Rai made her acting debut in Mani Ratnam's Tamil biopic film Iruvar (1997), where she worked alongside Mohanlal The 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, one of which was a depiction of political leader and former actress J. Jayalalithaa Rai made her in the film in Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya, opposite Bobby Deol, which released the same year; the film was unsuccessful at the box office Her third project, Jeans (1998), a high-budget Tamil film directed by S. Shankar, was a commercial success. The film included the song "Poovukkul", written by Vairamuthu, in which Rai's character is compared to the seven wonders of the world and described as the eighth The film was India's official entry to the Academy Awards in that year
Success (1999–2002)
In 1999 Rai starred in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, opposite Salman Khan and Ajay DevganThe film had Rai playing Nandini, who is forced to marry Devgan despite being in love with another man (Khan). Her husband tries to help her locate her previous love, and his caring attention eventually wins her over. Rai's portrayal won her critical acclaim, with a review on Rediff.com stating, "Aishwarya looks beautiful as usual ... This film will most likely draw her accolades from all over, may be even get her recognised as an actress the way Manisha Koirala did in Khamoshi. In many scenes, there is no trace of makeup and she looks very fresh The film was her first box office success in and earned her a Filmfare Best Actress Award
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