Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is an Indian actress who is primarily known for her work in Hindi and Tamil films.
89 Facts About Aishwarya Rai Bachchan
2.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has often been cited in the media as "the most beautiful woman in the world".
3.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was then crowned Miss World 1994, after which she began receiving offers to act in film.
4.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan made her acting debut in Mani Ratnam's 1997 Tamil film Iruvar and had her first Hindi film release in Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya that same year.
5.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan achieved wider success and won two Filmfare Awards for Best Actress for her performances in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's romantic dramas Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Devdas.
6.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is a Goodwill Ambassador for the Joint United Nations Programme on AIDS.
7.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was born on 1 November 1973 into a Tulu-speaking Bunt family in Mangalore, Karnataka.
8.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's father, Krishnaraj, who died on 18 March 2017, was an Army biologist, while her mother, Vrinda, is a housewife.
9.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has one elder brother, Aditya Rai, who is an engineer in the merchant navy.
10.
The family moved to Mumbai, where Aishwarya Rai Bachchan attended the Arya Vidya Mandir High School.
11.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan 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.
12.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan trained in classical dance and music for five years during her teens.
13.
In 1991, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan won an international supermodel contest and was eventually featured in the American edition of Vogue.
14.
In 1993, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan gained huge public recognition for her appearance in a Pepsi commercial with actors Aamir Khan and Mahima Chaudhry.
15.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan continued to pursue a career as a model until she became an actress.
16.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan made her acting debut in 1997 with Mani Ratnam's Tamil film Iruvar, a semi-biographical political drama, featuring Mohanlal, Prakash Raj, Tabu and Revathi.
17.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan played Madhumita, a young woman who accompanies her ailing grandmother to the United States to seek medical attention.
18.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan played Nandini, a Gujarati woman who is forced into wedlock despite being in love with another man.
19.
Khalid Mohamed of Bombay Talkies wrote that Aishwarya Rai Bachchan "reveals an unquestionable felicity for acting" and has "that impossible combination of breathtaking beauty and brains".
20.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan next took up the leading role of Mansi, an aspiring singer, in Subhash Ghai's musical romantic drama Taal; alongside Akshay Khanna and Anil Kapoor.
21.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan received a second Best Actress nomination that year at the Filmfare Awards ceremony.
22.
In 2000, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan starred in Kandukondain Kandukondain, a Tamil language adaptation of Jane Austen's novel Sense and Sensibility.
23.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was cast as Meenakshi, the younger sister of Tabu's character.
24.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan next starred alongside Shah Rukh Khan and Chandrachur Singh in the action drama Josh.
25.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan portrayed Shirley Dias, the twin sister of Khan's character who falls in love with his arch enemy's brother.
26.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan played the role of Paro, the love interest of the protagonist.
27.
Alan Morrison, writing for Empire, praised the performances of the three leads and wrote, "Aishwarya Rai Bachchan proves she has the acting talent to back up her flawless looks".
28.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was later noted for her starring role in Rituparno Ghosh's independent Bengali film Chokher Bali, an adaptation of Rabindranath Tagore's novel of the same name.
29.
The film was a major critical success and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan earned positive notice for her performance; Derek Elley of Variety noted, "Aishwarya Rai Bachchan dominates the film with her delicately sensual presence and physical grace".
30.
The film tells the story of five constables embroiled in a mystery surrounding a terrorist attack; Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's role was that of Mahalakshmi, a gun moll.
31.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan garnered international recognition in 2004 for her starring role opposite Martin Henderson in Gurinder Chadha's British film Bride and Prejudice, a Bollywood-style adaptation of Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice.
32.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan next co-starred alongside Sanjay Dutt and Zayed Khan in the 2005 adult drama Shabd, which tells the story of an author who convinces his wife to pursue an illicit relationship with a younger man in research for his next book.
33.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is like that picture postcard you get when what you were actually waiting for is a letter.
34.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's only successful venture of 2005 was a special appearance in Shaad Ali's crime comedy Bunty Aur Babli, in which she featured in the widely popular item number "Kajra Re".
35.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan played the titular role, a character famously played by Rekha in the first film adaptation of the novel.
36.
In 2007, Rai played the wife of Abhishek Bachchan's character in Mani Ratnam's social drama Guru.
37.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan next starred alongside Naveen Andrews and Miranda Richardson in Jag Mundhra's independent British drama Provoked, as the real-life character of Kiranjit Ahluwalia, a non-resident Indian who murders her husband after suffering years of domestic abuse.
38.
That same year, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan starred alongside Ben Kingsley, Colin Firth and Thomas Sangster as the Indian warrior Mira in Doug Lefler's epic film The Last Legion.
39.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan then co-starred with her husband, Abhishek Bachchan, and her father-in-law, Amitabh Bachchan, in Ram Gopal Verma's political drama Sarkar Raj, a sequel to the 2005 box-office hit Sarkar.
40.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was cast as Anita Rajan, the CEO of an international power firm who proposes to set up a plant in rural Maharashtra.
41.
In 2010, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was cast by Mani Ratnam in his Tamil film, which is a bilingual modern-day adaptation of the Indian epic Ramayana.
42.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's role was that of Ragini, a woman married to the superintendent of police, who is kidnapped by a bandit.
43.
The Tamil version and the Hindi version of the film were shot simultaneously and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan played the same role in both the film versions.
44.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan made a comeback to Tamil cinema after a gap of 10 years with Raavanan.
45.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was cast as Sana, a college student and the girlfriend of Rajinikanth's character.
46.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan then appeared as Mala, an impetuous brat, in Vipul Shah's Action Replayy; a science fiction comedy co-starring Akshay Kumar, Aditya Roy Kapoor and Neha Dhupia.
47.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's role was that of Sophia D'Souza, Mascarenas' nurse, who is abused by her alcoholic husband.
48.
Shubha Shetty-Saha of Mid-Day criticized the film's unnecessary and intrusive melodrama and thought that Aishwarya Rai Bachchan "looks the part and even does a fairly decent job, barring certain emotional scenes where she clearly goes over the top".
49.
In 2016, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan starred in Omung Kumar's biographical drama Sarbjit.
50.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan played the role of the sister of Sarabjit Singh.
51.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan received positive reviews for her performance, despite having limited screen time.
52.
Two years later, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan played the part of a singer who is kidnapped by a troubled father in the unremarkable comedy-drama Fanney Khan.
53.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan reunited with Mani Ratnam for Ponniyin Selvan: I and Ponniyin Selvan: II, a two-part Tamil ensemble period film based on Kalki Krishnamurthy's epic novel of the same name.
54.
In 1999 Aishwarya Rai Bachchan participated in a world tour called the Magnificent Five, along with Aamir Khan, Rani Mukerji, Akshaye Khanna and Twinkle Khanna.
55.
In 2001, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan appeared in her first world tour, which was Craze 2001, a series of concerts that was performed across the US alongside Anil Kapoor, Aamir Khan, Preity Zinta and Gracy Singh.
56.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is the brand ambassador for The Eye Bank Association of India's nationwide campaign to promote eye donation in India.
57.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is involved in the functional and administrative operations of her father-in-law's company, originally known as ABCL, and rechristened as AB Corp.
58.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan appeared along with various other Bollywood actors at the closing ceremony of the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.
59.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan pledged to donate her eyes to the Eye Bank Association of India and appeared in a public awareness film on eye donation.
60.
In 2009 Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was appointed as the first Goodwill Ambassador of Smile Train, an international charity that provides free Cleft lip and palate surgery to children in need.
61.
In September 2012, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan had joined United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and renowned Hollywood actor Michael Douglas at a ceremony to commemorate the International Day of Peace in New York.
62.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan will raise global awareness on protecting children from HIV infection and increasing access to antiretroviral treatment.
63.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan made her first commercial for Camlin exam pencils when she was in the 9th grade.
64.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan became popular after appearing in a Pepsi commercial with actor Aamir Khan.
65.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is the only actress who endorsed both Pepsi and Coca-Cola.
66.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is one of the top brand ambassadors in the country and is one of the top paid Bollywood actresses in this respect.
67.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan modelled for Titan Watches, Longines watches, L'Oreal, Coca-Cola, Lakme Cosmetics, Casio pager, Philips, Palmolive, Lux, Fuji films, Nakshatra Diamond Jewellery, and Kalyan Jewellers.
68.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was named the official brand ambassador for De Beers diamonds in India.
69.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has been ranked the 2nd most popular watch brand ambassador worldwide in a survey, conducted by World Watch Report.
70.
In 1999, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan began dating Bollywood actor Salman Khan; their relationship was often reported in the media until the couple separated in 2002.
71.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan cited "abuse, infidelity and indignity" on the part of Khan as reasons for ending the relationship.
72.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan then had a romantic relationship with actor Vivek Oberoi before they broke-up in 2005.
73.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is very close to her family, and lived with them in Bandra, Mumbai, until her marriage.
74.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is commonly referred to by fans and the media by the nicknames "Ash" and "Aish", but has stated that she dislikes being called as such.
75.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has discouraged people from referring to her by names other than "Aishwarya" as she does not want to "spoil [her] good name".
76.
Rai Bachchan is one of the most popular Indian celebrities.
77.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was selected by Verve magazine in its list of the country's most powerful women.
78.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is the first Indian actress to be on the jury of the Cannes International Film Festival.
79.
In October 2004 a wax figure of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was put on display in London's Madame Tussaud's wax museum.
80.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan appeared on such shows as Late Show with David Letterman, and was the first Bollywood personality to appear on Oprah's "Women Across the Globe" segment.
81.
In May 2006, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was featured in People Magazine as one of the "World's Most Beautiful People".
82.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is the highest-ranked Indian actor on the list.
83.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan attended the 83rd Academy Awards, along with her husband, Abhishek.
84.
Rai with her husband Abhishek Bachchan appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show on 28 September 2009.
85.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is the first Indian celebrity who appeared in The Oprah Winfrey Show twice.
86.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan ranked 2nd in The Times of Indias 50 most desirable women of 2010, and ranked 9th for 2011.
87.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan received a Padma Shri in 2009 for her contribution to Indian cinema.
88.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has received two Filmfare Awards awards for Best Actress, for Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Devdas out of 11 nominations and numerous times at Screen Awards, and IIFA Awards ceremonies and others for her on-screen performances.
89.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was appointed the member of the jury of the 2003 Cannes Film Festival; she was the first Indian actress to represent her country as a jury member in the festival.