Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (born 1 November 1973 in Mangalore) is an Indian actress and former Miss World. Before starting her acting career, she worked as a model and become world famous after winning the Miss World title in 1994. During her career, Aishwarya has acted in over forty movies in Hindi,Tamil, Bengali and English.In 1997, Aishwarya made her acting debut in Mani Ratnam’s Tamil biopic film, Iruvar , for which she received rave reviews for her performance. In that same year Aishwarya made her Bollywood debut in the film, Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya opposite Bobby Deol which garnered her the Best Female Debutante Award for her performance.
In 1998, Aishwarya starred in S. Shankar’s Tamil film, Jeans, a commercial success which garnered Aishwarya her first best actress Filmfare award (south) for her performance.
1999 Was the year when Aishwarya made her mark in Bollywood. Aishwarya starred in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s super hit Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam which garnered her critical acclaim and many awards for her outstanding performance as Nandani. In the same year she appeared in Subhash Ghai’s Taal, the film was a success among the Indian and International audiences. Aishwarya’s performance and dance in the film garnered her much critical acclaim.
In 2000, Aishwarya appeared in Mansoor Khan’s Josh alongside Shahrukh Khan and Chandrachur Singh, in which she played a Catholic girl. The film was a commercial success and Aishwarya received positive reviews for her performance. Later that year she appeared in Satish Kaushik’s Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai opposite Anil Kapoor. Movie was a success and her performance earned Aishwarya critical acclaim and best actress nominations. Later that year she played a surprise supporting role in Aditya Chopra’s Mohabbatein alongside Amitabh Bachchan and Shahrukh Khan. The film was a major commercial success and became the second-highest grosser of the year. It garnered Aishwarya critical acclaim for her performance and earned her a Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award nomination. Later that year, she starred in the Tamil film Kandukondain Kandukondain (based on Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility )alongside Mammooty, Ajith Kumar and Tabu. The film was a big box office success and Aishwarya received critical acclaim for her spunky portray as Meenakshi (Meenu). To this day the film is loved by Jane Austen fans all over and has helped introduced many international audiences to Indian films.
2002 Was a big year for Aishwarya as she appeared alongside Shahrukh Khan and Madhuri Dixit in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Devdas. Aishwarya played the role of Paro (Parvati), the love interest of the protagonist, played by Khan. The film was the official selection at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. Devdas became the highest-grossing film of the year in both India and overseas. Aishwarya received many nominations and awards for her beautiful performance in the film. The dance sequence between Aishwarya and screen legend Madhuri Dixit went on to become an iconic dance in Indian movies. Devdas is the film that helped Aishwarya gain more attention of an international audience.
In 2003 , Aishwarya starred in Rituparno Ghosh’s National Award winning Bengali film Chokher Bali, an adaptation of Rabindranath Tagore’s novel by the same name. She portrayed the classic character of a young woman called Binodini, the film won her rave reviews and critical acclaim. That same year she also appeared in Rohan Sippy’s Kuch Na Kaho alongside Abhishek Bachchan, the movie was above average at the box office but Aishwarya received good reviews for her acting.
Aishwarya did her first English film in 2004, Gurinder Chadha’s Bollywood-style English adaptation of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Bride and Prejudice alongside Martin Henderson. In the film Aishwarya portrayed the role of Lalita Bakshi, the film’s counterpart of Elizabeth Bennet in Austen’s novel. The film was big success and the western critics loved Aishwarya. This film brought even more attention to Aishwarya in the International arena. That same year Aishwarya also starred in Rajkumar Santoshi’s Khakee alongside Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgan .In the film she played a negative role for the first time in her career and received positive reviews. Later that year Aishwarya appeared in her second film with Rituparno Ghosh, A national award wining Raincoat alongside Ajay Devgan. The film was highly acclaimed by the critics, with Aishwarya receiving rave reviews for her performance, nominations for best actress and Best Actress Critcs award at Zee Cine Award.
In 2005, Aishwarya appeared in Shabd a film based on a love triangle alongside Sanjay Dutt and Zayed Khan. The film did not do well at the box office but Aishwarya got critical acclaim for her performance. Later in the year Aishwarya appeared in Paul Mayeda Berges’s The Mistress of Spices based upon the novel The Mistress of Spices by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni in which she starred alongside Dylan McDermott. That same year she made a special appearance in Shaad Ali’s Bunty Aur Babli in a hugely popular seven-minute dance sequence for the song “Kajra Re”, alongside Amitabh Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan. The song was named Song of the Year and went on to become an iconic song in Indian movies.
In 2006, Aishwarya portrayed the classic character of Umrao Jaan in the J.P Dutta film of the same name. The film did not do well in India but was a success in overseas. Aishwarya’s performance in the film was generally well received by critics and audience. Later that year Aishwarya appeared in Yash Raj Film Dhoom 2. The film turned out to be a blockbuster and became the highest grossing film of the year in India. It was also her first screen appearance opposite Hrithik Roshan making it the start of a popular screen couple. Aishwarya got her a sixth nomination for Filmfare Best Actress Award.
She appeared in Mani Ratnam’s Guru in 2007. The film was both a critical and commercial success. Aishwarya received critical acclaim for her performance and many critics called it her careers best. Aishwarya received many best actress nominations for her terrific performance in the film. In that same year Aishwarya appeared in the English film Provoked where she played the real life character, Kiranjit Ahluwalia, a woman who suffered at the hands of her husband. The film received positive reviews by both western and Indian critics and Aishwarya received applauds for her harrowing performance. Later that year Aishwarya starred in Doug Lefler’s epic Hollywood film The Last Legion alongside Sir Ben Kingsley, Colin Firth and Thomas Sangster. The film wasn’t a box office success but Aishwarya got the chance to play a warrior and display her sword fighting talents.
In 2008, Aishwarya starred alongside Hrithik Roshan in Ashutosh Gowariker’s historical drama Jodhaa Akbar where she played the titte role of Rajput princess Jodhaa. The film was a critical and commercial success and was awarded several Best Film Awards. Aishwarya’s performance in the film was highly praised by the critics and audience. Later in the year she co-starred with husband Abhishek Bachchan and father-in-law Amitabh Bachchan in Ram Gopal Verma’s Sarkar Raj the movie was commercially and critically success. Aishwarya got her glowing reviews for her performance in the film.
In 2009, She appeared in Hollywood film The Pink Panther 2 alongside Hollywood names such as Steve Martin , John Cleese, Lily Tomlin, Andy Garcia and Jeremy Irons. Aishwarya played criminology expert, Sonia Solandres. The movie was a commercial success worldwide and Aishwarya received positive reviews for her performance in the film.
2010 was a busy year for Aishwarya where she saw the release of 4 big films. She was the leading lady of Mani Ratnam’s bi lingual film Raavan & Raavanan. In Raavan she starred opposite her husband actor Abhishek Bachchan and in Raavanan she starred opposite South superstar Vikram. Hindi film critics gave Raavan mixed reviews while its Tamil counterpart (Raavanan) was received much more warmly by the critics and media. The film was received warmly in the west and was showcased at various film festivals around the world. Aishwarya’s gritty performance as Ragini (Sita) in the movie was overall appreciated by critics. The Hindi version did not work at the box office while the Tamil version was declared much more successful. In her next release Aishwarya starred opposite superstar Rajnikanth in the Tamil film Endhiran – The Robot. The film was also dubbed in Hindi and Telugu. The film was declared the biggest blockbuster in the history of Indian cinema breaking box office records all over. The movie garnered positive reviews from all over and created huge buzz in the media and audiences for its first of its kind SFX. Aishwarya played a glamour role after a long time and proved again there’s no one like her in Indian cinema. Later in the year Aishwarya starred in Vipul Shah’s film Action Replayy opposite Akshay Kumar which was both a critical and commercial failure. Aishwarya new avatar in the movie as tough talking Mala was appreciated by the audience and critics. Aishwarya’s last release of the year was Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Guzaarish opposite Hrithik Roshan. This was Aishwarya’s 3rd outing with Bhansali after her award winning performances in Hum Dil Se Chuke Sanam and Devdas. It was also her 3rd outing opposite Roshan after Dhoom 2 and Jodhaa Akbar. The film received positive reviews from critics and viewers for its touching and beautiful story of Ethan and Sofia. The year ended with a positive note.