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Aishwarya Rai (Kannada:
ಐಶ್ವರ್ಯಾ
ರೈ,
Hindi: ऐश्वर्या
राय;
born on November 1, 1973; Ash to fans and media) is a supermodel and an
award-winning actress from India. She is currently regarded as one of the
biggest names in Bollywood.
****
Early
life
Rai was born in Mangalore to Krishnaraj and Vrinda
Rai, in the South Indian state of Karnataka; her mother tongue is Tulu.
In the 1994 Miss India Contest Rai placed second
behind Sushmita Sen and went on to win the Miss World title.
As a professional model, Rai has appeared in many
Indian fashion magazines, including the Indian Vogue; more recently she has
featured in international ads for L'Oréal, De Beers Diamonds, and Coca-Cola.
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 came 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.
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.
Rai is now said to be signed for another Hollywood
movie, Rolland Joffe's project Singularity. She will star opposite Brendan
Fraser.
She is in the cast for The Last Legion co-starring
Colin Firth and Ben Kingsley.
She recently (summer of 2005) completed filming on
director Jagmohan Mundhra's film Provoked. She is co-starring with Nandita Das.
The film was shot mainly in Britain.
Personal life
Earlier in her career, Aishwarya was involved in a
high profile, allegedly turbulent relationship with Bollywood star Salman Khan.
It apparently caused her to be dropped from a Shah Rukh Khan film when Salman's
supposedly numerous and rowdy visits disrupted filming and Shah Rukh's personal
safety.
Since then she has been romantically linked to
rising star Vivek Oberoi and film dynasty scion Abhishek Bachchan.
[added by PSP 1/25/07 - Aishwary Rai and Abhishek
Bachchan got engaged.]
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.
She has also won three IIFA Awards, three Z-Gold
Awards, four Screen Awards, one Filmgoers Award, three Zee Cine Awards and a
Rajiv Gandhi Award.
Trivia
Was positioned at number 3 in the Filmfare Top Ten
Actress' List.
Praised by several people, including Julia Roberts
and film critic Roger Ebert as the most beautiful woman in the world.
Canadian supermodel Linda Evangelista is reported
to have called her "stunning".
She is said to have been offered a stint as a
runway model for Roberto Cavalli.
Was featured in over 50 music videos in only seven
years.
Is the highest paid actress in the Bollywood film
industry.
Loves to collect watches.
Was featured in the 2004 edition of the Guinness
Book of World Records.
L'Oréal signed her as its new international brand
ambassador, on April 2003.
Is fluent in languages such as English, Hindi/Urdu,
Kannada, and Tamil.
Filmography
Aishwarya's films are in Hindi, except where noted
below.
1997 : Iruvar by Mani Ratnam (in Tamil) (Telugu
title: Iddaru)
1997 : Aur Pyar Ho Gaya by Rahul Rawail
1998 : Jeans by S. Shankar (in Tamil)
1999 : Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam by Sanjay Leela
Bhansali (Filmfare Best Actress Award)
1999 : Aa Ab Laut Chalein by Rishi Kapoor
1999 : Taal by Subhash Ghai
2000 : Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai by Satish Kaushik
2000 : Mohabbatein by Aditya Chopra (cameo)
2000 : Dhai Akshar Prem Ke by Raj Kanwa
2000 : Josh by Mansoor Khan
2000 : Kandukondain Kandukondain by Rajiv Menon (in
Tamil)
2000 : Sanam Tere Hain Hum by Jayant Paranji
(special appearance)
2001 : Albela by Deepak Sareen
2002 : Devdas by Sanjay Leela Bhansali (Filmfare
Best Actress Award)
2002 : Hum Kisise Kum Nahin by David Dhawan
2002 : Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam by K.S. Adiyaman
(special appearance)
2002 : 23rd March 1931 : Shaheed by Guddu Dhanoa
2002 : Shakti (movie) by Krishna Vamshi (special
appearance)
2003 : Kuch Na Kaho by Rohan Sippy
2002 : Nee Kidappen Njan Adippen: The Power by
Krishna Vamshi
2003 : Dil Ka Rishta by Naresh Malhotra
2003 : Chokher Bali by Rituparno Ghosh (in Bengali)
2003 : Khakee by Rajkumar Santoshi
2004 : Kyun...! Ho Gaya Na by Samir Karnik
2004 : Bride and Prejudice by Gurinder Chadha (in
English)
2004 : Raincoat by Rituparno Ghosh
2005 : Shabd by Leena Yadav
2005 : Bunty Aur Babli by Shaad Ali (special
appearance)
2005 : The Heart of India by Ganapathy Bharat (in
English)
2005 : Mistress of Spices by Paul Mayeda Berges (in
English)
2006 : Provoked by Jagmohan Mundhra (in English)
(filming)
2006 : Dhoom 2 by Sanjay Gadhvi (filming)
2006 : Umrao Jaan by J.P. Dutta (filming)
2006 : Singularity by Roland Joffé (in English)
2006 : Akbar-Jodha by Ashutosh Gowariker
(pre-production)
2006 : The Last Legion by Doug Lefler (in English)
2006: "Chaos" by Coline Serreau (in English)
****
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