Bollywood Celebrities

Aishwarya Rai (born November 1, 1973) is an Indian actress and former fashion model. She was awarded the Miss World title in 1994. Aishwarya Rai has acted in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali and English films.

Early life

Aishwarya Rai was born in Mangalore, in the South Indian state of Karnataka, to Krishnaraj Rai, a marine engineer, and Vrinda Rai, a writer. Her ancestors are from the Bunt community of Mangalore. Her family later relocated to Mumbai. Rai has one brother, Aditya Rai, who is three years older than she is. Aditya is in the merchant navy, and has also co-produced a film with Rai in the lead.

Her native language is Tulu ; she also speaks English, Hindi, and Tamil.

Attended the Arya Vidya Mandir at Santacruz, Mumbai, then entered Ruparel College, Matunga, Mumbai. She was an A student and was on track to become an architect.

Rai began modeling on the side while studying architecture. She was a contestant in the Miss India 1994 pageant, which she lost to Sushmita Sen but later went on to win the Miss World title that same year.
Career

Aishwarya Rai debuted in Mani Ratnam's critically acclaimed Tamil language film, Iruvar with Mohanlal and Tabu. She played a double-role in the film. She was introduced to Bollywood by Rahul Rawail in the film, Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya; the film was a poor performer at the box office. However, her third project, a Tamil-language film, Jeans by S. Shankar was a critical success. She then appeared in popular films Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999) and Mohabbatein (2000). In 2002, Rai appeared with superstars Shah Rukh Khan and Madhuri Dixit in the lavishly produced Devdas, which was a major box-office success. The film attracted overseas attention as well, receiving a special screening at the Cannes Film Festival and garnering international attention.

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." She was the subject of a 60 Minutes profile on January 2, 2005 - "The Most Beautiful Face 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.

In the past, Indian actors and actresses were celebrities in South Asia, Central Asia, and the Middle East, but mostly unknown to the rest of the world. Aishwarya is one of the few Indian actresses to have attempted to step into Western territory. 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, when British director Gurinder Chadha hired her to play the heroine in Bride and Prejudice, a Hollywood-funded but Bollywood influenced version of Jane Austen's classic novel, Pride and Prejudice.

Her next overseas venture, Mistress of Spices, written by Gurinder Chadha and her husband Paul Mayeda Berges, from the novel by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni and directed by Berges, was released in the U.K. in April 2006 but turned out to be a flop everywhere.

Personal life

Aishwarya Rai usually prefers not to talk to the media about her personal life. All the details mentioned in this section are based on what was reported by the media and have not been confirmed by Ms Rai, except as otherwise indicated.

Rai began dating Salman Khan, her co-star from Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, after the filming of that movie. Their breakup a few years later generated a substantial amount of press attention. Rai has also been linked to her co-star Vivek Oberoi in the past. Recently, much media attention has focused on Aishwarya alleged romantic involvement with fellow Bollywood celebrity Abhishek Bachchan. Recently,she was spotted with Amitabh Bachaan family at Kasi Vishwanath temple for conducting pooja.

As a practicing Hindu, she has described herself as having "immense faith in its Gods", and when at home she attends the Siddhivinayak Mandir, devoted to Lord Ganesh. Rai lives in Mumbai with her parents.

Awards

Rai has won two Filmfare Awards to date:

* 2000, Filmfare Best Actress Award, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam
* 2002, Filmfare Best Actress Award, Devdas

She has been nominated four times in the Best Actress category and once in the Best Supporting Actress category at the Filmfare Awards. She has also won three IIFA Awards, three Z-Gold Awards, four Star Screen Awards, an EU's Global Diversity Award, three Zee Cine Awards and a Rajiv Gandhi Award.

Trivia

* Stands 5 foot 7 inches tall.

* The song "Kajra Re", which Rai performed in the film Bunty Aur Babli, was voted best song of 2005 and best choreographed song of 2005 in a poll by the Hindustan Times.

* Appeared at the Closing Ceremony of the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, as part of a performance showcasing Indian culture, on behalf of the 2010 Commonwealth Games, to be held in New Delhi. For her three-minute dance performance, Rai was reportedly paid three crore rupees, the equivalent of about 600,000 U.S. dollars.[citation needed]

* When the IFFA awards took place in Amsterdam, Aishwarya had a breed of tulip named after her as well.

* Has Blue-green eyes.

Source - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aishwarya_Rai

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