All about Aishwarya Rai

Aishwarya Rai was born in the south Indian state of Karnataka in Mangalore on 1st Nov 1973. She was younger of the two siblings, her brother being 3 yrs elder. When she was about 4 years old her family moved to Bombay permanently. Her father worked as a merchant navy officer. Aishwarya did her schooling at Arya Vidya Mandir, Santacruz. Academically, she did very well and earned her position as the head girl of her school. Ash chose the science stream while at DG Ruparel College, her favorite subject being Zoology. Aishwarya wanted to do medicine, but circumstances didn't let her. Instead she chose Architecture and passed the interview at Raheja College with flying colors. By this time, Aishwarya had started getting modelling assignments. She then decided to take a break from architecture and concentrate on modelling. From that point there was no looking back. Ash became a household name with the pepsi ad campaign. She was crowned Miss Femina World and went on to win the Miss world title at Sun City in 1994. Ash had now joined the Bollywood film industry and working under many prestigious banners.

Her film debut in Mani Rathnam’s ‘Iruvar’ (1997) received critical acclaim and her performance in Rahul Rawail’s ‘…Aur Paar Ho Gaya’ (1997) garnered her the Best Female Debutante Award. In 2000 she was awarded Best Actress by FilmFare and Zee Cine for her work in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s “Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam”, in that same year, nominated for Best SUPPORTING Actress for her special appearance in Aditya Chopra’s MOHABBATEIN. In 2001 Ash was nominated for FilmFare’s Best Actress Award for Satish Kaushik’s “Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai”.

Ash’s star continued to rise in 2002 working again with Sajay Leela Bhansali in ‘Devdas’. ‘Devdas’ is the most ambitious and most successful film in Bollywood history. It became the first Bollywood picture to ever receive a special screening at this year’s Cannes Film Festival and broke box-office records in India and the United States. Daily Variety’s (06/12/02) Derek Elley describes ‘Devdas’ as “…some of the most sumptuous production values in Bollywood history…” Elley describes Ash as “almost Audrey Hepburn-like”, Moulin Rouge director Baz Luhrmann says “I loved her in Devdas” and Julia Roberts calls her “the world’s most beautiful woman”.