Aishwarya Rai

Rai, at the world premiere of Raavan in London, 2010
Born	1 November 1973 (age 39) Mangalore, Karnataka, India
Residence	Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Other names	Aishwarya Rai Bachchan
Occupation	Actress, model
Years active	1991–present
Spouse(s)	Abhishek Bachchan (2007–present)
Children	1
Signature

Aishwarya Rai (also known as Aishwarya Rai Bachchan after her marriage; Tulu pronunciation  born 1 November 1973) is an Indian film actress. She worked as a model before starting her acting career, and ultimately won the Miss India and Miss World pageant titles in 1994. Rai has starred in films in various languages including Hindi, English, Tamil, Telugu, and Bengali.
Often cited by the media as the "most beautiful woman in the world", Rai made her acting debut with Mani Ratnam's Tamil film Iruvar (1997) and had her first commercial success with Jeans (1998). She earned public recognition with the Hindi films Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999) and Devdas (2002), which fetched her two Best Actress awards at Filmfare.
After a series of unsuccessful films during 2003–2005, she appeared in the blockbuster action thriller Dhoom 2 (2006) and subsequently featured in such films as Guru (2007), Jodhaa Akbar (2008) and Enthiran (2010). She received critical acclaim for her performances in films like Chokher Bali (2003), Raincoat (2004), Provoked (2007) and Guzaarish (2010).Rai has thus established herself as one of the leading contemporary actresses of Indian cinema.
Rai has been in a notable relationship with Salman Khan, following which she married Abhishek Bachchan in 2007. Her off-screen roles include duties as brand ambassador for various charity organisations and campaigns. In 2009 she was honoured with the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian award given by the Government of India. Rai has been appointed as goodwill ambassador for UNAIDS in 2012. In 2012, she finally accepted the second-highest Order Of France, Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

Personal life

In 1999, Rai began dating Bollywood actor Salman Khan; their relationship was often reported in the media until the couple separated in 2001. Rai cited "abuse (verbal, physical and emotional), infidelity and indignity" on the part of Khan as reasons for ending the relationship. In a 2009 Times of India article, Khan denied ever beating her: "It's not true that I hit a woman."
Rai is married to actor Abhishek Bachchan, they met in 1997. Their engagement was announced on 14 January 2007 and later confirmed by his father, Amitabh Bachchan. The couple married on 20 April 2007 according to traditional Hindu rites of the Bunt community, to which she belongs.Token North Indian and Bengali ceremonies were also performed. The wedding took place in a private ceremony at the Bachchan residence, "Prateeksha", in Juhu, Mumbai. They have been described as a supercouple in the Indian media. Rai is very close to her family and lived with them in Bandra, Mumbai, until her marriage. Rai is Hindu and deeply religious.
Rai gave birth to a baby girl on 16 November 2011. Her daughter became quite popular by the name of "Beti B" which was christened by the fans and the media, since the couple took over four months to name their daughter. The baby girl was finally named as Aaradhya Bachchan in March 2012.

Awards & Honours

Aishwarya Rai is a two-time winner of the Filmfare Best Actress Award, and has been nominated for Filmfare Awards eleven times. She won Most Glamorous Star of the Year which is shared with Hrithik Roshan for Dhoom 2 in 2007 She won the Outstanding Achievement in International Cinema at Awards of the International Indian Film Academy in 2009,. She has won numerous times at the International Indian Film Academy Awards, Star Screen Awards, Zee Cine Awards, and others. In 2009 Rai was awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest Indian civilian award, for her contributions to Indian cinema. Later that year she was declared the Female Star of The Decade at the tenth International Indian Film Academy Awards, held in Macau. In December 2010 she was declared the "Actress of the Decade" at the BIG Star Entertainment Awards. In March 2011 Rai was honoured by Karnataka Chief Minister B. S. Yeddyurappa at World Kannada Meet (Vishwa Kannada Sammelana) for her contributions to the arts. Later that month she was presented with the "Decade of Global Achievement Honour" by FICCI. In 2012, she finally accepted the second-highest Order Of France, Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. Earlier she refused it because her father was suffering from a serious illness, and she wanted her whole family to attend the award ceremony. She is the fourth Indian actor—after Sivaji Ganesan, Nandita Das, and Shahrukh Khan—to be chosen for the award.

Filmography

Year	Title	Language	Role	Notes
1997	Iruvar	Tamil	Pushpavalli, Kalpana	Dubbed into Telugu as Iddaru
1997	Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya	Hindi	Ashi Kapoor
1998	Jeans	Tamil	Madhumita	Dubbed into Telugu and Hindi with the same title
1999	Aa Ab Laut Chalen	Hindi	Pooja
1999	Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam	Hindi	Nandini	Filmfare Best Actress Award
1999	Ravoyi Chandamama	Telugu		Special appearance
1999	Taal	Hindi	Mansi	Nominated—Filmfare Best Actress Award Dubbed into Tamil as Thaalam
2000	Mela	Hindi	Champakali	Guest appearance
2000	Kandukondain Kandukondain	Tamil	Meenakshi Bala	Dubbed into Telugu as Priyuralu Pilichindi
2000	Josh	Hindi	Shirley
2000	Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai	Hindi	Preeti Virat	Nominated—Filmfare Best Actress Award
2000	Dhaai Akshar Prem Ke	Hindi	Sahiba Grewal
2000	Mohabbatein	Hindi	Megha	Nominated—Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award
2001	Albela	Hindi	Sonia
2002	Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam	Hindi	Suman	Guest appearance
2002	Hum Kisi Se Kum Nahin	Hindi	Komal Rastogi
2002	23 March 1931: Shaheed	Hindi		Special appearance
2002	Devdas	Hindi	Parvati (Paro)	Filmfare Best Actress Award
2002	Shakti: The Power	Hindi	Herself	Special appearance in song "Ishq Kamina"
2003	Chokher Bali	Bengali	Binodhini
2003	Dil Ka Rishta	Hindi	Tia Sharma
2003	Kuch Naa Kaho	Hindi	Namrata Shrivastav
2004	Khakee	Hindi	Mahalakshmi
2004	Kyun...! Ho Gaya Na	Hindi	Diya Malhotra
2004	Bride & Prejudice	English	Lalita Bakshi	Dubbed into Hindi as Balle Balle Amritsar to LA
2004	Raincoat	Hindi	Neerja	Nominated—Filmfare Best Actress Award
2005	Shabd	Hindi	Antara Vashist/Tammana
2005	Mistress of Spices	English	Tilo
2005	Bunty Aur Babli	Hindi		Special appearance in the song "Kajra Re"
2006	Umrao Jaan	Hindi	Umrao Jaan
2006	Dhoom 2	Hindi	Sunehri	Nominated—Filmfare Best Actress Award
2007	Guru	Hindi	Sujata	Nominated—Filmfare Best Actress Award Dubbed into Tamil as Guru and Telugu as Gurukanth
2007	Provoked	English	Kiranjit Ahluwalia	Dubbed into Hindi with the same title
2007	The Last Legion	English	Mira
2008	Jodhaa Akbar	Hindi	Jodhaa Bai	Nominated—Filmfare Best Actress Award Dubbed into Tamil and Telugu with the same title
2008	Sarkar Raj	Hindi	Anita Rajan
2009	The Pink Panther 2	English	Sonia Solandres	Dubbed into French as La Pantera Rosa 2
2010	Raavan	Hindi	Ragini Sharma
2010	Raavanan	Tamil	Ragini Subramaniam	Dubbed into Telugu as Villain
2010	Enthiran	Tamil	Sana	Dubbed into Telugu as Robo and Hindi as Robot
2010	Action Replayy	Hindi	Mala
2010	Guzaarish	Hindi	Sofia D'Souza	Nominated—Filmfare Best Actress Award