Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan or Aishwarya Bachchan[1] (Birthname: Aishwarya Rai, Tulu: ಐಶ್ವರ್ಯಾ ರೈ) born 1 November 1973 is an Indian actress and ...
Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan or Aishwarya Bachchan[1] (Birthname: Aishwarya Rai, Tulu: ಐಶ್ವರ್ಯಾ ರೈ) born 1 November 1973 is an Indian actress and former Miss World. Before starting her acting career, she worked as a model and gained fame after winning the Miss World title in 1994.
Rai, who made her movie debut in Mani Ratnam's Tamil film Iruvar (1997), had her first commercial success in the Tamil movie Jeans (1998), which earned her a Filmfare Best Actress Award South. She came to the attention of Bollywood in the movie Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999), directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Her performance in the film won her the Filmfare Best Actress Award. In 2002 she appeared in Bhansali's next project, Devdas (2002), for which she won her second Best Actress Award at the Filmfare. After a low phase in her career during 2003-2005, she appeared in the blockbuster Dhoom 2 (2006), which turned out to be her biggest commercial success. She later appeared in films like Guru (2007) and Jodhaa Akbar (2008), which were commercially successful and got her critical acclaim. Rai has thus established herself as one of the leading contemporary actresses in the Indian film industry.
During her career, Rai has acted in over forty movies in Hindi, English, Tamil and Bengali including the international productions Bride & Prejudice (2003), Mistress of Spices (2005), The Last Legion (2007) and The Pink Panther 2 (2009) in English.
Early life
Rai was born in Mangalore to Krishnaraj Rai and Vrinda Rai. Her family belongs to the Bunt community of Mangalore. She has one elder brother, Aditya Rai and he works in Navy and also co-produced one of Rai's movies, Dil Ka Rishta (2003). At an early age her parents moved to Mumbai where she attended the Arya Vidya Mandir high school in Santa Cruz. Rai then entered Jai Hind College at Churchgate for one year, and then moved to Ruparel College in Matunga to finish her "HSC" studies. She did well in school and planned to become an architect and went on pursuing studies in architecture. She can communicate in several languages, including her mother tongue Tulu,[2] as well as Hindi, English, Marathi and Tamil.[3] She started studying architecture.
Miss World
While pursuing her studies in architecture, Rai began modeling on the side. In the 1994 Miss India contest, she won the second place behind Sushmita Sen, and was crowned Miss India World. She went on to win the Miss World title the same year, where she also won the Miss Photogenic award. She abandoned her studies after winning the pageant and spent one year reigning as Miss World in London. Rai then started working as a professional model and then moved on to her current profession as an actress.
Film career
[edit] Early career
Rai made her acting debut in Mani Ratnam's Tamil film, Iruvar (1997) with Mohanlal,[4] and was introduced to Bollywood in the film, Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya opposite Bobby Deol, which also released that year; the film did not do well at the box office.[5] However, her third project, S. Shankar's Tamil film, Jeans (1998) was a critical and commercial success, earning her the Filmfare Best Actress Award South. The film, which portrayed Rai in a dual role, took Rai two years to complete.
Success, (1999-2005)
Aishwarya along with her husband Abhishek Bachchan and other cast of Guru in a still from the film.In 1999 Ash starred in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, the film won the critical acclaim and turned out to be the first Bollywood Box office success for her, it also earned the actress her first Filmfare Best Actress Award. In the same year she appeared in Subhash Ghai's Taal , the film was a big success among the international audience, especially in the United States, where it became the first Indian film to reach the top 20 on Variety's box office list.[6] the film gave her another nomination for Best Actress at the Filmfare; her performances in both the films earned her critical acclaim.[7] In 2000, she played a supporting role in the hit films Mohabbatein and Josh. Later that year, she starred in the Tamil film Kandukondain Kandukondain, which won her positive reviews. In 2002, Rai appeared alongside Shahrukh Khan and Madhuri Dixit in Sanjay Leela Bansali's lavishly produced Devdas. The film attracted Bollywood fans all over the world, receiving a special screening at the Cannes Film Festival.[8] It was during this time that she garnered the attention of the West as an Indian actress and went on to appear in the Hollywood projects. Devdas went on to become the highest grossing film of the year both in India[9] and overseas,[10] earning the actress her second Filmfare Best Actress Award.
In 2003, she acted in the critically acclaimed and commercial successful Bengali film, Chokher Bali, an adaptation of one of Rabindranath Tagore's novels by the same name.[11] However, all of her projects after (Chokher Bali except Khakee (2004), which was a moderate success failed at the box office,this included her domestic projects like Shabd, Kuch Naa Kaho, Kyun...! Ho Gaya Na and Raincoat as well as her international projects like Bride and Prejudice and Mistress of Spices.
Rai has been a regular at the Cannes Film Festival since 2002, and was a member of the Jury at Cannes in the year 2003. In The same month, her first foreign film, Bride and Prejudice released. The film was an Indian version of Jane Austen's classic novel Pride and Prejudice. Her next overseas venture was The Mistress of Spices which did not perform well at the box office. After a number of consecutive dissapointments at the box office, she then appeared at the closing ceremony of the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, as part of a performance showcasing Indian art, on behalf of the 2010 Commonwealth Games, to be held in New Delhi. In between her overseas acting stints, she appeared in the Indian film Bunty Aur Babli in a hugely popular[citation needed] seven minute dance sequence for the song "Kajra Re".
(2006-present)
Aishwarya Rai and Rajinikanth at the Machu Pichu, Peru site during a song picturization for EndhiranIn the year 2006, she had two releases: Umrao Jaan and Dhoom 2. While the former did poorly in India, her role in the latter, which was a sequel to the 2004 hit movie Dhoom brought her great attention. The film went on to become the biggest hit of the year and the highest grosser(unadjusted for inflation) till Om Shanti Om came out in 2007.[12] Though the film also sparked a controversy for a scene containing a kiss between her and Hrithik Roshan.[13] For her performance, she received nominations for Best Actress at a number of award ceremonies, including Filmfare. 2007 saw the release of Mani Ratnam's Guru which premiered in Toronto. The film, based on the life of Indian businessman Dhirubhai Ambani, was critically acclaimed and did well at the box office.[14] Provoked, based on the book Circle of Light where she portrays a real life character, was released on 6 April 2007 in India and the UK. The biographical movie portrays the life of Kiranjit Ahluwalia who faced severe domestic violence. At the end of April 2007, her first American film, The Last Legion released in Russia and the Netherlands and later opened in North American theaters in August 2007 disappointingly.[15] In 2008, she starred alongside Hrithik Roshan in Ashutosh Gowariker's historical drama Jodhaa Akbar playing the role of Jodha Bai, the wife of the Mughal emperor Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar, played by Roshan; and also co-starred with husband Abhishek Bachchan and her father-in-law Amitabh Bachchan in Sarkar Raj, playing the CEO of a major power company proposing to establish a new power plant in rural Maharashtra.
Rai returned to the Tamil film industry and is working with Rajinikanth for the movie Endhiran, directed by S. Shankar, in an interview to the news channel Aaj Tak she confirmed a fee of Rs 6 crores for the film, making her the highest paid actress in India.[16] She is also slated to co-star with Vikram in Mani Ratnam's next film, Ashokavanam which is also to be simultaneously made in Hindi, titled Raavan, with Abhishek Bachchan in the lead.[17] She has recently signed on to appear in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's next film opposite Hrithik Roshan,[18] Vipul Shah's next film opposite Akshay Kumar, Abhinay Deo's next film produced by Farhan Akhtar and Vishal Bharadwaj's next directorial venture.[19]
In 2009 Rai was awarded a Padma Shri for her contributions to Indian cinema.[20] In the same year she refused to accept the second-highest Order Of France, Ordre des Arts et des Lettres as her father was suffering from serious illness, and she wanted her whole family to attend the award function.[21] She is only the fourth Indian actor after Amitabh Bachchan, Nandita Das and Shahrukh Khan to be chosen for an Order Of France .[22]
[edit] Other work
In 2003 she became the first Indian actress to be a jury member at the Cannes Film Festival.[23]
In 2004 she travelled all the way to Siachen Glacier, which at a height of 13000 ft is the highest battlefield in the world, to boost the morale of the jawans for a special New Year episode on the NDTV show, Jai Jawan.[24]
In 2005 she became a brand ambassador for Pulse Polio, a campaign established by the Government of India in 1994 to eradicate Polio in India.[25]
In 2008 she along with her family laid the foundation of a special school for underprivilged girls in the Daulatpur village in Uttar Pradesh.The school will be made by her family and is going to be named after her.[26]
In Summer 2008, Rai joined her husband and father-in-law along with Preity Zinta, Shilpa Shetty, Ritesh Deshmukh and Madhuri Dixit on the Unforgettable World Tour. The first leg of the tour covered the USA, Canada, London, and Trinidad. The second leg of the tour will most likely happen by the end of this year 2008. Amitabh's company AB Corp Ltd. along with Wizcraft International Entertainment Pvt. Ltd are behind the concert.[27]
[edit] Relationships and personal life
Aishwarya Rai with her husband Abhishek Bachchan at the IIFA Awards (2007).Aishwarya has previously dated Bollywood actors Salman Khan and Vivek Oberoi. She is now married to Indian actor Abhishek Bachchan who is three years her junior. After much speculation concerning their relationship, her engagement to Abhishek Bachchan was announced on January 14, 2007. The announcement was later confirmed by Amitabh Bachchan.[28] Rai married Bachchan on April 20, 2007 according to traditional Hindu rites of the South Indian 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. Though the wedding was a private affair intended for the Bachchan and Rai family and friends, the involvement of the media turned it into it a national extravaganza.
[edit] International media
Rai has been the most popular face of Indian cinema globally. In 2004 she was chosen by Time magazine as one of the World's "100 Most Influential People",[29] and appeared on the cover of Time magazine, Asia Edition in 2003.[30] She was the subject of a 60 Minutes profile on 2 January 2005, which said that "at least according to thousands of Web sites, Internet polls and even Julia Roberts", she was "The World's Most Beautiful Woman".[31] In October 2004 a wax figure of Rai was put on display in London's Madame Tussaud's wax museum.[32] She was the 6th Indian and the second Bollywood personality after her father-in-law Amitabh Bachchan to get this honour.
In 2005 she became a global brand ambassador of L'Oreal alongside Andie Macdowell, Eva Longoria and Penelope Cruz. The same year, a special Tulip in Netherland was named "Aishwarya Rai" after her.[33] Rai became the first Indian to appear on such shows as Late Show with David Letterman, and was the first Bollywood personality to appear on Oprah's "Women Across the Globe" segment. In 2005, Harpers and Queen's list of 10 Most beautiful women in the world ranked her at the 9th spot.[34]
[edit] Awards and nominations
Main article: List of Aishwarya Rai's awards and nominations
[edit] Filmography
Year Title Language Role Notes
1997 Iruvar Tamil Pushpa/Kalpana First Dual Role
Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya Hindi Ashi Kapoor
1998 Jeans Tamil Madhumitha/Vaishnavi Winner, Filmfare Best Actress Award South
India's official entry to the Oscars
1999 Aa Ab Laut Chalen Hindi Pooja
Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam Hindi Nandini Winner, Filmfare Best Actress Award
Ravoyi Chandamama Telugu Cameo appearance
Taal Hindi Mansi Nominated, Filmfare Best Actress Award
2000 Mela Hindi Champakali Cameo appearance
Kandukondain Kandukondain Tamil Meenakshi Bala
Josh Hindi Shirley
Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai Hindi Preeti Virat Nominated, Filmfare Best Actress Award
Dhaai Akshar Prem Ke Hindi Sahiba Grewal
Mohabbatein Hindi Megha Nominated, Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award
2001 Albela Hindi Sonia
2002 Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam Hindi Suman Cameo appearance
Hum Kisi Se Kum Nahin Hindi Komal Rastogi
23rd March 1931: Shaheed Hindi Cameo appearance
Devdas Hindi Parvati (Paro) Winner, Filmfare Best Actress Award
India's official entry to the Oscars
Shakti: The Power Hindi Aishwarya Rai Cameo appearance
2003 Chokher Bali Bengali Binodhini
Dil Ka Rishta Hindi Tia Sharma
Kuch Naa Kaho Hindi Namrata Shrivastav
2004 Bride & Prejudice English Lalita Bakshi
Khakee Hindi Mahalakshmi
Kyun...! Ho Gaya Na Hindi Diya Malhotra
Raincoat Hindi Neerja Nominated, Filmfare Best Actress Award
2005 Shabd Hindi Antara Vashist
Bunty Aur Babli Hindi Special appearance in the song Kajra Re
Mistress of Spices English Tilo
2006 Umrao Jaan Hindi Umrao Jaan
Dhoom 2 Hindi Sunehri Nominated, Filmfare Best Actress Award
2007 Guru Hindi Sujata Nominated, Filmfare Best Actress Award
Provoked English/Hindi Kiranjit Ahluwalia
The Last Legion English Mira
2008 Jodhaa Akbar Hindi Jodhabai Nominated, Filmfare Best Actress Award
Sarkar Raj Hindi Anita
2009 The Pink Panther 2 English Sonia Solandres
Raavan Hindi Filming
Ashokavanam Tamil Filming
2010 Endhiran Tamil Sharmilli Filming
COMMENTS