Woman of the year :Aishwarya Rai

She's the woman people love to hate. Reason? She is the epitome of beauty and success. She has been blessed with good looks, a brain that she uses, elegant decorum, and the art of saying the right things at the right time. She is a successful actor, what with hits like Guru and the critically acclaimed Jodhaa Akbar under her belt. And there's more. She is now a part of the Bachchan household. Daughter-in-law to Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan, and wife to Abhishek Bachchan, Mrs. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan occupies an enviable position today.

And that's why most tend to whish her off. They comment on her 'plastic face', her 'irritating giggling-syndrome', her 'much practiced behaviour', her 'boring diplomacy', and mock her when she is in the company of her in-laws and hubby playing the family woman to the hilt. However, it's for all the above mentioned reasons that we intend to salute Aishwarya today – on Woman's Day. We call her the Balancer, for she balances her professional life with her personal so beautifully. And we swear, that every woman who despises her does so because somewhere deep inside she knows that she can never get there, and every man who claims that she isn't the woman, does so because he can't have her, and because she is beyond 'realism', too perfect to be true.

She refuses to be dragged into controversies. She let's her 'rivals' and 'contemporaries' do all the talking – for or against her – while she quietly performs her duties as an actor and a homemaker conscientiously with panache, grit and dedication. And for all this and more, Aishwarya needs to be applauded.

She has shone more than any other actor (female) in the year gone by. 2007 opened to a 'good house' with Mani Ratnam's Guru receiving critical claim. While Abhishek played the unintended role of Dhirubhai role to the hilt in the film, Ash did well as his 'supporting actor'- literally and figuratively speaking.

Jag Mundhra's Provoked also provoked the critics to right a good word or two about the talented actor. Ash, with these two roles, proved that she could do more than just look good. Sans external embellishments, she ornamented the screen with worthy performances.

Then came the big fat Indian wedding. Undeterred Aishwarya did the most daring thing an Indian actor can do. On April 20, she tied the knot, not caring for the repurcussions marriage can have on a flourishing career, especially in India. While most actors (female) entered the state of oblivion soon after becoming Missus , Ash continues to act and makes her presence felt, unlike many others, whose absence from the big screen doesn't hurt too much.

The girl was then in the news for having been roped in to play a to-die-for role in Ram Gopal Verma's Sarkar Raj , her international project Pink Panther , and then of course the introduction of her wax statue at Madame Tussauds in Times Square, New York in September 2007.

To add to her success as an actor, and to pay a tribute to her beauty, Ben Kingsley roped in Ash to play his ladylove Mumtaz Mahal in his production venture Taj Mahal . The film will be shot in Fatehpur Sikri and Agra sometime this year.

And just as we thought that the year couldn't get better, and a woman can't do more than this, the Bachchan family performed yet another wonder. Amitabh Bachchan laid the foundation of a girl's college in the name of Aishwarya Rai. The college will be located in Barabaki, Uttar Pradesh.

Phew...More recently Ash outshone in Jodhaa Akbar as the strong and exquisite Jodhaa... who Akbar would be absolutely incomplete without. As we end this article with a salutation to Aishwarya the complete actor, homemaker, individual...a woman of substance who stands tall and stands her own...with much grace and dignity!

And there are miles to go...and accolades to be won, and for Ash, we're sure, the year has just begun.