Aishwarya as Filmfare knows her down

Aishwarya Rai : Quote in the act

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan as Filmfare knows her… down the years

"If I'd done Raja Hindustani, I wouldn't have become Miss India or Miss World. So you see, you win some, you lose some."

"If I make some heroines insecure and they react violently, I can't be blamed for it. I've been a sitting target for very many but I have never hit back at the viciousness. I don't seek revenge. I don't react. I merely act."

"Today everyone is open about cosmetic enhancements. No one bats an eyelid before going in for nips, tucks and liposuctions… Having said that let me admit, it's a problem when beauty becomes an obsession with some and they mess around with what's naturally endowed."

"Sure, I want my knight in shining armour. No let's reverse that. Maybe I'll rescue Mr Charming from a sizzling temptress. And the camera will zoom in as we ride into the golden sunset. Ha! How's that for a happy ending?"

--August 1997--

"At the risk of sounding conceited, I must say fame isn't new to me. This is the third crest in my life – the first was modelling, the second was wining the Miss World Title and now doing well in the movies.""I am my best friend. At the end of the day, I have only myself to turn to. I know who and what's
best for me."

--SEPTEMBER 1997--

"I don't think I have ever been called a bimbette or an air head. Even when I joined films, much was made about my being a student of architecture. During my tenure as Miss World, I was looked upon as a cultural ambassador for India rather than just someone who had won a beauty contest. Sometimes I feel I'm still wearing the crown."

"I have a ferocious work ethic. I'm like the Terminator. I won't stop till I win. I'm driven. Be it about my costumes, my scripts…everything must be perfect."

"You know, even in school and college, when girls were putting up posters of Tom Cruise and Mel Gibson, I wondered what the fuss was all about. I have never been starry-eyed about men or celebrities. I actually started liking Tom Cruise only after I saw him in Jerry McGuire. You can call me a late bloomer."

"Sorry to sound persecuted but I have been at the receiving end ever since I can remember. It was said that I'm snooty, a cold fish. I've even been called manipulative. Sweeping statements were made in the press that I was lousy in my screen tests, that I'd never make it. When my films flopped it was said that I had proved unlucky for filmmkers like Mani Ratnam and Shankar. All that hurt a lot."

"I hear Sanjay Leela Bhansali has said that he cast me as Paro because he could see in my eyes, the personal pain that I was going through. I just hope he's happy with my Paro."

--SEPTEMBER 1999--

"I was very greedy about every minute there, I was this owl. As it is, Shah Rukh and I don't sleep much. And Cannes is so alive, day and night. The ambience is wonderful."

"What does the No.1 position get you? The best directors, arguably the best scripts, a good paycheck and good standing….if those are the trappings then they were there for me right from the beginning. If there's something like No.1, the industry treated me like the No.1 from day one."

"If I look into the mirror 20 times a day, it is a part of my job. Please don't call me vain for that.""I am not the kind to be splashed across the magazines… there's a certain way in which I mould my sentences, the way I choose my words, I like that to come through. When you're misrepresented, it hurts."

"I have had attention all my life. Maybe because I was a good student, I was light-eyed, light-skinned whatever… There was a phase when boys used to stand outside my college to get a glimpse of me and I used to feel guilty for no fault of mine. I wondered what I had done to attract this attention."

"I don't like talking about my personal life. The day I want to do it, I'll write a book and it'll be one hell of a book.""When you go through a lot, it's very easy to sink. Staying afloat can be very tough… Ironically, my best times have also been my worst. God made me go through whatever experiences for a reason. I'm searching for that reason."

"Am I happy? Happiness is a relative term. It's the way you like to perceive it. Happiness plays a lot of hide and seek with me. But happiness and I are good friends."

--AUGUST 2002--