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Early life

Aishwarya Rai was born in Mangalore to Krishnaraj and Vrinda Rai, in the South Indian state of Karnataka. She speaks English, Hindi, Kannada, Tamil and Urdu. Her brother Aditya Rai is a film producer.

Rai began modeling on the side while studying architecture. In the 1994 Miss India contest, Rai placed second behind Sushmita Sen, and went on to win the Miss World title that same year and the Miss Photogenic award. After the one-year reign as Miss World in London, she then worked as a professional model, in advertising and Indian fashion magazines. This was the beginning to her supermodel status in India.

Bollywood breakthrough

The first film she acted in was a Tamil movie Iruvar in (1997), directed by Mani Ratnam. Rai's earliest films made money, but Rai herself did not impress critics -- they commented that her performances were stilted, as if she were still modeling. ^{[citation needed]}

Her breakthrough performance came in 1999 with Sanjay Leela Bhansali's film Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. Later successes include Taal and Devdas. Rai has also acted in other Tamil films such as Jeans and Kandukondain Kandukondain, and in the Bengali film Chokher Bali.

International stardom

Aishwarya in a scene from Bride and Prejudice.

In 2002, Aishwarya appeared with Bollywood superstars Shah Rukh Khan and Madhuri Dixit in the lavishly produced Devdas, which was a huge hit. The film attracted overseas attention as well, receiving a special screening at the Cannes Film Festival and being nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film in the United States, garnering international attention for Aishwarya.

In 2003, Aishwarya was a member of the jury at Cannes. In 2004, she was chosen by TIME Magazine's Asian Edition as one of Asia's "100 Most Influential People." Rai was the subject of a 60 Minutes profile on January 2, 2005 - "The Most Beautiful face in the Bollywood." A month later she appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman, and on April 25, 2005, she was featured on Oprah's "Women Across the Globe" segment. A wax figure of Rai is on display in London's Madame Tussaud's wax museum. Julia Roberts named Aishwarya the most beautiful woman in the world.

Although frequently the subject of gossip column speculation about an imminent Hollywood career, it was only in 2004 that Aishwarya finally acted in a foreign film, when British director Gurinder Chadha hired her to play the heroine in Bride and Prejudice, a Hollywood-funded but Bollywood-ized version of Jane Austen's classic novel, Pride and Prejudice. The movie came just shy of breaking even at the US box office but earned over 400% return on investment in global revenue. Her later movie Mistress of Spices, written by Gurinder Chadha and her husband Paul Mayeda Berges from the novel by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni and directed by Berges, was released in the U.K. in April 2006 to a generally poor critical and commercial reception. Aishwarya has several other international, English-language films in the pipeline, including Provoked, The Last Legion, Singularity, and Chaos.

Aishwarya appeared at the Closing Ceremony of the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, as part of a performance showcasing Indian culture, on behalf of the 2010 Commonwealth Games, to be held in New Delhi.

Personal life

Aishwarya has dated three of her Bollywood co-stars: Salman Khan, Vivek Oberoi and Abhishek Bachchan. She is said to have broken up with Bachchan in April 2006.

Aishwarya has been described by others in the Bollywood film industry as having traditional values and being "a paragon of age-old, dutiful Indian femininity". As a practicing Hindu, she has described herself as having "immense faith in God", and her favorite temple is reportedly one devoted to Lord Ganesh.

Awards

Aishwarya Rai has won two Filmfare Awards to date:

2000, Filmfare Best Actress Award, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam
• 2003, Filmfare Best Actress Award, Devdas

She has been nominated four times in the Best Actress category and once in the Best Supporting Actress category at the Filmfare Awards. She has also won three IIFA Awards, three Z-Gold Awards, four Star Screen Awards, an EU's Global Diversity Award, three Zee Cine Awards and a Rajiv Gandhi Award.

Filmography

Most of Aishwarya's films are in Hindi, except where noted below.

Chaos (2007) ... (pre-production) (in English) The Rebel (2007) (announced) ... Rani Laxmibai Singularity (2006) (announced) ... Tulaja (in English) Guru (2006) ... (announced) Jodha-Akbar (2006) (pre-production) ... Jodha Bai Dhoom 2 (2006) ... (filming) The Last Legion (2006) (post-production) ... Mira (in English) Umrao Jaan (2006) (post-production) ... Umrao Jaan The Heart of India (2006) ... Mumtaz Mahal Provoked (2006) ... Kiranjit Ahluwalia (in English) The Mistress of Spices (2005) ... Tilo (in English) Bunty Aur Babli (2005) ... ("Kajre Re" song) (item number) Shabd (2005) ... Antara Vashisht Bride & Prejudice (2004) ... Lalita Bakshi (in English) Kyun...! Ho Gaya Na (2004) ... Diya Malhotra Raincoat (2004) ... Neerja/Neeru Khakee (2004) ... Mahalaxshmi Kuch Naa Kaho (2003) ... Namrata Shrivastav Chokher Bali (2003) ... Binodini (in Bengali) Dil Ka Rishta (2003) ... Tia Sharma Shakti: The Power (2002) ... ("Ishq Kameena" song) (item number) 23rd March 1931: Shaheed (2002) ... Special Appearance (song) Hum Kisi Se Kum Nahin (2002) ... Komal Rastogi Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam (2002) ... Special Appearance Devdas (2002) ... Parvati ('Paro') Albela (2001) ... Sonia Mohabbatein (2000) ... Megha Dhaai Akshar Prem Ke (2000) ... Sahiba Gareval Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai (2000) ... Preeti Virat Josh (2000) ... Shirley Kandukondain Kandukondain (2000) ... Meenakshi (in Tamil) Mela (2000) ... Champakali Sanam Tere Hain Hum (2000) ... Special Appearance (Song) Ravoyi Chandamama (1999) ... Special Appearance (Song) (in Telugu) Taal (1999) ... Mansi Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999) ... Nandini Aa Ab Laut Chalen (1999) ... Pooja Walia Jeans (1998) ... Madhumitha/Vaishnavi (in Tamil) Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya (1997) ... Ashi Kapoor
• Iruvar (1997) ... Pushpa/Kalpana (in Tamil)

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