Aishwarya Rai turns 33

She rules the hearts of millions and is touted as one of the most beautiful actresses ever to grace Indian cinema. Aishwarya Rai, who turns 33 on Wednesday, returns to the marquee after a long hiatus - playing a courtesan in Umrao Jaan and an oomph girl in Dhoom 2.

The actress, who is said to be dating Abhishek Bachchan, is currently busy promoting her two films. In Yash Raj Films' upcoming Dhoom 2, Aishwarya plays a hi-tech thief along with Hrithik Roshan, while in JP Dutta's Umrao Jaan, a screen adaptation of Mirza Mohammed Haadi Ruswa's Urdu novel Umrao Jaan Ada and a tragic historical, she plays a courtesan.

"When Dutta narrated the script to me, I told him that if you get Aishwarya to play the role of Umrao Jaan only then make the film, else drop it. According to me, the character requires an enigmatic quality to it. This is what I feel Aishwarya's personality symbolises," said well-known lyricist Javed Akhtar on the actress.

"Hers is a personality that is a kind of riddle. Even Dutta felt the same way and now after watching the finished product I feel that no one else could have made it."

However, there is a notion among some that she is not a good actress and has hogged the limelight mainly for her looks, and her affairs with co-stars Salman Khan and Viveik Oberoi.

"Aishwarya is not known as a bankable actor. People think of her as wooden. She can't emote. Dutta is not only a good director; he is also a good technician. He knows how to extract work from his artist. We are confident that Aishwarya must have played the role convincingly," New Delhi-based distributor Sanjay Mehta said.

Umrao Jaan and Dhoom 2 will put to test her versatility. Critics believe that so far only Sanjay Leela Bhansali has been able to extract the best out of her in his hit Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Devdas.

However, post Devdas Aishwarya shifted her focus to Hollywood. Her first international venture was Gurinder Chadha's Bride & Prejudice. Some of her current international projects include - Provoked, The Last Legion opposite Colin Firth and Sir Ben Kingsley and Chaos.

Besides that, she has graced the covers of international magazines like TIME, which placed her on their list of the "100 Most Influential People in the World Today". Aishwarya has also been termed as one of the most beautiful women by TIME magazine.

Aishwarya, whose last Hindi release was Shabd that sank without a trace at the box office, is hoping to hit the bull's eye with Umrao Jaan, Dhoom 2 and Mani Rathnam's Guru. While Umrao Jaan releases on November 3, Dhoom 2 is set for a Nov 24 release and Guru would release in December.