By:
Smitha
Nambiar
Aishwarya
Rai,
popularly
recognized
as
aishwarya
rai
bachchan
has
captured
the
hearts
and
imagination
of
millions
of
admirers
across
the
globe.
If
men
love
her,
women
envy
this
damsel
with
captivating
blue-green
eyes.
aishwarya
rai
bachchan
is
one
of
the
few
actresses
to
be
immortalised
in
wax
at
the
'Madam
Tussaud's
Museum'.
This
is
a
great
honour
as
she
is
the
second
Indian
film
star
after
Amitabh
Bachchan
to
have
her
wax
model
made
for
display
at
the
London
museum.
Aishwarya
has
been
actively
involved
in
social
activities
too.
Her
advertisement
with
Amitabh
requesting
people
to
have
their
children
vaccinated
against
Polio
resulted
in
people
flocking
at
hospitals
and
health
centres
to
get
their
children
vaccinated.
In
fact,
Dr.
APJ
Abdul
Kalam,
the
President
of
India
felicitated
aishwarya
rai
bachchan,
along
with
Amitabh
to
recognise
their
noble
efforts.
aishwarya
rai
bachchan
is
also
the
ambassador
of
the
Eye
Bank
Association
Of
India.
Her
advertisement
on
donating
eyes
was
so
effective
that
even
Om
Puri,
veteran
Bollywood
actor
was
inspired
to
donate
his
eyes.
What
sets
Rai
apart
from
other
beauties
in
Bollywood
is
an
extraordinary
elegance,
combined
with
poise
and
a
fine-tuned
intelligence.
The
journey
for
this
simple
South
Indian
girl
has
been
extremely
eventful
and
simply
mind-blowing!
aishwarya
rai
bachchan:
Journey
from
childhood
to
youth
Aishwarya
Rai,
or
Aishu
as
she
is
fondly
known
was
born
in
Mangalore
on
November
1,
1973
and
is
the
youngest
child
of
Vrinda
and
Krishnaraj
Rai.
Her
elder
brother,
Aditya
is
three
years
older
than
her.
When
aishwarya
rai
bachchan
was
about
four
years
old,
her
family
relocated
to
Bombay.
Her
father
worked
as
a
merchant
navy
officer.
Aishwarya
did
her
schooling
at
Arya
Vidya
Mandir.
By
the
time
she
reached
high
school,
little
schoolboys
proposed
everlasting
love
and
marriage
to
her.
At
home,
she
received
cards
and
telephone
calls
from
admirers!
Academically,
she
did
very
well
and
chose
the
science
stream
at
DG
Ruparel
College,
one
of
the
best
colleges
in
the
city.
Though
she
wanted
to
do
medicine,
she
had
to
choose
architecture
instead.
aishwarya
rai
bachchan's
modelling
history
aishwarya
rai
bachchan's
first
modelling
assignment
was
for
Camlin
Industries
while
in
the
Ninth
standard.
Later,
one
of
her
professors,
who
also
worked
as
a
freelance
photographer
asked
her
to
pose
for
him.
The
pictures
provoked
a
flood
of
interest
from
the
modelling
industry.
aishwarya
rai
bachchan
then
decided
to
take
a
break
from
architecture
and
concentrate
on
modelling.
This
suave
looking
beauty
stole
advertisements
for
many
prestigious
firms.
However,
it
was
the
ads
on
'Garden
Sari'
and
'Pepsi'
that
brought
her
into
limelight.
She
later
appeared
in
the
'Vogue'
magazine
as
well.
aishwarya
rai
bachchan
becomes
Miss
World
aishwarya
rai
bachchan
became
the
first
runner
up
in
the
1994
Miss
India
contest
and
flew
to
Sun
City,
South
Africa
to
participate
in
the
1994
Miss
World
contest
where
she
became
one
of
the
leading
contenders
for
the
top
slot.
She
won
the
photogenic
award
before
going
on
to
win
the
Miss
World
title
at
the
contest.
For
her
homecoming
in
December
1994
with
the
Miss
World
crown
firmly
on
her
head,
thousands
of
Indians
thronged
the
airport
and
lined
the
streets
around
her
horse
driven
cavalcade.
aishwarya
rai
bachchan
had
come
home
to
a
royal
welcome!
aishwarya
rai
bachchan
enters
the
film
world
Her
film
debut
in
Mani
Ratnam's
Iruvar
(1997)
received
critical
acclaim
and
her
performance
in
Rahul
Rawail's
Aur
Paar
Ho
Gaya
(1997)
garnered
her
the
Best
Female
Debutante
Award.
In
2000,
she
was
awarded
Best
Actress
by
Film
Fare
and
Zee
Cine
for
her
work
in
Sanjay
Leela
Bhansali's
Hum
Dil
De
Chuke
Sanam
(1999).
In
the
year
2002,
she
once
again
worked
with
Sanjay
in
Devdas,
which
became
the
first
Bollywood
picture
to
receive
a
special
screening
at
the
Cannes
Film
Festival
and
broke
box-office
records
in
India
and
the
United
States.
She
also
received
critical
plaudits
for
her
sensitive
portrayal
of
a
rape
victim
in
Hamara
Dil
Aapke
Paas
Hai.
Some
of
her
recent
films
include
Raincoat
(2004)
with
Ajay
Devgan,
Khakee
(2004)
with
Bollywood
mega-star
Amitabh
Bachchan,
Akshay
Kumar,
Ajay
Devgan
and
Kyun
Ho
Gaya
Na
(2004)
opposite
Vivek
Oberoi.
She
also
did
an
item
number
in
Bunty
Aur
Babli
(2005),
which
won
her
great
applause.
Her
forthcoming
films
include
Dhoom
2,
Umrao
Jaan,
Akbar
Jodha
and
Saamna
to
name
a
few.
From
Bollywood
to
Hollywood
Aishwarya
made
her
debut
in
Hollywood
with
Bride
And
Prejudice
(2004)
opposite
actor
Martin
Henderson.
The
film,
directed
by
Gurinder
Chadha
paved
way
for
aishwarya
rai
bachchan's
entry
in
Hollywood.
Though
the
film
was
essentially
a
love
story
catering
to
Bollywood
fans,
aishwarya
rai
bachchan
was
noticed.
She
now
has
quite
a
few
Hollywood
films
in
her
kitty,
a
few
of
them
being
Provoked,
directed
by
Jag
Mundhra,
The
Last
Legion
by
Doug
Lefler
and
Mistress
of
Spices
by
Paul
Berges.
What's
more,
Oprah
Winfrey
recently
invited
Aishwarya
to
the
Oprah
show
in
her
episode
showcasing
'Women
Across
the
Globe'.
The
lady
was
greatly
appreciated
for
her
diplomatic
and
intelligent
answers.
Aishwarya
Rai
has
finally
arrived!
aishwarya
rai
bachchan
on
the
personal
front:
Her
love
life
As
is
the
case
with
every
celebrity,
Aishwarya
has
been
in
the
news
for
her
love
life
too.
After
breaking
up
with
Salman
Khan,
she
was
paired
with
actor
Vivek
Oberoi.
Though
Vivek
openly
acknowledged
their
relationship,
aishwarya
rai
bachchan,
till
date
has
never
talked
about
their
relationship.
In
a
complete
turn
of
events,
there
now
is
rumour
that
Aishwarya
Rai
has
finally
found
her
soul
mate
in
Abhishek
Bachchan.
Apparently,
Ajitabh,
Amitabh
Bachchan's
brother
consulted
Bangalore
astrologer
Chandraishwarya
rai
bachchanekar
Swami
to
see
if
the
horoscope
of
the
two
lovebirds
matched.
The
astrologer
advised
the
couple
should
marry
as
soon
as
possible.
Swami
even
appeared
on
Eenadu
TV
and
said,
"Their
horoscopes
match.
The
wedding
will
take
place." Well,
many
a
heart
will
break
if
this
holds
true.
Meanwhile,
let's
wait
and
watch.
aishwarya
rai
bachchan
to
go
far....
aishwarya
rai
bachchan
is
also
the
latest
member
of
the
elite
L'Oreal
Dream
Team,
joining
beauties
Catherine
Deneuve
and
Andie
MacDowell
as
the
International
ambassador.
'Time
Magazine'
has
also
listed
her
on
their
list
of
the
"100
Most
Influential
People
in
the
World
Today".
Aishwarya
Rai
in
an
interview
had
narrated
an
incident
when
she
visited
an
orphanage-one
of
the
children
told
her
that
that
her
warmth
over
shines
her
physical
beauty.
Perhaps
that's'
true
and
Aishwarya
is
surely
an
actress
to
watch
out
for!