Aishwarya Rai

You would think that life would be a bed of roses for a beautiful smart girl like Aishwarya Rai. This is not the case, life is not easy and Aishwarya Rai's life too was like any other human life. She struggled and she struggled very hard to survive and achieve the success. Not only on professional grounds, where she rose to the fame from a fashion model turned actress to India's number one actress. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was born in 1 November 1973 in Mangalore to Krishnaraj Rai and Vrinda Rai. She has one elder brother, Aditya Rai, who is an engineer in the merchant navy and has also co-produced one of Rai's movies, Dil Ka Rishta (2003). At an early age her parents moved to Mumbai where she attended the Arya Vidya Mandir High School in Santa Cruz. Rai entered Jai Hind College at Churchgate for one year, and then moved to Ruparel College in Matunga to finish her HSC studies. She planned to become an architect but gave up her education to pursue a career in modelling. She can communicate in several languages, including her mother tongue Tulu, as well as Hindi, English, Marathi and Tamil.

While pursuing her studies in architecture, Aishwarya Rai is an Indian actress and former Miss World. Before starting her acting career, she worked as a model and gained fame after winning the Miss World title in 1994. Aishwarya Rai has acted in 40 movies in Hindi, English, Tamil and Bengali, which include international productions. In the 1994 Miss India contest, she won the second place behind Sushmita Sen, and was crowned Miss India World. She went on to win the Miss World title the same year, where she also won the Miss Photogenic award. She gave up her academics after winning the pageant and spent one year reigning as Miss World in London. Rai then started working as a professional model and moved on to her current profession as an actress.

Aishwarya Rai made her acting debut in Mani Ratnam's Tamil biopic film; Iruvar (1997) with Mohanlal,  The controversial film was a critical success and won many awards including Best Film award at the Belgrade International Film Festival, two National Film Awards, and two Filmfare Awards South. Rai appeared in dual roles, opposite veteran actor Mohanlal, with one of her roles being a cinematic depiction of political leader and former actress J. Jayalalithaa. Rai made her Bollywood debut in the film, Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya opposite Bobby Deol, which also released that year; the film did not do well at the box office,  and was also panned by critics. In 1999 Rai starred in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam opposite Salman Khan and Ajay Devgan. The film was centered on Rai's character, Nandini, who is forced to marry Devgan's character despite being in love with another man (Khan). As her husband tries to get her to her previous love, she eventually falls for him. Rai's portrayal won her critical acclaim, with a review on Rediff.com writing, "Aishwarya looks beautiful as usual ... This film will most likely draw her accolades from all over, maybe even get her recognized as an actress the way Manisha Koirala did in Khamoshi.

In 1999 Rai participated in a world tour called the Magnificent Five along with Aamir Khan, Rani Mukerji, Akshaye Khanna and Twinkle Khanna.  In the same year, she was appointed as Longines Ambassador of Elegance.  In 2003 she became the first Indian actress to be a jury member at the Cannes Film Festival. Rai is the brand ambassador for The Eye Bank Association of India's nationwide campaign to promote eye donation in India. In 2005, she became a brand ambassador for Pulse Polio, a campaign established by the Government of India in 1994 to eradicate polio in India.

In February 2005, Rai performed at the HELP! Telethon Concert to help raise money for the victims of 2004 tsunami earthquake in company with other Bollywood stars.  In 2008 she along with her family laid the foundation of a special school for underprivilged girls in the Daulatpur village in Uttar Pradesh. The school will be made by her family and is going to be named after her.

Aishwarya is Hindu and deeply religious. Her favourite temple is a 200-year-old Lord Ganesha Temple. In 1999 Aishwarya began dating Bollywood actor Salman Khan; their relationship was often reported in the media until the couple separated in 2001. Rai cited "abuse (verbal, physical and emotional), infidelity and indignity" on the part of Khan as a reason for ending their relationship. However, in a 2009 Times of India article Khan denied ever beating her: "It's not true that I hit a woman."

Rai is married to actor Abhishek Bachchan. Their engagement was announced on 14 January 2007 and later confirmed by his father, Amitabh Bachchan. The couple got married on 20 April 2007 according to traditional Hindu rites of the Bunt community to which she belongs. Token North Indian and Bengali ceremonies were also performed. The wedding took place in a private ceremony at the Bachchan residence "Prateeksha" in Juhu, Mumbai. They have been cited as a supercouple in the Indian media.  Rai has been very close to her family and lived with them in Bandra, Mumbai, until her marriage. This came as a surprise to many; she was one of the most talented and most successful Indian actresses.