Age, Biography and Wiki
Aishwarya Rai was born in Mangalore, Karnataka, India. She rose to fame after winning the Miss World 1994 pageant, which marked the beginning of her illustrious career in films. Her biography is a testament to her dedication and perseverance, as she transitioned from modeling to becoming one of the most successful actresses in India.
| Occupation | Actress |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth | 1 November 1973 |
| Age | 51 Years |
| Birth Place | Mangalore, Karnataka, India |
| Horoscope | Scorpio |
| Country | India |
Height, Weight & Measurements
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan stands at a height of about 5 feet 7 inches (170 cm) and maintains a weight of approximately 55 kg. Her physical attributes have been a subject of admiration over the years, making her a popular choice for various film roles.
Rai Bachchan ranked second in The Times of India's list of the 50 most-desirable women of 2010, and was ranked ninth in 2011. The Times of India also placed her fifth in its list of "50 Beautiful Faces", and named her as one of the "Forever Desirable Women". In 2011, India Today noted there were over 17,000 websites dedicated to Rai Bachchan. In the same year, she received negative publicity for failing to lose her post-pregnancy weight. Despite the criticism, she appeared on the red carpet at the "AmfAR Cinema Against Aids" gala at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival—her 11th appearance at the festival. Later that year, Rai Bachchan appeared in New York magazine's list of "Forty Women That Women Find Beautiful", where she ranked in 21st position; New York magazine said: "She may be the 'world's most beautiful woman' but what we really love is that she never feels fragile onscreen".
| Height | 5 feet 7 inches |
| Weight | 55 kg |
| Body Measurements | |
| Eye Color | |
| Hair Color |
Dating & Relationship Status
Aishwarya married actor Abhishek Bachchan in 2007, and they have a daughter, Aaradhya Bachchan, born in 2011. Her marriage to Abhishek has been a subject of media attention, with the couple often being featured in social and entertainment news.
Her father Krishnaraj Rai, who died on 18 March 2017, was a marine biologist and her mother Vrinda is a housewife. She has one elder brother Aditya Rai, an engineer in the merchant navy. Rai's movie Dil Ka Rishta (2003) was co-produced by her brother and co-written by her mother. She has been fluent in Tulu, Hindi and English since childhood.
Rai's family later moved to Mumbai due to her father's job transfer. There, she attended the Arya Vidya Mandir High School. She had her intermediate schooling at Jai Hind College for a year and then enrolled at D. G. Ruparel College in Matunga, securing 90 percent in the Higher Secondary (School) Certificate (HSC) exams. Describing her desire to maintain a good academic standing, she said: "I've always got a first rank except for my seventh grade mid-term when I stood second. When I came to the 10th grade, my seniors, my juniors, everybody thought I'd top the ICSE board exams. But I came seventh or eighth in class and that was a huge ego blow."
Following a leading role in the box-office failure Dhai Akshar Prem Ke, Rai played a supporting role in Aditya Chopra's musical romantic drama Mohabbatein. She played Megha Shankar, the daughter of Amitabh Bachchan's character, who commits suicide after realizing her father will not accept her romance with one of his students (played by Shah Rukh Khan). Mohabbatein received positive reviews from critics, became the highest-grossing film of the year and earned Rai a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress. The following year, she starred alongside Govinda and Jackie Shroff in the romantic comedy Albela, which together with her performance, received mostly negative reviews; Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama criticised the film and said Rai is "plastic in some scenes".
In 2004, Rai garnered international recognition for her starring role opposite Martin Henderson in Gurinder Chadha's British film Bride and Prejudice, a Bollywood-style adaptation of Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice. International film critics expressed mixed views on Rai's performance as the Punjabi version of Elizabeth Bennet; a review carried by The New York Times called her "radiantly beautiful but inert" while Rolling Stone noted "she is a world-class hottie with talent to match, as she proves in her first English-speaking role". With a worldwide gross of $24 million against a production budget of $7 million, Bride and Prejudice was a commercial success. Rai next collaborated with director Rituparno Ghosh for the second time on the 2004 relationship drama Raincoat, an adaptation of O. Henry's The Gift of the Magi, which won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi. Critics praised the film and noted the lack of glamour in Rai's role, which earned her a Best Actress nomination at Filmfare. Derek Elley of Variety called Raincoat a "chamber-sized gem" and said Rai had shunned "her usual immaculate makeup and duds, and looking more like a broken, malfunctioning doll". Gautaman Bhaskaran of The Hindu said Rai "looks quite plain [and] seems to have made an earnest effort to emote, using less of her body and limbs and more of her face, and eyes in particular".
Rai next co-starred alongside Sanjay Dutt and Zayed Khan in the 2005 adult drama Shabd, which tells the story of an author who as research for his next book, persuades his wife to pursue a relationship with a younger man. The film received predominantly negative reviews and was a commercial failure. The Times of India said: "For the umpteenth time, Ms. Rai looks drop-dead gorgeous. And that's about it. She is like that picture postcard you get when what you were actually waiting for is a letter. It's very beautiful to look at, but is of no use because it says nothing." In the same year, Rai took on the lead role of Tilo in Paul Mayeda Berges's romantic fantasy film The Mistress of Spices, an adaptation of the eponymous novel by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. Critics gave the film negative reviews and it was a commercial failure. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian called Rai's performance "annoying" and wrote she "wafts and simpers" through the entire film. Her only successful venture of 2005 was a special appearance in Shaad Ali's crime comedy Bunty Aur Babli, in which she featured in the popular item number "Kajra Re".
In 2007, Rai played the wife of Abhishek Bachchan's character in Mani Ratnam's social drama Guru, which is fictionalised biography of businessman Dhirubhai Ambani. Guru tells the rag to riches story of an uneducated man who builds a multinational corporation. The film met with international critical acclaim and was a box-office success. Richard Corliss of Time called Rai's character as an "ornament" but Raja Sen from Rediff.com said she had given "arguably her finest performance, visible especially when she takes over the film's climax." Rai received her seventh Best Actress nomination at Filmfare for her performance in the film. She next starred alongside Naveen Andrews and Miranda Richardson in Jag Mundhra's independent British drama Provoked as the real-life character Kiranjit Ahluwalia, a non-resident Indian who murders her husband after suffering years of domestic abuse. Rai earned mostly positive comments for her performance. Critic Indu Mirani from Daily News and Analysis wrote: "Aishwarya Rai plays the battered wife in what is undoubtedly one of her best performances to date. Rai convincingly goes through the various stages of shock, bewilderment, remorse and finally vindication". The film was internationally well-received and was a moderate commercial success in the UK. That same year, Rai Bachchan starred alongside Ben Kingsley, Colin Firth and Thomas Sangster as the Indian warrior Mira in Doug Lefler's epic film The Last Legion.
After a appearing in series of films that under-performed either critically or commercially, Rai Bachchan garnered critical and box-office success with Ashutosh Gowariker's period romantic drama Jodhaa Akbar (2008). The film narrates a partly fictionalised account of a marriage of convenience between the Mughal emperor Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar (played by Hrithik Roshan) and the Rajput princess Jodha Bai (played by Rai Bachchan). Rajeev Masand noted: "Rai is wonderfully restrained and uses her eyes expertly to communicate so much, making this one of her finest outings on screen". The film grossed inr 1120000000 and earned Rai Bachchan a Best Actress nomination at the Filmfare Awards ceremony. She then co-starred with her husband Abhishek Bachchan and her father-in-law Amitabh Bachchan, in Ram Gopal Verma's political drama Sarkar Raj, a sequel to the 2005 box-office hit Sarkar. Rai Bachchan was cast as Anita Rajan, the CEO of an international power firm who proposes to set up a plant in rural Maharashtra. The film was a critical and commercial success, and praise was directed towards the three leads' performances.
In 2010, Mani Ratnam cast Rai Bachchan in his twin, modern-day adaptations of the Indian epic Ramayana—the Tamil version titled Raavanan and the Hindi version Raavan—which were filmed simultaneously. In both versions, Rai Bachchan plays Ragini, the wife of a superintendent of police who is kidnapped by a bandit. Her role was modeled on Sita, the female protagonist of Ramayana. Rai Bachchan returned to Tamil cinema after a 10-year gap with Raavanan. Raavanan was a commercial success whereas the Hindi version was a commercial failure. The films received mixed reviews from film critics, as did Rai Bachchan's performances. Kaveree Bamzai of India Today wrote: "Rai's Sita is one of the best things in the film ... her performance is heartfelt—this is a performer who is at ease playing women, rather than girls". Critics Aniruddha Guha and Rajeev Masand criticised her character and said: "She's left to scream and shriek and hiss".
Rai Bachchan's next role was opposite Rajinikanth in the science-fiction Tamil film Enthiran (2010), which S. Shankar directed. She was cast as Sana, a college student and the girlfriend of Rajinikanth's character. At the time of its release, Enthiran was the most-expensive Indian film production and became one of the highest-grossing Indian films of all time. She then appeared as Mala, an impetuous brat, in Vipul Shah's Action Replayy; a science-fiction comedy co-starring Akshay Kumar, Aditya Roy Kapur and Neha Dhupia.
Rai Bachchan's final film of 2010 was the drama Guzaarish, which was her third collaboration with director Sanjay Leela Bhansali and actor Hrithik Roshan. The film tells the story of Ethan Mascarenas, a quadriplegic former magician (Roshan) who after years of struggle, files an appeal for euthanasia. Rai Bachchan plays Sophia D'Souza, Mascarenas' nurse, whose alcohol-addicted husband abuses her. Due to her past associations with Bhansali, Rai Bachchan agreed to the project before reading its script. Despite failing at the box office, Guzaarish met with positive critical reviews. The Telegraph described it as "one of Rai's best performances" and The Times of India said: "Rai is a stunning picture of fire and grace, walking away with certain scenes by her sheer vitality". In 2011, Rai Bachchan was cast as the protagonist of Madhur Bhandarkar's social drama Heroine but due to her pregnancy, she was replaced with Kareena Kapoor, the original choice for the role.
Rai Bachchan's final film role of 2016 was in Karan Johar's musical romantic drama Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, alongside Anushka Sharma and Ranbir Kapoor, in which she plays a poet named Saba. Rai Bachchan received positive reviews for her performance despite having limited screen time. Joe Leydon of Variety considered her to be the film's prime asset and wrote she "seems to have wandered in from another movie, one where emotions are conveyed in subtler and more affecting fashion. When she takes her leave from Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, you may wish you could go with her." The film became one of Rai Bachchan's biggest commercial successes with revenues of over inr 2000000000. Two years later, she played a singer who is kidnapped by a troubled father in the comedy-drama Fanney Khan (2018), which is an adaptation of the Belgian film Everybody's Famous! (2000). Fanney Khan co-stars Anil Kapoor and Rajkummar Rao. Uday Bhatia of Mint disliked the film and called Rai Bachchan "too unruffled a screen presence to convincingly sell the kind of silliness this film requires".
Rai Bachchan appeared with other Bollywood actors at the closing ceremony of the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia. The performance showcased Indian culture as a lead-up to India's hosting of the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Between July and August 2008, Rai Bachchan, her husband Abhishek Bachchan, her father-in-law Amitabh Bachchan, and actors Preity Zinta, Ritesh Deshmukh and Madhuri Dixit starred in the "Unforgettable World Tour" stage production, which visited the US, Canada, the UK, the Netherlands, and Trinidad and Tobago.
In 2016, Rai Bachchan was named in the Panama Papers, a dataset that was leaked from a former Panamanian offshore law firm and was published on the Internet. She, her parents and her brother were listed as directors of an offshore entity named Amic Partners Limited in British Virgin Islands between 2005 and 2008. In December 2021, the Enforcement Directorate questioned Rai Bachchan, who denied any knowledge of the company and stated her father was in charge of her financial matters. In 2019, Rai Bachchan and her mother invested inr 10000000 in the environmental startup form Ambee, which measures air quality and other parameters using data. In 2021, Kalaari Capital-backed nutrition-based healthcare company Possible secured inr 50000000 from Rai Bachchan in a major funding round.
Rai Bachchan is one of the top brand ambassadors in India. In 1999, she was appointed as Longines Ambassador of Elegance. In 2003, she became a global brand ambassador for L'Oréal alongside Andie MacDowell, Eva Longoria and Penélope Cruz. She has modelled for Longines, L'Oréal, Titan Watches, Coca-Cola, Lakmé Cosmetics, Casio pager, Philips, Palmolive, Lux, Fuji films, Nakshatra Diamond Jewellery and Kalyan Jewellers. She was named the official brand ambassador for De Beers diamonds in India. In 2012, Rai Bachchan was ranked the world's second-most-popular watch-brand ambassador in a survey World Watch Report conducted. In 2013, TTK Group engaged Rai Bachchan and her husband as brand ambassadors. In 2023, CNBC TV18 reported that she earned between inr 60000000 and inr 70000000 per day for brand endorsements.
In February 2005. Rai performed with other Bollywood stars at the ''HELP! Telethon Concert'', an event to raise money for the victims of the 2004 tsunami earthquake. Along with other members of the Bachchan family, she laid the foundation brick of a school in her name for underprivileged girls in Daulatpur, a village in Uttar Pradesh, in 2008. The Bachchan family announced it would fund the school's construction. The land allocated for the construction was the subject of dispute between Rai Bachchan's father-in-law and fellow actor and politician Jaya Prada. The issue was reported to be resolved by 2012, however, as of 2018 construction on the site had yet to begin.
In 1999, Rai began dating Bollywood actor Salman Khan; their relationship was often reported in media until the couple separated in 2002. She cited "abuse (verbal, physical and emotional), infidelity and indignity" on the part of Khan as reasons for ending the relationship. She then had a romantic relationship with actor Vivek Oberoi that ended in 2005.
Actor Abhishek Bachchan fell in love with Rai whilst filming Dhoom 2. Their engagement was announced on 14 January 2007 and was later confirmed by his father Amitabh Bachchan. The couple married on 20 April 2007 according to traditional Hindu rites. North Indian and Bengali ceremonies were also performed. The wedding took place in a private ceremony at the Bachchan residence in Juhu, Mumbai. Indian media have described them as a supercouple. Rai Bachchan is very close to her family and lived with them in Bandra, Mumbai, until her marriage. She is Hindu and deeply religious. Rai Bachchan gave birth to a girl on 16 November 2011.
Rai Bachchan was accompanied by her husband to Cannes Film Festival shortly after their marriage, and later to The Oprah Winfrey Show, on which they appeared on 28 September 2009. Rai Bachchan is the first Indian celebrity to appear twice on The Oprah Winfrey Show. She attended the 83rd Academy Awards with her husband.
In October 2004, a wax figure of Rai was put on display in London's Madame Tussaud's wax museum. She was the sixth Indian and the second Bollywood personality—after her father-in-law Amitabh Bachchan—to get this honour. In 2007, the same figure was displayed at Madame Tussaud's museum in Times Square, New York, followed by another version in Washington. In 2005 in the Netherlands, a cultivar of tulip was named after her. Also in 2005, toy manufacturer Mattel released a limited edition of Barbie dolls of Rai in the United Kingdom.
In 2009, Rai Bachchan received a Padma Shri for her contributions to Indian cinema. In 2012, she accepted the Order of Arts and Letters from the Government of France, which she had earlier refused because her father was seriously ill and she wanted her whole family to attend the award ceremony.
| Parents | |
| Husband | Abhishek Bachchan (m. 2007) |
| Sibling | |
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Net Worth and Salary
As of 2025, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's net worth is estimated to be approximately $100 million (approximately ₹800 crore). Her income primarily comes from her film career, endorsements, and business ventures. She is known to charge a significant amount for her film appearances and brand endorsements.
After featuring in David Dhawan's slapstick comedy film Hum Kisise Kum Nahin, Rai appeared alongside Shah Rukh Khan and Madhuri Dixit in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's period romantic drama Devdas, an adaptation of Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay's novel of the same name. Rai played the role of Paro (Parvati), the love interest of the protagonist (Khan). The film was screened at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival and it was featured by Time in its listing of the "10 Best Films of the Millennium". Devdas was a major international success with a revenue of over inr 840000000. Alan Morrison, writing for Empire, praised the performances of the three leads and wrote: "Rai proves she has the acting talent to back up her flawless looks". Devdas was chosen as India's official entry for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and received a nomination at the BAFTA Awards in the Best Foreign Language Film category. In India, the film won 10 Filmfare Awards, including a second Best Actress award for Rai. Also in 2002, she participated in the UK television show From India with Love along with Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta. The show took place at Manchester's Old Trafford and London's Hyde Park, with over 100,000 spectators.
In 2008 and 2011, Verve magazine placed Rai Bachchan in its list of the country's most-powerful women. In 2009, Forbes listed her 387th of 1,411 actors on its list of the most-bankable stars in Hollywood. She was the highest-ranked Indian actor on the list. In a poll conducted by the newspaper Daily News and Analysis in 2009, Rai Bachchan was voted one of India's most-popular icons. In the same year, she made appearances on the television shows Martha and The Tyra Banks Show. She was present on Box Office India's lists of "Top Bollywood Actresses" for ten years, and was ranked first on its top actresses lists from 2000 to 2009, and was ranked second on its list of "All Time Top Actress". She was placed in Outlook India's list of "75 Best Bollywood Actresses". From 2012 to 2015, and in 2018, Rai Bachchan was placed on Forbes India Celebrity 100 list, which is based on the income and popularity of Indian celebrities, peaking at number 34 in 2015 with an annual income of. The market research firm YouGov named Rai Bachchan the world's eleventh-most-admired person of 2018. Her wealth has been estimated at. As of 2024, she is estimated to be the second richest actress in India.
Career, Business and Investments
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan began her career as a model before transitioning to acting. She has appeared in numerous successful films, including "Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam," "Devdas," and "Jodhaa Akbar." Her performance in "Devdas" earned her critical acclaim and numerous awards. Apart from films, she is involved in various business ventures, including endorsements for major brands and investments in real estate and other sectors.
Rai's off-screen roles include being an ambassador for several charity organisations and supporting philanthropic causes through her namesake foundation. She was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador for the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) in 2012. She has also participated in stage shows and is an investor and prominent brand endorser. In 2003, she was the first Indian actress to be a juror at the Cannes Film Festival. She married the actor Abhishek Bachchan in 2007, with whom she has a daughter.
Rai trained in classical dance and music for five years during her teens and showed interest in traditional dance forms, including Bharatanatyam. Her favourite subject was zoology and she initially considered a career in medicine. Planning to become an architect, she enrolled at Rachana Sansad Academy of Architecture, but later gave up her education to pursue a career in modelling. Rai had appeared as a child model for Camlin pencils and later, photographs of her taken by her English professor for a project went viral, and photographers Gautam Rajadhyaksha and Farrokh Chothia contacted her to appear in advertisements.
As first runner-up, Rai's duties included representing India in the rival Miss World pageant in Sun City, South Africa. She went on to win the pageant, and the Miss Photogenic award and Miss World Continental Queen of Beauty − Asia and Oceania. After winning Miss World, Rai said she dreamt of world peace and that she wanted to be an ambassador of peace during her one-year reign in London. She continued to model until she became an actress. Prior to participating in beauty pageants, she had received four offers to star in movies but she "decided to participate in Miss India to step back from the film industry for a bit. If I hadn't taken part in Miss India, Raja Hindustani would have been my first film."
In the 1998 big-budget Tamil romantic drama Jeans, which S. Shankar directed, Rai appeared alongside Prashanth as Madhumita, a young woman who accompanies her ailing grandmother to the United States to seek medical attention. The film was a commercial success, and earned her praise for her acting and dancing skills. In this film, her dialogue was dubbed by Savitha Reddy. Jeans, which was the most expensive Indian film at the time, was submitted as India's official entry to the Academy Awards for 1998 but was not nominated.
Rai's first role of 1999 was in the melodrama Aa Ab Laut Chalen, which Rishi Kapoor directed. The film was a critical failure and had a below-average performance at the box office. Her portrayal of Pooja Walia, a traditional Indian woman living in the United States, met with negative reviews; Rediff.com said: "Rai sports a plastic smile and never gets a scene where she can portray any depth. All she does is cry and smile and look pretty." Also in 1999, Rai starred in the romantic musical Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, which became a significant turning point in her career. The film is an adaptation of Maitreyi Devi's Bengali novel Na Hanyate; it was directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, and co-starred Salman Khan and Ajay Devgn. Rai played Nandini, a Gujarati woman who is forced into wedlock with Devgn's character, despite being in love with another man (played by Khan). Bhansali cast Rai after meeting her at a film screening and was impressed with her eyes. Khalid Mohamed of Bombay Talkies wrote that she has "an unquestionable felicity for acting", and has "that impossible combination of breathtaking beauty and brains". Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam was a commercial success and won Rai a Filmfare Award for Best Actress.
After a five-year sabbatical from film acting, Rai Bachchan made a comeback with Sanjay Gupta's drama-thriller Jazbaa, co-starring with Shabana Azmi and Irrfan Khan. She also served as producer. The film is a remake of the Korean thriller Seven Days (2007); Rai Bachchan plays Anuradha Verma, a criminal lawyer who is forced to defend a rapist in exchange for her daughter's safety. Shubha Shetty-Saha of Mid-Day criticised the film's unnecessary and intrusive melodrama, and said Rai Bachchan "looks the part and even does a fairly decent job, barring certain emotional scenes where she clearly goes over the top". The film underperformed at the box office.
Rai Bachchan again worked with Mani Ratnam on Ponniyin Selvan: I (2022) and Ponniyin Selvan: II (2023), a two-part Tamil ensemble period film that is based on Kalki Krishnamurthy's eponymous epic novel. Both parts were filmed concurrently. Rai Bachchan plays Nandini, a scheming Chola queen. Haricharan Pudipeddi of Hindustan Times called her performance in the first part the best among the ensemble cast and in the second part to be the best of her career while Sonil Dedhia of News 18 said Rai Bachchan is "wonderfully restrained and uses her eyes expertly to communicate so much". Ponniyin Selvan: I earned inr 5000000000 worldwide to become one of the highest-grossing Tamil films of all time while Ponniyin Selvan: II grossed over inr 3000000000 worldwide.
* Fans and media frequently refer to her by the nicknames "Ash" and "Aish" but Rai Bachchan has stated she dislikes being called these names, and has discouraged people from referring to her using names other than "Aishwarya" because she does not want to "spoil [her] good name". At the beginning of her career, some Indian media described her as "a cold fish" and "a non-actress", and criticised her when some of her movies did not perform well at the box office. Despite receiving multiple offers to star in movies, she was hesitant to accept roles without further evaluation, saying: "I'd rather look before I leap". In an attempt to balance motherhood and her work, Rai Bachchan limited the number of her projects in the years after giving birth.
* Fans and media frequently refer to her by the nicknames "Ash" and "Aish" but Rai Bachchan has stated she dislikes being called these names, and has discouraged people from referring to her using names other than "Aishwarya" because she does not want to "spoil [her] good name". At the beginning of her career, some Indian media described her as "a cold fish" and "a non-actress", and criticised her when some of her movies did not perform well at the box office. Despite receiving multiple offers to star in movies, she was hesitant to accept roles without further evaluation, saying: "I'd rather look before I leap". In an attempt to balance motherhood and her work, Rai Bachchan limited the number of her projects in the years after giving birth.
* Fans and media frequently refer to her by the nicknames "Ash" and "Aish" but Rai Bachchan has stated she dislikes being called these names, and has discouraged people from referring to her using names other than "Aishwarya" because she does not want to "spoil [her] good name". At the beginning of her career, some Indian media described her as "a cold fish" and "a non-actress", and criticised her when some of her movies did not perform well at the box office. Despite receiving multiple offers to star in movies, she was hesitant to accept roles without further evaluation, saying: "I'd rather look before I leap". In an attempt to balance motherhood and her work, Rai Bachchan limited the number of her projects in the years after giving birth.
* Fans and media frequently refer to her by the nicknames "Ash" and "Aish" but Rai Bachchan has stated she dislikes being called these names, and has discouraged people from referring to her using names other than "Aishwarya" because she does not want to "spoil [her] good name". At the beginning of her career, some Indian media described her as "a cold fish" and "a non-actress", and criticised her when some of her movies did not perform well at the box office. Despite receiving multiple offers to star in movies, she was hesitant to accept roles without further evaluation, saying: "I'd rather look before I leap". In an attempt to balance motherhood and her work, Rai Bachchan limited the number of her projects in the years after giving birth.
Social Network
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is active on social media platforms, although she is not as frequent in posting as some of her contemporaries. She has a significant following on platforms like Instagram, where fans stay updated about her life and career.
After the success of Chokher Bali, Rai returned to mainstream Hindi film in Rajkumar Santoshi's Khakee (2004), an action thriller featuring Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn and Tusshar Kapoor. The film tells the story of five constables involved in a mystery surrounding a terrorist attack; Rai played Mahalakshmi, a gun moll. While filming for Khakee, she was accidentally hit by a running car that caused a fracture in her left foot. Upon release, the film was a moderate critical and commercial success. In her next release, the romantic comedy Kyun! Ho Gaya Na..., Rai played Diya Malhotra, a university student who develops a one-sided attraction toward her friend Arjun Khanna (played by Vivek Oberoi). The film received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics but was commercially unsuccessful.
In 2006, Rai starred in J. P. Dutta's Umrao Jaan and Yash Raj Films' Dhoom 2. Umrao Jaan is an adaptation of Mirza Hadi Ruswa's Urdu novel Umrao Jaan Ada (1905), which tells the story of a doomed courtesan from 19th-century Lucknow. Rai played the titular role, which was played by Rekha in the first film adaptation of the novel (1981). Reviewers, while comparing the film to the 1981 adaptation, were critical of the film and of her performance. According to Joshi Poonam of the BBC: "While only Rai could emulate the grace and poise of Rekha, she doesn't quite capture the intensity of Umrao's abiding melancholy", and "Rai's incandescent beauty and artistry [..] does indeed keep the audience watching, though not necessarily emotionally engaged". In the Sanjay Gadhvi-directed adventure film Dhoom 2, Rai portrayed Sunehri, a petty thief who helps police catch an illusive criminal; the film has an ensemble cast including Hrithik Roshan, Abhishek Bachchan, Bipasha Basu and Uday Chopra. Critics gave Dhoom 2 mixed-to-positive reviews and the film was Rai's first major commercial success since Devdas. The film was declared a blockbuster, and became the highest-grossing Indian film of 2006 with gross revenues of over inr 1110000000. Rediff.com commented: "[Rai] is all gloss and no depth. You seldom feel any tension in her behaviour and expressions. ...Sunehri enters the film nearly 50 minutes after its opening in a disguise. In no time, she is wearing the flimsiest of clothes. Once she opens her mouth—and she does it two minutes after appearing in the film—she spoils the image." Nonetheless, her performance earned her a sixth Filmfare Award nomination in the Best Actress category.
Rai Bachchan's next role was in the 2009 Harald Zwart-directed spy comedy The Pink Panther 2, in which she stars alongside Steve Martin, Jean Reno and Emily Mortimer. Rai Bachchan portrayed Sonia Solandres, a seductive criminology expert. Like its predecessor, The Pink Panther 2 received negative reviews from critics but grossed $34 million at the American box office. Roger Ebert wrote: "Rai is breathtaking in Bollywood films, where they devote a great deal of expertise to admiring beauty, but here she's underutilized and too much in the background". USA Today called her expressions "wooden" and added: "She looks gorgeous, but her expression rarely changes".
In 2016, Rai Bachchan starred in Omung Kumar's biographical drama Sarbjit, which is based on the life of Indian farmer Sarabjit Singh, who was convicted of terrorism by a Pakistani court and whose sister Dalbir Kaur campaigned for his release. Rai Bachchan plays Dalbir Kaur and Randeep Hooda plays Sarabjit Singh. The film premiered at the 69th Cannes Film Festival. A few reviewers said Rai Bachchan was "miscast" because she neither looked nor sounded like a Sikh woman. Her Punjabi accent and her over-the-top performance in few scenes were largely criticised, though several critics noted how much she stands out in the film's quiet scenes. Rajeev Masand said Rai Bachchan is "required to scream and shout and weep copiously to express her anguish; the shrillness does her no favors. In quieter moments – like one in which Dalbir can't bear to part with her stillborn baby – the actress shines." Her role earned her tenth Filmfare Award for Best Actress nomination. The film earned over inr 440000000 worldwide against a production budget of inr 150000000.
In 2023, Anjali Belgaumkar of The Indian Express noted despite appearing in around 10 films in a decade, Rai Bachchan still appealed to the younger generation because her impact was not limited to her on-screen roles or fashion choices but there was also an element of "divaness" that made her popular. Hrithik Roshan, who co-starred with Rai Bachchan in three movies, commended her for her work ethic, saying: "Her level of patience is inspiring. If she has to sit like Jodhaa all day, she will. If she has to stand all day dressed like Sophiya, so that the dress doesn't crease, she will." Filmmaker Omung Kumar believed her to be a "director's actor" who could mould herself into any character under the right guidance. Despite constant media speculation, Rai Bachchan keeps her personal life well-guarded and limits her activities on social media. Off-screen and in the press, she is known for her sensitive, caring nature and she is reportedly driven by her instincts. In an interview, Rai Bachchan stated she is "like water, I just naturally, easily fit and adjust to any situation. That's always been my mind space and my temperament."
In a reader poll conducted by UK's Hello! magazine, Rai was voted "the most attractive woman of 2003". In the same year, she appeared in Rolling Stone magazine's annual "Hot List". Rediff.com placed her first on its lists of "Bollywood's Most Beautiful Actresses" and "Best Dressed Woman". She was the subject of a 60 Minutes profile on 2 January 2005, which said: "at least according to thousands of Web sites, Internet polls and even Julia Roberts", Rai Bachchan was "the world's most beautiful woman". The British magazine Maxim ranked her first on its list of "Hottest Women of India". In 2005, Harpers and Queen's list of "Most Beautiful Women in The World" ranked Rai ninth. In May 2006, she was featured in People magazine as one of the "World's Most Beautiful People". The UK magazine Eastern Eye ranked her third in its list of "Asia's Sexiest Women" in 2006, and she was ranked in the top ten in 2007 and 2009. She again appeared on the list in following years and in 2019, she was chosen as one of the sexiest Asian women of the decade. In 2008, American television channel E!: Entertainment listed Rai Bachchan's eyes as the sexiest on its list of Sexiest Body Parts.
Education
Aishwarya Rai completed her primary education at Holy Cross Convent High School and later pursued her further education at Jai Hind College and then at the Dadar Catering College. She dropped out of college to pursue her career in modeling and acting.
In summary, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is not only a celebrated actress but also a successful entrepreneur and philanthropist. Her career has been marked by numerous accolades and financial success, making her one of the wealthiest celebrities in India.
While in college, Rai modelled and appeared in several television commercials, and entered the Miss India pageant, in which she was placed second. She was then crowned Miss World 1994, made her acting debut in Mani Ratnam's 1997 Tamil film Iruvar and had her Hindi film debut in Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya that year. Her first commercial success was the Tamil romantic drama Jeans (1998), which at the time was the most expensive Indian film. She achieved wider success and won two Filmfare Awards for Best Actress for her performances in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's romantic dramas Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999) and Devdas (2002).
Rai Bachchan made her first commercial for Camlin exam pencils when she was in the ninth grade. She became popular after appearing in a commercial for Pepsi with actor Aamir Khan. She is the only actress who has endorsed both Pepsi and Coca-Cola.
