[edit] Filmfare Awards

Winner

• 1998 - Filmfare Best Actress Award South for Jeans
• 1999 - Filmfare Best Actress Award for Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam,^[1]
• 2002 - Filmfare Best Actress Award for Devdas^[2]

Nominated

• 1999 - Filmfare Best Actress Award for Taal ^[3]
• 2000 - Filmfare Best Actress Award for Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai ^[4]
• 2000 - Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award for Mohabbatein ^[5]
• 2004 - Filmfare Best Actress Award for Raincoat ^[6]
• 2006 - Filmfare Best Actress Award for Dhoom 2 ^[7]

[edit] International Indian Film Academy Awards

Winner

• 2000 - IIFA Best Actress Award for Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam
• 2003 - IIFA Best Actress Award for Devdas
• 2005 - IIFA Global Indian Media Personality Award
• 2007 - IIFA Glamorous Star Award
• 2007 - IFFA Most Searched Personality on MSN India [9][10]

Nominated

• 2000 - IIFA Best Actress Award for Taal
• 2005 - IIFA Best Actress Award for Raincoat

[edit] Star Screen Awards

Winner

• 1997 - Star Screen Award Most Promising Newcomer - Female for Aur Pyar Ho Gaya^[8]
• 1999 - Star Screen Award Best Actress for Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam^[9]
• 2002 - Star Screen Award Jodi No. 1 along with Shahrukh Khan for Devdas^[10]
• 2002 - Star Screen Award Best Actress for Devdas^[11]

Nominated

• 1998 - Star Screen Award Best Actress for Taal
• 2000 - Star Screen Award Best Actress for Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai
• 2000 - Star Screen Award Best Supporting Actress for Mohabbatein
• 2004 - Star Screen Award Best Actress for Raincoat
• 2006 - Star Screen Award Best Actress for Dhoom 2^[12]
• 2006 - Star Screen Award Jodi No. 1 along with Hrithik Roshan for Dhoom 2
• 2007 - Star Screen Award Best Actress for Guru [11]

Making her debut with Mani Ratnam's Tamil film, Iruvar (1997) with Mohanlal,^[2] she was introduced to Bollywood in the film, Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya opposite Bobby Deol, which also released that year; the film didn't do well at the box office.^[3] However, her third project, S. Shankar's Tamil film, Jeans (1998) was a critical and commercial success, earning her the Filmfare Best Actress Award South.

She went on to appear in many Bollywood films; a few successful films of her career include Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999), which earned the actress her first Filmfare Best Actress Award and Taal (1999), which gave her another nomination for Best Actress at the Filmfare; her performances in both the films were lauded.^[4] In 2000, she played a supporting role in the hit films Mohabbatein and Josh. Later that year, she also starred in the Tamil film Kandukondain Kandukondain, which won her positive reviews.

In 2002, Rai appeared with superstars Shah Rukh Khan and Madhuri Dixit in Sanjay Leela Bansali's lavishly produced Devdas. The film attracted overseas attention as well, receiving a special screening at the Cannes Film Festival.^[5] It was during this time that she garnered the attention of the West as an Indian actress and went on to appear in a few Hollywood projects. Devdas went on to become the highest grossing film of the year both in India^[6] and overseas,^[7] earning her the actress her second Filmfare Best Actress Award.

As her name gained popularity overseas, she was chosen by Time magazine in 2004 as one of the World's "100 Most Influential People", and appeared on the cover of Time magazine, Asia Edition (TIMEasia) in 2003. She was the subject of a 60 Minutes profile on January 2. A month later she appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman. She also featured on Oprah's "Women Across the Globe" segment. In 2003, she acted in the critically acclaimed and commercial success Bengali film, Chokher Bali, an adaptation of one of Rabindranath Tagore's novels by the same name.

Rai has been a regular at the Cannes Film Festival since 2002, and was a member of the Jury at Cannes in the year 2003. In October 2004, a wax figure of Rai became on display in London's Madame Tussaud's wax museum.^[8] The same month, her first foreign film, Bride and Prejudice released. The film was an Indian version of Jane Austen's classic novel Pride and Prejudice. Her next overseas venture was The Mistress of Spices. She then appeared at the closing ceremony of the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, as part of a performance showcasing Indian art, on behalf of the 2010 Commonwealth Games, to be held in New Delhi. In between her overseas acting stints, she appeared in the Indian film Bunty Aur Babli in a hugely popular seven minute dance sequence for the song "Kajra Re".

In 2005, Rai signed a three-year contract with L'Oréal, as a spokesmodel for the cosmetics company.

At the end of the year 2006, she had two releases: Umrao Jaan and Dhoom 2. The former did poorly in India but her role in the latter, which was a sequel to the 2004 hit movie Dhoom brought her great attention. While it was a hit commercially,^[9] it also sparked a controversy for a scene containing a kiss between her and Hrithik Roshan, which made audiences uncomfortable; a court case is currently pending in India.^[10]

2007 saw the release of Mani Ratnam's Guru which premiered in Toronto. The film, based on the life of Indian businessman Dhirubhai Ambani, was critically acclaimed and did well at the box office.^[11] Her most recent film, Provoked, based on the book "Circle of Light" where she portrays a real life character, was released on April 6, 2007 in India and the UK. At the end of April 2007, her first American film, The Last Legion released in Russia and the Netherlands and later opened in North American theaters in August 2007 disappointingly.

Rai (now Rai-Bachchan) was born in Mangalore as the daughter of Krishnaraj Rai, a marine biologist, and Vrinda Rai, a writer. Her family belongs to the Bunt community of Mangalore. She has one elder brother, Aditya Rai, who is an engineer in the merchant navy and also co-produced one of Rai's movies, Dil Ka Rishta (2003).

After she was born, her parents moved to Mumbai (Bombay) where she attended the Arya Vidya Mandir high school in Santacruz. Rai then entered Jai Hind College at Churchgate for one year, and then moved to Ruparel College in Matunga to finish her "HSC" studies. She did well in school and planned to become an architect.

She can communicate in 5 languages :- English, Hindi, Urdu, Marathi and Tamil. While pursuing her studies in architecture, Rai began modeling on the side. In the 1994 Miss India contest, she won the second place (behind Sushmita Sen), and went on to win the Miss World title the same year where she also won the Miss Photogenic award. She abandoned her studies after winning the pageant and spent one year reigning as Miss World in London. Rai then started working as a professional model and then moved on to her current profession as an actress.

Rai has previously dated model Rajeev Mulchandni and Bollywood actors Salman Khan and Vivek Oberoi. She is now married to Indian actor Abhishek Bachchan. The wedding took place on April 20, 2007.

Aishwarya Rai (Tulu: ಐಶ್ವರ್ಯಾ ರೈ, born November 1, 1973) is an Indian actress. Before starting her career as an actress, she worked as a model, and gained fame after winning the Miss World contest in 1994.

Often touted as the most beautiful woman in the world,^[1] Rai made her movie debut in Mani Ratnam's Tamil film, Iruvar (1997). She had her first critical and commercial success in the Hindi movie, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999), which was directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. She successfully performed again in Bhansali's Devdas (2002). Since then, she has acted in nearly forty movies in Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, and English, including the international movies, Bride & Prejudice (2003) and The Last Legion (2007) in English.