Aishwarya Rai Bachchan

 Aishwarya Rai Bachchan born 1 November 1973 is an Indian actress who is primarily known for her work in Hindi and Tamil films. Rai won the Miss World 1994 pageant and later established herself as one of the most-popular and influential celebrities in India. She has received numerous accolades for her acting, including two Filmfare Awards. In 2004, Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world. In 2009, the Government of India honoured her with the Padma Shri and in 2012, the Government of France awarded her with the Order of Arts and Letters. She has often been called "the most beautiful woman in the world" by segments of the media.

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 garnered critical appreciation for portraying a passionate artist in Kandukondain Kandukondain (2000), a seductive widow in Chokher Bali (2003), an unhappily married woman in Raincoat (2004), Kiranjit Ahluwalia in Provoked (2006), and a nurse in Bhansali's Guzaarish (2010). Her greatest commercial successes have been the romantic dramas Mohabbatein (2000) and Ae Dil Hai Mushkil (2016), the adventure film Dhoom 2 (2006), the biographical drama Guru (2007), the science-fiction film Enthiran (2010), and the period films Jodhaa Akbar (2008), Ponniyin Selvan: I (2022) and Ponniyin Selvan: II (2023).

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 actor Abhishek Bachchan in 2007, and they have a daughter named Aaradhya.

Early life and education- Aishwarya Rai was born on 1 November 1973 into a Tuluva Hindu family in Mangalore, Karnataka. 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."

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.

Career- Modelling work and acting breakthrough (1991–1999) In 1991, Rai participated in an international supermodel contest, which led to her being featured in the American edition of Vogue magazine. In 1993, she gained wide public recognition for her appearance in a Pepsi commercial with actors Aamir Khan and Mahima Chaudhry. Her single line of dialogue "Hi, I'm Sanjana" became popular. In the 1994 Miss India pageant, Rai won second place behind Sushmita Sen and was crowned Miss India World, also winning the titles Miss Catwalk, Miss Miraculous, Miss Photogenic, Miss Perfect Ten and Miss Popular.

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."