In film world A is for Aishwarya Rai Bachchan who at 37, is stunning to look at, and has come to the South to complete 2 versions (Hindi and Tamil) of a Maniratnam film (Ravan) successfully, and to join Rajnikant (the superstar of Tamil) as his heroine in ‘Robot’, a big budget picture to be directed by S. Shankar, one of the best in the industry.
‘Aish’ as she is known in Hollywood and the West, is born to Krishnaraj and Vrinda Rai. She was a Fine Arts student before being a model, a world class beauty (miss World), Hindi film star and Hollywood star as well. She has acted in films down South in India, in Kannada and Tamil.
‘Aish’ married Abhishek, a co-star, and got into the Bachchan family a few years ago when she was 33. She is religious-minded and worships Lord Ganesha daily at her house, and meets parents whenever she can in Mumbai. She has a brother too.
She wanted to be an architect but fate led her into advertising (as a model) and studies (as a film star), after she won a world wide beauty contest to be Miss World. Her colleague Sushmitha Sen became ‘Miss Universe’ and appeared in the celebrated Hindi picture ‘Mai Hoon Na?’ with Shah Rukh, directed by Ms. Farah Khan.
She made a debut in “Iruwar” a film in Tamil based on M. Karunanidhi and MG Ramachandran, who were in DMK as office-bearers. She has appeared in several commercial Ad films and one of them based on soft drinks opened the gates of Bollywood for her. She has done roles with Tabu and Mohanlal, Mammootty and Salman Khan.
She won 2 ‘filmfare’ awards for 2 Hindi films (Hum dil de chuke sanam and Devdass). Blue –eyed dream girl Aishwarya Rai B has received several awards, and is a costly film artiste demanding around Rs 5 crores. Her career is well controlled and running well. She knows Tulu, Kannada (born in Mangalore), Hindi and English. She is a cultural ambassador of India from the west coast of Karnataka.