Aishwarya Rai Biography – An Indian actress and Former Miss World

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (born 1 November 1973) is an Indian actress who is primarily known for her work in Hindi and Tamil films. The winner of the Miss World 1994 pageant, she has established herself as one of the most popular celebrities in India. Rai has received numerous accolades, including two Filmfare Awards, and was honoured with the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2009 and the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the Government of France in 2012. She has often been cited in the media as “the most beautiful woman in the world”.

While in college, Rai did a few modelling jobs. Following appearances in several television commercials, she entered the Miss India pageant, in which she placed second. She was then crowned Miss World in 1994, after which she began receiving offers to act in the film. She made her acting debut in Mani Ratnam‘s 1997 Tamil film Iruvar and had her first Hindi film release in Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya that same year. Her first commercial success was the Tamil romantic drama Jeans (1998), which was the most expensive Indian film at the time. 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 the Tamil romance film Kandukondain Kandukondain (2000), Tagore’s heroine, Binodini, in the Bengali film Chokher Bali (2003), a depressed woman in the drama Raincoat (2004), Kiranjit Ahluwalia in the British drama film Provoked (2006), and a nurse in Bhansali’s drama Guzaarish (2010). Rai’s greatest commercial successes have been the romantic drama Mohabbatein (2000), the adventure film Dhoom 2 (2006), the drama Guru (2007), the period film Jodhaa Akbar (2008), the science fiction film Enthiran (2010), the romantic drama Ae Dil Hai Mushkil (2016), and the period film Ponniyin Selvan: I (2022).

Rai married actor Abhishek Bachchan in 2007; the couple has one daughter. Her off-screen roles include duties as a brand ambassador for several charity organisations and campaigns. She is a Goodwill Ambassador for the Joint United Nations Programme on AIDS (UNAIDS). In 2003, she was the first Indian actress to be a jury member at the Cannes Film Festival.

Aishwarya Rai Biography
Born	Aishwarya Rai 1 November 1973 (age 49) Mangalore, Karnataka, India
Alma mater	University of Mumbai
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1991–present
Works	Full list
Title	Miss World 1994
Spouse	Abhishek Bachchan (m. 2007)​
Children	1
Family	Bachchan family (by marriage)
Awards	Full list
Honours	Padma Shri (2009) Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (2012)
Signature

Early life (Aishwarya Rai Biography)

Rai was born on 1 November 1973 into a Tulu-speaking Bunt family in Mangalore, Karnataka. Her father, Krishnaraj, who died on 18 March 2017, was an Army biologist, while her mother, Vrinda, is a housewife. She has one elder brother, Aditya Rai, who is 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. The family moved to Mumbai, where Rai attended the Arya Vidya Mandir High School. Rai did her intermediate schooling at Jai Hind College for a year and then joined DG Ruparel College in Matunga, securing 90 per cent in the HSC exams.

She trained in classical dance and music for five years during her teens. Her favourite subject was zoology, and she initially considered a career in medicine. Then, with plans to become an architect, she enrolled at Rachana Sansad Academy of Architecture but later gave up her education to pursue a career in modelling.

Career (Aishwarya Rai Biography)

Modelling work and acting breakthrough (1991–1999)

In 1991, Rai won an international supermodel contest (organised by Ford) and was eventually featured in the American edition of Vogue. In 1993, Rai gained huge public recognition for her appearance in a Pepsi commercial with actors Aamir Khan and Mahima Chaudhry. The single line – “Hi, I’m Sanjana,” of her dialogue in the commercial made her instantly famous. In the 1994 Miss India pageant, she won second place, behind Sushmita Sen, and was crowned Miss India World, also winning five other sub-titles, “Miss Catwalk”, “Miss Miraculous”, “Miss Photogenic”, “Miss Perfect Ten” and “Miss Popular”. With Sen representing India at the Miss Universe pageant, Rai’s duties as the first runner-up included representing India in the rival Miss World Pageant, held that year in Sun City, South Africa. She went on to win the crown where she also won the “Miss Photogenic” award and Miss World Continental Queen of Beauty − Asia and Oceania. After winning the pageant, Rai spoke of her dream for peace in this world, and her desire to be an ambassador of peace during her one-year reign in London. Rai continued to pursue a career as a model until she became an actress.

Rai next took up the leading role of Mansi, an aspiring singer, in Subhash Ghai‘s musical romantic drama Taal; alongside Akshay Khanna and Anil Kapoor. A reviewer for Rediff praised her acting and dancing prowess in the film and wrote that “Taal will again enhance her reputation as an actress while in no way detracting from her image as a traffic-stopper”. A domestic commercial success, Taal was notable for being the first Indian film to feature in the top 20 listings at the American box office. Rai received a second Best Actress nomination that year at the Filmfare Awards ceremony.

Established actress (2000–2008)

In 2000, Rai starred in Kandukondain Kandukondain, a Tamil language adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel Sense and Sensibility. Directed by Rajiv Menon, the film also starred Mammooty, Tabu and Ajith Kumar in prominent roles. Rai was cast as Meenakshi (based on the character of Marianne Dashwood), the younger sister of Tabu’s character. The film was a critical and commercial success and earned Rai positive comments from critics; a review carried by The Indian Express summarized, “Attacking her role with just the perfect dollop of innocence, Rai does full justice to her part, and matches up perfectly to Tabu.”

After a series of films that under-performed either critically or commercially, Rai garnered both critical and box-office success with Ashutosh Gowariker‘s period romantic drama Jodhaa Akbar (2008). The film narrates a partly fictionalized 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). 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 had gross earnings of ₹1.12 billion (US$14 million) and fetched Rai the 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 was cast as Anita Rajan, the CEO of an international power firm that proposes to set up a plant in rural Maharashtra. The film was a critical and commercial success, with praise directed to the performances of the three leads.

Career fluctuations and sabbatical (2009–2016)

Rai’s next role was in the 2009 Harald Zwart-directed spy comedy The Pink Panther 2. Starring alongside Steve Martin, Jean Reno and Emily Mortimer, Rai portrayed the role of Sonia Solandres, a seductive criminology expert. Like its predecessor, the sequel received negative reviews from critics but did a moderate business of $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 mentioned her expressions as “wooden” and added, “She looks gorgeous, but her expression rarely changes”.

In 2016, Rai starred in Omung Kumar’s biographical drama Sarbjit. The film is based on the life of Indian farmer Sarabjit Singh, who was convicted of terrorism by a Pakistani court, and how his sister Dalbir Kaur fought relentlessly for his release. Rai played the role of the sister of Sarabjit Singh (played by Randeep Hooda). The film premiered at the 69th Cannes Film Festival and received mixed reactions from critics. Few reviewers expressed that Rai was “miscast” as she neither looked nor sounded like a Sikh woman. Her Punjabi accent and her over-the-top performance in a few scenes were largely criticized, though several critics took note of how much she stood out in the film’s quieter scenes. Rajeev Masand summarized that “she’s required to scream and shout and weep copiously to express her anguish; the shrillness does her no favours. In quieter moments – like one in which Dalbir can’t bear to part with her stillborn baby – the actress shines.” Nonetheless, her role earned her tenth Filmfare Award for Best Actress nomination. The film earned over ₹440 million (US$5.5 million) worldwide against a production budget of ₹150 million (US$1.9 million).

Success with intermittent work (2016–present)

Rai’s final release of 2016 was Karan Johar’s musical romantic drama Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, alongside Anushka Sharma and Ranbir Kapoor, in which she played the role of a poet named Saba. Rai 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 that she “seems to have wandered in from another movie, one where emotions are conveyed in subtler and more affecting fashion. When she takes her to leave from Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, you may wish you could go with her.” The film emerged as one of her biggest commercial successes with revenues of over ₹2 billion (US$25 million). Two years later, Rai played the part of a singer who is kidnapped by a troubled father in the unremarkable comedy-drama Fanney Khan (2018). An adaptation of the Belgian film Everybody’s Famous! (2000), the film co-starred Anil Kapoor and Rajkummar Rao. Uday Bhatia of Mint disliked the film and found Rai “too unruffled a screen presence to convincingly sell the kind of silliness this film requires”.

In 2022, Rai reunited with Mani Ratnam for Ponniyin Selvan: I, a Tamil ensemble period film based on Kalki Krishnamurthy’s epic novel of the same name. She played Nandini, a scheming Chola queen. Haricharan Pudipeddi of Hindustan Times found Rai’s to be the best performance among the ensemble cast, while Sonil Dedhia of News 18 added that she is “wonderfully restrained and uses her eyes expertly to communicate so much”. The film earned over ₹5 billion (US$63 million) worldwide to emerge as one of the highest-grossing Tamil films of all time. Rai will reprise her role in the sequel Ponniyin Selvan: II.

Off-screen work

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 2001, Rai appeared in her first world tour, which was Craze 2001, a series of concerts that were performed across the US alongside Anil Kapoor, Aamir Khan, Preity Zinta and Gracy Singh. The show faced early cancellation due to the 11 September 2001 attacks, and the team prepared to return to India as soon as possible. However, the shows continued successfully in Canada. In 2003, she became the first Indian actress to be a jury member at the Cannes Film Festival. In the same year, she became a global brand ambassador of L’Oréal, alongside Andie MacDowell, Eva Longoria and Penélope Cruz. 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 the same year, Rai was appointed spokesperson for the International Year of Microcredit, raising awareness of the main goals and priorities of the United Nations poverty alleviation efforts.

Rai is a UN Microcredit Spokesperson. She supports PETA India. She pledged to donate her eyes to the Eye Bank Association of India and appeared in a public awareness film on eye donation. In November 2004, Rai created the Aishwarya Rai Foundation to help needy people in India. In 2009 Rai was appointed as the first Goodwill Ambassador of Smile Train, an international charity that provides free Cleft lip and palate surgery to children in need. Her work with Smile Train will focus not only on India but on 76 different developing countries around the world. In September 2012, Rai joined United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and renowned Hollywood actor Michael Douglas at a ceremony to commemorate the International Day of Peace in New York. Later that week, she was appointed as the new international Goodwill Ambassador for UNAIDS, the joint United Nations Programme on AIDS and HIV. She will raise global awareness of protecting children from HIV infection and increasing access to antiretroviral treatment.

Personal life (Aishwarya Rai Biography)

In 1999, Rai began dating Bollywood actor Salman Khan; their relationship was often reported in the media until the couple separated in 2002. Rai 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 before they broke up in 2005.

Though they both appeared in Dhai Akshar Prem Ke (in which her then longtime boyfriend, Salman Khan, had a brief cameo) and Kuch Naa Kaho, Abhishek Bachchan fell in love with Rai whilst filming Dhoom 2. Their engagement was announced on 14 January 2007 and later confirmed by his father, Amitabh Bachchan. The couple married on 20 April 2007 according to traditional Hindu rites of the Bunt community, to which she belongs. 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 described in the Indian media as a supercouple. Rai is very close to her family, and lived with them in Bandra, Mumbai, until her marriage.

Rai is Hindu and deeply religious. Her international presence shot up when Abhishek Bachchan accompanied her to the Cannes Film festival shortly after their marriage, and later to The Oprah Winfrey Show, appearing on 28 September 2009. They were described as being more famous as a couple than Brangelina.

Rai gave birth to a girl, Aaradhya, on 16 November 2011. Rai is commonly referred to by fans and the media by the nicknames “Ash” and “Aish”, but has stated that she dislikes being called as such. She has discouraged people from referring to her by names other than “Aishwarya” as she does not want to “spoil [her] good name”.

On 12 July 2020, Rai and her daughter were reported to have tested positive for COVID-19. On 17 July, they were reported to have been hospitalized. Rai and her daughter recovered and were discharged from the hospital on 27 July 2020.

In the media (Aishwarya Rai Biography)

Impact and reception

Rai Bachchan is one of the most popular Bollywood celebrities. Despite constant media speculation, she keeps her personal life well-guarded. Her physical appearance and performances have made her a style icon for young women. In 2011, India Today noted that there were over 17,000 websites dedicated to her. She was selected by Verve magazine in its list of the country’s most powerful women. In 2001, Forbes named Rai among the top five Indian movie stars. In a reader poll conducted by UK’s Hello! magazine, she was voted “the most attractive woman of 2003”. In the same year, Rai appeared in Rolling Stone magazine’s annual “Hot List”. In 2004, she was chosen by Time as one of the world’s most influential people and appeared on the cover of its 2003 Asia edition.

In a poll conducted by the newspaper Daily News and Analysis in 2009, she was voted as one of India’s most popular icons. She attended the 83rd Academy Awards, along with her husband, Abhishek. Rai with her husband Abhishek Bachchan appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show on 28 September 2009. She is the first Indian celebrity who appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show twice. They have been described as a supercouple in the Indian media.

She ranked 2nd in The Times of India‘s 50 most desirable women of 2010 and ranked 9th in 2011. In 2011, she has received a lot of negative publicity for failing to lose her post-pregnancy weight as is apparently “required” of a public figure. However, she silenced her critics by walking the red carpet at the “AmfAR Cinema Against Aids” gala at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival for the 11th time. Later that year, Rai made it to the issue of New York Magazine‘s list of “Forty Women That Women Find Beautiful”, where she grabbed the 21st position in the list, with New York Magazine saying “She may be the “world’s most beautiful woman,” but what we really love is that she never feels fragile onscreen”. The market research firm YouGov named Rai the world’s eleventh most admired person of 2018.

Endorsements

Rai made her first commercial for Camlin exam pencils when she was in the 9th grade. Rai became popular after appearing in a Pepsi commercial with actor Aamir Khan. She is the only actress who endorsed both Pepsi and Coca-Cola. She is one of the top brand ambassadors in the country and is one of the top-paid Bollywood actresses in this respect. She modelled for Titan Watches, Longines watches, L’Oréal, 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. Rai has been ranked the 2nd most popular watch brand ambassador worldwide in a survey, conducted by World Watch Report. In 2013 Rai and her husband Abhishek Bachchan were roped in as brand ambassadors by the TTK Group.

Works and accolades (Aishwarya Rai Biography)

Filmography

Films

Key

Denotes films that have not yet been released

Year	Film	Role	Language	Notes
1997	Iruvar	Pushpavalli/Kalpana	Tamil
	Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya	Ashi Kapoor	Hindi
1998	Jeans	Madhumitha/Vaishnavi	Tamil
1999	Aa Ab Laut Chalen	Pooja Walia	Hindi
	Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam	Nandini	Hindi
	Ravoyi Chandamama	Unnamed	Telugu	Special appearance in the song “Love to Live”
	Taal	Mansi	Hindi
2000	Mela	Champakali	Hindi	Special appearance
	Kandukondain Kandukondain	Meenakshi	Tamil
	Josh	Shirley Dias	Hindi
	Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai	Preeti Vyas	Hindi
	Dhai Akshar Prem Ke	Sahiba Grewal	Hindi
	Mohabbatein	Megha Shankar	Hindi
2001	Albela	Sonia Heinz	Hindi
2002	Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam	Suman	Hindi	Special appearance
	Hum Kisise Kum Nahin	Komal Rastogi	Hindi
	23 March 1931: Shaheed	Mannawali	Hindi	Special appearance
	Devdas	Parvati “Paro” Chakraborty	Hindi
	Shakti: The Power	Herself	Hindi	Special appearance in the song “Ishq Kamina”
2003	Chokher Bali	Binodini	Bengali
	Dil Ka Rishta	Tia Sharma	Hindi
	Kuch Naa Kaho	Namrata Shrivastav	Hindi
2004	Khakee	Mahalakshmi	Hindi
	Kyun…! Ho Gaya Na	Diya Malhotra	Hindi
	Bride & Prejudice	Lalita Bakshi	English
	Raincoat	Neerja	Hindi
2005	Shabd	Antara Vashist/Tammana	Hindi
	The Mistress of Spices	Tilo	English
	Bunty Aur Babli	Unnamed	Hindi	Special appearance in the song “Kajra Re”
2006	Umrao Jaan	Umrao Jaan	Hindi
	Dhoom 2	Sunehri	Hindi
2007	Guru	Sujata Desai	Hindi
	Provoked	Kiranjit Ahluwalia	English
	The Last Legion	Mira	English
2008	Jodhaa Akbar	Jodhaa Bai	Hindi
	Sarkar Raj	Anita Rajan	Hindi
2009	The Pink Panther 2	Sonia Solandres	English
2010	Raavan	Ragini Sharma	Hindi
	Raavanan	Ragini Subramaniam	Tamil
	Enthiran	Sana	Tamil
	Action Replayy	Mala	Hindi
	Guzaarish	Sofia D’Souza	Hindi
2011	Bollywood: The Greatest Love Story Ever Told	Herself	English/Hindi	Documentary
2015	Jazbaa	Anuradha Verma	Hindi
2016	Sarbjit	Dalbir Kaur	Hindi
	Ae Dil Hai Mushkil	Saba Qazi	Hindi
2018	Fanney Khan	Sumitra “Baby” Singh	Hindi
2022	Ponniyin Selvan: I	Nandini / Mandakini Devi	Tamil
2023	Ponniyin Selvan: II	Nandini / Mandakini Devi	Tamil	Post-production

Footnotes

^{^[I]} Rai played dual roles in the film.
^{^[II]} Rai played a single character who has two different names in the film.

Rai has appeared in over 46 films in five languages, predominantly Hindi and a few in Tamil.

Awards and nominations (Aishwarya Rai Biography)

National Honours and Recognitions

• 1994 – Miss India World 1994
• 2000 – Smita Patil Memorial Award for Best Actress.
• 2002 – The Times of India named Aishwarya Rai No.1 on the list of the “100 Most Beautiful Indian Women in the Past Century”.
• 2002 – Rajiv Gandhi Award for Excellence in the Field of Entertainment.
• 2003 – V. Shantaram Awards – Best Actress for Devdas.
• 2004 – GR8! Women Award for Contribution to Cinema(Special Laurel).
• 2007 – Femina “Most Powerful Indian Woman”.
• 2008 – She was selected by Verve in its list of the country’s “Most Powerful Women“.
• 2009 – V. Shantaram Awards – Best Actress for Jodhaa Akbar.
• 2009 – Padma Shri, India’s fourth highest civilian award from the Government of India for her contribution to cinema. She created history by being the youngest actress to receive the award.
• 2009 – Verve “Most Influential Indian Woman”.
• 2009 – Declared as “The Most Powerful Female Actor in India”. The first ever extensive research by a popular research agency(Hansa Research) was conducted of such magnitude to measure Celebrity Power in India; concentrating on different attributes like Popularity, media presence, power of persuasion and image attributes. This all-India research also revealed that Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is amongst the most persuasive and likeable celebrities in India. She has also garnered over 98.8% of recognition as well as recall value which is at par with cinematic legends like Amitabh Bachchan and cricketing star Sachin Tendulkar. Incidentally, she is the only female who is part of the top 10 recognized celebrities from all walks of life.
• 2009 – Filmfare’s “Most Beautiful People”.
• 2010 – The India Today Women Award for Global Achievement.
• 2010 – GR8! Women Award for Social services and international recognition.
• 2010 – Teacher’s Achievement Award – Teacher’s people achievers award.
• 2011 – Femina “India’s Most Beautiful Woman”.
• 2011 – A newer variety of guava, produced by Padma Shri horticulturist Haji Kaleemullah was named after her.
• 2011 – FICCI Frames Excellence Awards – Decade of Global Achievement for contribution to Hindi cinema & acting.
• 2011 – FICCI Frames Award of a Decade of Global Achievement.
• 2011 – Honoured with the Pazhassi Raja Purashkaram ‘Abhinaya Kaala Ratna’ instituted by the Pazhassi Raja Charitable Trust.
• 2011 – Honoured by Karnataka Chief Minister B. S. Yeddyurappa at World Kannada Meet (Vishwa Kannada Sammelana) for her contributions to the arts.
• 2012 – Ranked #2 among the top “5 Indian Women Who Became Role Models Of Empowerment” alongside Mother Teresa, Kalpana Chawla, Indra Nooyi and Indira Gandhi.
• 2013 – Filmfare Special Centenary Award for Best Actress.
• 2013 – Giant Award – Outstanding Contribution to Indian Cinema.
• 2013 –”Most Popular Actress”(Rank #1) in Filmfare 100 years of cinema issue.
• 2013 – Ranked #2 in “Top 5 Global Icons” in Filmfare 100 years of cinema issue where Rai is the only Female in the list.
• 2014 – Asiavision Awards – Icon Of India.
• 2014 – The Times Of India’s Forever Desirable woman.
• 2015 – Hello! “India’s Most Beautiful”.
• 2016 – Outlook Business Outstanding Women Awards – Outstanding Celebrity Woman of the Year.
• 2016 – NRI Of The Year Award – Global Indian of the Year Award.
• 2016 – Gauravvanta Gujarati Award
• 2017 – Femina “Most Beautiful Indian Woman”.
• 2018 – 20 January 2018, Aishwarya Rai was Honoured with First Ladies Award by the President of India (Ram Nath Kovind) – Titled was the First Lady who had created history by being the first actor to be recognised as a Global Icon from India and the first Indian actor to be a jury member at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. Honouring her for these great achievements, the Ministry of Women and Child Development of the Government of India has added her to the list of 112 women achievers who have achieved a first in any field and made the country proud.
• 2018 – April 2018, Bunt Community Honoured Aishwarya Rai with the “Woman of Substance” title.
• 2018 – Femina “India’s Most Beautiful Woman 2018”.

Miss World (Aishwarya Rai Biography)

Miss World is “The World’s Oldest Running International Beauty Pageant“. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951. Since Morley’s death in 2000, Morley’s widow, Julia Morley, has co-chaired the pageant. This pageant is one of the Big Four international beauty pageants—the most coveted beauty title when it comes to international pageant competitions.

Winner

• 1994 – Miss World 1994 Miss Photogenic
• 2000 – Most Beautiful Miss World of All Time – Received the highest score of 9.911.
• 2014 – Most Successful Miss World of All Time by the Miss World Organisation.
• 2014 – Lifetime Beauty With a Purpose Award for humanitarian works by Miss World Organisation.

Miss India (Aishwarya Rai Biography)

Miss India or Femina Miss India is a national beauty pageant in India that annually selects representatives to compete in Miss World, one of the Big Four major international beauty pageants. It is organised by Femina, a women’s magazine published by The Times Group. Since 2013, Femina also organizes Miss Diva separately which sends representatives to Miss Universe.

Winner

• 1994 – Miss India World
• 1994 – Miss Photogenic
• 1994 – Miss Perfect Ten
• 1994 – Miss Catwalk
• 1994 – Miss Popular
• 1994 – Miss Miraculous

Anandalok Puraskar Awards

Anandalok Puraskar Awards or Anandalok Puraskar (Bengali: আনন্দলোক পুরস্কার ) ceremony is one of the most prominent film events given for Bengali Cinemas in India. The Anandalok, the only film magazine in the Bengali language, published by Ananda Publishers and Ananda Bazar Patrika presents this Award (Puraskar).

Bollywood Movie Awards (Aishwarya Rai Biography)

The Bollywood Movie Awards was an annual film award ceremony held between 1999 and 2007 in Long Island, New York, United States, celebrating films and actors from the Bollywood film industry based in Mumbai, India.

Filmfare Awards (Aishwarya Rai Biography)

The Filmfare Awards are presented annually by The Times Group to honour both the artistic and technical excellence of professionals. The Filmfare ceremony is one of the oldest film events in India. The awards were first introduced in 1954, the same year as the National Film Awards. Rai has won 2 awards from 11 nominations.

Screen Awards (Aishwarya Rai Biography)

The Screen Awards is an annual awards ceremony held in India honouring professional excellence in the Bollywood Film Industry. The nomination and award selection is done by a panel of distinguished professionals from the industry. It was originally called the Screen Awards. Aishwarya Rai won 7 awards from 18 nominations.

Zee Cine Awards (Aishwarya Rai Biography)

The Zee Cine Awards (ZCA) is an awards ceremony for the Hindi film industry. Aishwarya Rai won 6 awards and 10 nominations.

Other Awards

Winner

• 2000 – Screen Videocon Award for Best Actress – Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam
• 2000 – Priyadarshini International Award for Best Actress – Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam
• 2000 – Rupa Filmgoers Millennium Award for Best Actress – Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam
• 2000 – Stardust Millenium Award for Best Actress – Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam
• 2001 – BWSX Fantasy Award Best Supporting Actress – Mohabbatein
• 2002 – RACE Award Best Actress – Devdas
• 2004 – F Awards – For Excellence in Indian Fashion – Female Celebrity Model of the Year
• 2005 – MTV Immies – Best Performance in a Song (“Kajra Re” from Bunty Aur Babli)
• 2006 – Zee Astitva Awards – Outstanding Contribution to Cinema
• 2007 – MTV Lycra Style Awards – Most Stylish Female for Dhoom 2
• 2007 – MTV Lycra Style Awards – Most Stylish Couple (along with Hrithik Roshan for Dhoom 2)
• 2008 – Central European Bollywood Award for Best Actress – Guru
• 2008 – Reebok Zoom Glam Awards – Glam Couple Award (along with Abhishek Bachchan)
• 2009 – Indian Youth Icon Awards – Global Face of the Year
• 2010 – Masala Awards – Global Artist Of The Year
• 2010 – DNA India Style Awards – Beauty Icon Award
• 2011 – Big Ima Music Awards – The Best Visualized Female Song – “Udi” (Guzaarish)
• 2017 – Lions Gold Award for Best Actress of the Year for Sarbjit.

Media Honours and Recognitions

• 2005 – Voted The Most Desired Dream Date.
• 2006 – Ranked 1st in BollySpice.com Magazine’s list of “Top 10 Actresses of 2006”.
• 2009 – In a poll conducted by the newspaper Daily News and Analysis, she was voted as one of India’s most popular icons.
• 2010 – Ranked 2nd in The Times of India’s “50 most desirable women”.
• 2011 – Ranked 9th in The Times of India’s “50 most desirable women”.
• 2012 – Voted as the best-dressed celebrity on the red carpet in an online survey conducted by Yahoo! India.
• 2012 – On Mother’s Day 2012, Rai Voted as “Ideal Celebrity Mother in Bollywood”.
• 2013 – The Best of Filmfare – Iconic women who shaped our movie dreams.
• 2014 – Most searched “Successful Indian Woman” on Google.
• 2015 – Voted as “The Most Yummiest Mummy” with 72% votes as the Yummiest mummy in Bollywood.
• 2015 – Voted as “Best Dressed” at Cannes 2015 with 50.53% votes.
• 2016 – “Most Successful Woman Achiever” in business/entrepreneur by Outlook Business Magazine.
• 2017 – Filmfare “Most Powerful Girl of Showbiz” in Bollywood.
• 2019 – 2019 Cannes Film Festival Best Dressed Readers’ Choice.
• 2019 – Ranked sixth in India’s Most Trusted Personality List 2019 by TRA Actor (Female) category.
• 2020- Ranked thirteenth in the overall list Actor category of India’s Most Trusted Personality List TRA.

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