The blue-eyed diva that defines beauty on earth, Aishwarya Rai is pure hypnotism

Age and Height

Aishwarya Rai was born on 1 November 1973 and is 45 years old as of 2018. She stands 5 feet 7 inches tall.

Marriage/Relationships

Aishwarya has always been reluctant to share her relationship details. She is said to have dated model Rajeev Mulchandani early in her career. Her affair and later breakup with Salman Khan was quite talked about in the media. There were rumours that she dated Vivek Oberoi after that.

She later started dating Abhishek Bachchan and married him in 2007.

Family

Aishwarya was born in Mangalore, Karnataka to Krishnaraj and Brinda. She has a brother, Aditya. She is married into the Bachchan Family and has a daughter Aaradhya, born in 2011.

Career

Aishwarya Rai began modelling at a young age and won the Miss World crown in 1994. She soon made her film debut with Iruvar in 1997 and made her Bollywood debut in the same year with Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya. Both films did poorly, but Rai went on to star in the successful Jeans in 1998. In 1998, her career met a turning point when she starred in the iconic Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, a role that made her a popular name in the country. Over the next 2 years, she kept seeing big successes like Taal, Kandukondain Kandukondain and Josh.

In 2002, she appeared as Paro in the magnum-opus Devdas, which was not only a huge success but also cemented Rai's position as a top actress in the industry. Rai also experimented with non-mainstream films, like the 2003 Bengali film Chokher Bali. In 2004 she went international with Bride And Prejudice. 2005 was a dismal year for her, save the hugely popular item song “Kajra Re” in Bunty Aur Bubli.

In 2006, she appeared in an ultra-glam role in Dhoom 2. In 2007, she starred alongside her soon-to-be-husband Abhishek Bachchan in the critically acclaimed Guru. In 2008, she starred in the historical epic drama Jodha Akbar. All 3 films were huge successes and brought her career to the highest point.

After a brief hiatus for marriage, she returned to acting. But her ambitious projects like Raavan and Guzaarish were box-office flops, including some others. She took a long break from acting for 5 years, focusing on family. She returned in 2015 with Jazbaa, which was followed by the critically-acclaimed Sarbjit and the successful-but-criticized Ae Dil Hai Mushkil in 2016.

Controversies

After her breakup with Salman in 2001, stories started circulating about the verbal and physical abuse she received from him. Her name was also damaged a lot in the whole Salman Khan-Vivek Oberoi fiasco.

Favourites

Aishwarya is old-school in her thoughts, and it is reflected in her choices. Her favourite actors are Amitabh Bachchan, Raj Kapoor and Nargis, and her favourite movie is Casablanca. She loves eating chicken curry and chocolates. 

Awards

Aishwarya has a long list of awards in her illustrious career; a majority of them comes for her overall contribution to cinema and work outside the films. She has won Film Best Actress Award for Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Devdas. She also won the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for Best Actress for Sarbjit. In addition, she was won 7 IIFA awards, 4 Stardust Awards and 7 Screen Awards.

Trivia

Aishwarya has a strong international presence and has been a guest on shows like David Letterman and Oprah Winfrey. A tulip in the Netherlands is named after her.