Aishwarya Rai Bachchan

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (born 1 November 1973) is an Indian actress who works primarily in Hindi and Tamil cinema. After winning the Miss World 1994 pageant, she began a career in acting and modeling and later established herself as a leading actress in Indian cinema.

Rai made her acting debut in Mani Ratnam's Tamil political drama *Iruvar* (1997) and made her Hindi film debut in the romantic comedy *Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya* (1997). Her commercial breakthrough came with the Tamil romantic drama *Jeans* (1998). She received the Filmfare Award for Best Actress for her performance in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's romantic musical *Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam* (1999). She also appeared in Subhash Ghai's musical *Taal* (1999), the Tamil film *Kandukondain Kandukondain* (2000), and the Hindi film *Mohabbatein* (2000).

In 2002, Rai won her second Filmfare Award for Best Actress for playing Paro in Bhansali's romantic drama *Devdas*. During the 2000s, she appeared in the Bengali film *Chokher Bali* (2003), the Hindi drama *Raincoat* (2004), the action thriller *Dhoom 2* (2006), the biographical drama *Guru* (2007), the historical drama *Jodhaa Akbar* (2008), the science-fiction film *Enthiran* (2010), and the drama *Guzaarish* (2010). Her English-language films include *Bride and Prejudice* (2004) and *The Pink Panther 2* (2009).

After a break from acting, Rai returned with the thriller *Jazbaa* (2015). She subsequently appeared in the biographical drama *Sarbjit* (2016) and Karan Johar's romantic drama *Ae Dil Hai Mushkil* (2016). She reunited with Mani Ratnam to play dual roles as Nandini and Mandakini Devi in the historical films *Ponniyin Selvan: I* (2022) and *Ponniyin Selvan: II* (2023). Rai received the Padma Shri in 2009 and the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2012.