Aishwarya began her career in the film industry with a Tamil film Iruvar in 1997 which was a hit as opposed to her Hindi film Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya with Bobby Deol. She won the Filmfare Best Actress Award for her next Tamil film Jeans, which was also an entry to the Oscars. In 1999, she gained recognition in Bollywood with hits like Taal and Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, in which she played opposite Salman Khan and Ajay Devgan, her role as Nandini fetching her the Filmfare Best Actress Award.

In 2000, her Tamil film Kandukondain Kandukondain, saw a good turnout. She took on the role of Shirley, Shahrukh Khan’s sister in Josh and then played his love interest in Mohabbatein which won her a nomination for the Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award. In Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai, she played Preeti Virat, a rape victim and was considered for the Filmfare Best Actress Award. The year 2001 was a quiet year for Ash.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Devdas (2002), in which she played Paro with Shahrukh Khan and Madhuri Dixit, was an instant blockbuster. It also received a special screening at the Cannes Film Festival. She won the Filmfare Best Actress award. In 2003, she acted the part of Binodini in a Bengali film Choker Bali which was based on a novel by Rabindranath Tagore. The film was nominated for the Golden Leopard at the Locarno International Film Festival.

The year 2004 saw Ash in her first English film, Gurinder Chaddha’s Bride & Prejudice, an adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice. Her performance as Neerja in Rituparno Ghosh’s Raincoat was praised. This was followed by her second English film in 2005, The Mistress of Spices, with Dylan McDermott of The Practice fame. Her dance sequence Kajra Re from Bunty Aur Babli became one of the most popular tunes of the year.

She had two films out in 2006. Umrao Jaan with Abhishek Bachchan failed to do well while Dhoom 2 where she played Sunehri and shared a ‘controversial’ liplock with Hrithik Roshan was a big hit. In 2007, she played Sujata opposite Abhishek Bachchan in Guru, based on the industrialist Dhirubhai Ambani and it was successful. Provoked, which was based on a real episode of domestic violence, won critical acclaim. The other English film, The Last Legion, did not do so well.

Jodhaa Akbar, released in 2008, in which she acted the part of Jodhaa Bai with Hrithik Roshan was average. The sequel to Sarkar, Ram Gopal Varma’s Sarkar Raj, in which she plays a CEO alongside Amitabh Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan, is said to be one of her best performances till date.

In 2009, Rai looked her gorgeous self in The Pink Panther 2 with Steve Martin.

Ash won the coveted Miss World crown in 2004. Soon after this she pledged to donate her eyes after her death. She went on to become the brand ambassador for brands like L’Oreal, Pepsi, and Coco Cola. She struck a pose for many international magazines like TIME and was also voted one of the most attractive and influential women by several polls. She is the first Indian actor to be part of the jury at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. She has appeared in The Oprah Winfrey Show, Late Show with David Letterman, and 60 Minutes. She was also the first Indian actress to be replicated in wax at Madame Tussaud’s Museum in London.

She was briefly involved with actors Salman Khan and Vivek Oberoi before marrying actor Abhishek Bachchan, son of the iconic Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan. They were married in 2007. The couple have acted together in many movies. They were seen in the latest Lux ad and have been roped in to be part of PETA’s Lovebirds campaign.

Movies Done By aishwarya Rai

1997 Iruvar Pushpavalli/Kalpana Tamil Dubbed into Telugu as Iddaru
1997 Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya Ashi Kapoor Hindi
1998 Jeans Madhumitha/Vaishnavi Tamil Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil
1999 Aa Ab Laut Chalen Pooja Walia Hindi
1999 Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam Nandini Hindi Filmfare Award for Best Actress
1999 Ravoyi Chandamama Herself Telugu Special appearance in song “Love to Live”
1999 Taal Mansi Hindi Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Actress
2000 Mela Champakali Hindi Special appearance
2000 Kandukondain Kandukondain Meenakshi Tamil Dubbed into Telugu as Priyuralu Pilichindi
2000 Josh Shirley Dias Hindi
2000 Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai Preeti Vyas Hindi Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Actres
2000 Dhai Akshar Prem Ke Sahiba Grewal Hindi
2000 Mohabbatein Megha Shankar Hindi Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress
2001 Albela Sonia Heinz Hindi
2002 Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam Suman Hindi Guest appearance
2002 Hum Kisise Kum Nahin Komal Rastogi Hindi
2002 23 March 1931: Shaheed Mannawali Hindi Special appearance
2002 Devdas Parvati “Paro” Chakraborty Hindi Filmfare Award for Best Actress
2002 Shakti: The Power Herself Hindi Special appearance in song “Ishq Kamina”
2003 Chokher Bali Binodini Bengali
2003 Dil Ka Rishta Tia Sharma Hindi
2003 Kuch Naa Kaho Namrata Shrivastav Hindi
2004 Khakee Mahalakshmi Hindi
2004 Kyun…! Ho Gaya Na Diya Malhotra Hindi
2004 Bride & Prejudice Lalita Bakshi English Dubbed into Hindi as Balle Balle! From Amritsar to LA
2004 Raincoat Neerja Hindi Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Actress
2005 Shabd Antara Vashist/Tammana Hindi
2005 The Mistress of Spices Tilo English
2005 Bunty Aur Babli Herself Hindi Special appearance in the song “Kajra Re”
2006 Umrao Jaan Umrao Jaan Hindi
2006 Dhoom 2 Sunehri Hindi Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Actress
2007 Guru Sujata Desai Hindi Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Actress
2007 Provoked Kiranjit Ahluwalia English Dubbed into Hindi with the same title
2007 The Last Legion Mira English
2008 Jodhaa Akbar Jodhaa Bai Hindi Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Actress
2008 Sarkar Raj Anita Rajan Hindi
2009 The Pink Panther 2 Sonia Solandres English
2010 Raavan Ragini Sharma Hindi
2010 Raavanan Ragini Subramaniam Tamil Dubbed into Telugu as Villain
2010 Enthiran Sana Tamil Dubbed into Hindi as Robot and in Telugu as Robo
2010 Action Replayy Mala Hindi
2010 Guzaarish Sofia D’Souza Hindi Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Actress
2015 Jazbaa Anuradha Verma Hindi
2016 Sarbjit Dalbir Kaur Hindi Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Actress
2016 Ae Dil Hai Mushkil Saba Taliyar Khan Hindi
2018 Fanney Khan Baby Singh Hindi
2021 Ponniyin Selvan Films that have not yet been released Nandhini / Mandakini Dev Tamil Filming

National Honours and Recognitions Received By aishwarya Rai

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 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 a 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) that 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 celebrity 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 holticulturist 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 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” in Filmfare 100 years of cinema issue.
2013 – Ranked 2 in “Top 5 Global Icon” 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”.
2017 – Dadasaheb Phalke Award – Best Actress for Sarbjit
2018 – 20 January 2018, Aishwarya Rai Honoured with First Ladies Award by President of India (Ram Nath Kovind) – Titled as the First Lady who had created a 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 Government of India has added her in 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 “Woman of Substance” title.
2018 – Femina “India’s Most Beautful Woman 2018”
1994 – Miss World 1994.
1994 – Miss World Continental Queen of Beauty − Asia and Oceania.
1994 – Miss Photogenic.
2000 – Most Beautiful Miss World of All Time – Received the highest score
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