Aishwarya Rai - How Much You Know About Her?

Aishwarya Rai (born November 1, 1973) is an Indian actress and former fashion model, currently one of the highest-paid actresses in India.She was Miss World in 1994.

Early life
Aishwarya Rai was born in Mangalore, in the South Indian state of Karnataka, to Krishnaraj Rai, a marine engineer, and Vrinda Rai, a writer. Her ancestors are from the Bunt community of Mangalore.Her family later relocated to Mumbai. Rai has one brother, Aditya Rai, who is three years older than she is.

Rai's native language is Tulu; she also speaks Hindi, English, Urdu, Kannada, Marathi, and Tamil.

Rai attended the Arya Vidya Mandir at Santacruz, Mumbai, then entered Ruparel College, Matunga, Mumbai. She was an A student and was on track to become an architect.

Rai began modeling on the side while studying architecture. In the 1994 Miss India contest, she placed second behind Sushmita Sen, and went on to win the Miss World title that same year and the Miss Photogenic award. After the one year reign as Miss World in London, she then worked as a professional model, in advertising and Indian fashion magazines.


Rise of acting career
The first film Rai acted in was a Tamil movie Iruvar in (1997), directed by Mani Ratnam.

Her first Hindi film was Aur Pyar Ho Gaya opposite Bobby Deol. Since 2004 Rai has also been appearing in an increasing number of English language films.


International stardom
In 2003, Rai was a member of the jury at Cannes. In 2004, she was chosen by TIME Magazine's Asian Edition as one of Asia's "100 Most Influential People." A wax figure of Rai is on display in London's Madame Tussaud's wax museum.

Personal life
Aishwarya Rai prefers not to talk to the media about her personal life.

Awards
Rai has won two Filmfare Awards to date:

2000, Filmfare Best Actress Award, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam
2003, Filmfare Best Actress Award, Devdas
She has been nominated four times in the Best Actress category and once in the Best Supporting Actress category at the Filmfare Awards. She has also won three IIFA Awards, three Z-Gold Awards, four Star Screen Awards, an EU's Global Diversity Award, three Zee Cine Awards and a Rajiv Gandhi Award.