She is the most beautiful woman in the world. Countless magazines worldwide have glorified her as a timeless beauty. Her fan following knows no boundaries. She loves collecting watches. She endorses the world's leading brands. She has more than 17000 websites dedicated to her. She is Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. Take a walk through her incredible journey from Mangalore to the world's A-list
Aishwarya, who is now settled in Mumbai, was born in Mangalore to Krishnaraj Rai and Vrinda Rai. She has one elder brother, Aditya Rai, who is an engineer in the merchant navy. Ash's parents moved to Mumbai when she was young. She did her schooling in Mumbai's Santa Cruz area.
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Ash was always good in studies and zoology was her favorite subject. She wanted to pursue medicine but could not do so due to personal reasons. She instead took up Architecture.
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She took up modeling as a part-time job while in college. Even Aishwarya has had to cope with rejection. She was rebuffed for voice-dubbing for a television serial. But Ash being Ash, bounced right back. She went on to become the face of Coca Cola South Asia as well as the Middle East. Not many know Ash had appeared in her first commercial for Camlin pencils when she was in 9th grade.
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The year 1994 completely changed the course of Ash's life forever. She won the Miss India Runners up and then went on to be crowned Miss World the same year where she also won the Miss Photogenic award. She abandoned her academic education after winning the pageant and spent one year reigning as Miss World in London.
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Ash started her acting career with Mani Ratnam's Tamil biopic film, 'Iruvar' (1997). She also made her Bollywood debut the same year with 'Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya' opposite Bobby Deol. But it flopped badly.
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Ash tasted commercial success in the year 1999 with Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 'Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam'. Since then there was no looking back for her.
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It is with this movie that the infamous love story of Aishwarya and Salman is said to have started. The relationship ended in 2001 with Ash calling it off. She cited 'abuse (verbal, physical and emotional), infidelity and indignity' on Salman's part as the reason for ending their relation, though Salman has denied all this. Following this Ash was said to have been dating Vivek Oberoi for a brief period.
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Ash eventually settled down with Abhishek Bachchan marrying him on April 20, 2007. She got married in an elaborate way with the ceremonies lasting 3 days. About 15 kilos of henna was specially ordered from Sojat in Rajasthan for her 'Mehendi Ceremony'.
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Abhi-Ash's wedding invitations were embossed with two entwined 'A's and delivered along with a box of chocolate meringues. Within the invitation was also a poem about new beginnings written by Amitabh Bachchan's father and renowned poet Harivash Rai Bachchan.
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In 2004, Aishwarya became the first Bollywood and Indian actress to have her own statue at London's Madame Tussauds museum.
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Adding to her lists of firsts, on April 25, 2005, Aishwarya became the first Indian and South Asian actress to be featured on the 'Oprah Winfrey Show'. Ash recently made her second appearance in the same show, this time with hubby Abhishek.
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Ash has also inspired Barbie Dolls. In 2005, limited-edition Barbies were released only in Britain and sold out within minutes. These dolls are now considered rare collectibles among fans.
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Ash became the second Indian actress to appear on the cover of TIME magazine in 2003 with Parveen Babi being the first in 1976.
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If you drool over Ash's dresses then there's a perfect reason to. Her favorite western designer is Giorgio Armani. Whenever she is in London, clothes are taken to her hotel for her to choose from.
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