Aishwarya Rai

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 (Bombay). Arishwarya Rai has one brother, Aditya Rai, who is three years older than she is. Aditya initially followed in his father's footstep and became a Marine Officer. Later as Aishwarya's star ascended he became a film producer. He has occasionally produced films in which Rai acted. Aditya got married in early 2004.

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.Her mother tongue is Tulu. She also speaks Hindi, English, Kannada, Marathi and Tamil.

Aishwarya Rai began modeling on the side while studying architecture. In the 1994 Miss India contest, she was 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.

After much speculation concerning their relationship, her engagement to Abhishek Bachchan was announced on January 14, 2007. The event was heavily covered by the media. They married on April 20, 2007 in a private ceremony held at the Bachchans' bungalow Prateeksha.2007 saw the release of Mani Ratnam's Guru which premiered in Toronto. The film, based on the life of successful Indian businessman Dhirubhai Ambani, was both commercially and critically very successful. Her most recent film, Provoked, based on the book Circle of Light where she portrays a real life character, was released on 6 April, 2007 in India and the UK. The film did well commercially in the UK It was critically acclaimed all over the world. At the end of April 2007 her first American film, The Last Legion, was released in Russia and the Netherlands. The film is expected to open in North American theaters in August 2007.

Recently, it has also been announced that Aishwarya Rai will be featured in 8 episodes of the US TV series, Heroes. She will be playing the role of Dr. Mohinder Suresh's elder sister, Shanti Suresh, who has super powers of her own. This special casting will evetually lead to more viewers of the show.