Aishwarya Rai -Indian actress and the winner of the Miss World

Aishwarya Rai (born 1 November 1973), known as Aishwarya Rai Bachchan after her marriage, is an Indian actress and the winner of the Miss World pageant of 1994. Through her successful Bollywood career, she has established herself as one the most popular and high-profile celebrities in India. Rai has received several awards, including two Filmfare Awards from ten nominations. She was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2009 and the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the Government of France in 2012. She is cited in the media as the "most beautiful woman in the world".

While in college, Rai did a few modelling assignments. Following appearances in several television commercials, she entered into the Miss India pageant, in which she placed second. She was then crowned Miss World 1994, after which she began receiving offers to act in film. She made her acting debut with the 1997 Tamil film Iruvar and had her first Hindi film release in Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya the same year. Her first commercial success was the Tamil romantic drama Jeans (1998), following which she achieved wider success with her collaborations with the filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999) and Devdas (2002). She won two Best Actress awards at Filmfare for her performances in them. Rai's greatest commercial successes have been the adventure film Dhoom 2 (2006), the historical romance Jodhaa Akbar (2008), and the science fiction film Enthiran (2010). She garnered critical appreciation for portraying Rabindranath Tagore's heroine, Binodini, in Rituparno Ghosh's Bengali film Chokher Bali (2003), a depressed woman in Ghosh's relationship drama Raincoat (2004) and a nurse in Bhansali's drama Guzaarish (2010).

Rai's off-screen roles include duties as a brand ambassador for several charity organisations and campaigns; she is a Goodwill Ambassador for the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). Following a relationship with actor Salman Khan, Rai married actor Abhishek Bachchan in 2007, with whom she has a daughter.Rai was born into a Tulu speaking Bunt[ family in Mangalore, Karnataka. Her father, Krishnaraj, was an Army biologist, while her mother, Brinda, is a homemaker. She has one elder brother, Aditya Rai, who is an engineer in the merchant navy. He co-produced one of her movies, Dil Ka Rishta (2003).

The family moved to Mumbai, where Rai attended the Arya Vidya Mandir High School, Mumbai. Rai did her intermediate schooling at Jai Hind College for a year, and then joined DG Ruparel College in Matunga, securing 90 percent in the HSC exams She trained in classical dance and music for five years during her teens. Her favourite subject was zoology, so she initially considered a career in medicine but was unsuccessful later on.Then with plans to become an architect, she enrolled at Raheja College of Arts., but later gave up her education to pursue a career in modelling. In 1991, Rai won a supermodel contest (organised by Ford) and was eventually featured in the American edition of Vogue.

In 1993, Rai gained a huge public recognition for her appearance in a Pepsi commercial with actor Aamir Khan.The single line of her dialogue in the commercial made her instantly famous - "Hi, I'm Sanjana,". In the 1994 Miss India pageant, she won second place, behind Sushmita Sen, and was crowned Miss India World. With Sen representing India at the Miss Universe pageant, Aishwarya's duties as the first runner-up included representing India in the rival Miss World Pageant, held that year in Sun City, South Africa. She went on to win the crown where she also won the "Miss Photogenic" award and Miss World Continental Queen of Beauty − Asia and Oceania.After winning the pageant, Rai spoke of her dream for peace for this world, and her desire to be an ambassador of peace during her one-year reign in London. Rai continued to pursue a career as a model until she became an actress.

In 1999, Rai began dating Bollywood actor Salman Khan; their relationship was often reported in the media until the couple separated in 2001. Rai cited "abuse (verbal, physical and emotional), infidelity and indignity" on the part of Khan as reasons for ending the relationship. In a 2009 Times of India article, Khan denied ever beating her: "It's not true that I hit a woman.".

Though they both appeared in Dhai Akshar Prem Ke (in which her then longtime boyfriend, Salman Khan, had a brief cameo) and Kuch Naa Kaho, Abhishek Bachchan fell in love with Aishwarya whilst filming Dhoom 2. Their engagement was announced on 14 January 2007 and later confirmed by his father, Amitabh Bachchan. The couple married on 20 April 2007 according to traditional Hindu rites of the Bunt community, to which she belongs. Token North Indian and Bengali ceremonies were also performed. The wedding took place in a private ceremony at the Bachchan residence, "Prateeksha", in Juhu, Mumbai. They have been described as a supercouple in the Indian media.Rai is very close to her family and lived with them in Bandra, Mumbai, until her marriage.Rai is Hindu and deeply religious. Her international presence shot up when Abhishek Bachchan accompanied her to the Cannes Film festival shortly after their marriage, and later to The Oprah Winfrey Show, appearing on 28 September 2009.They were described as being more famous as a couple than Brangelina.

Rai gave birth to a baby girl on 16 November 2011. Her daughter became popularly known by the name of "Beti B", a name attributed to her by fans and the media, since the couple took over four months to name their daughter. The baby girl was finally named Aaradhya Bachchan in March 2012