Offbeat Enough

Indian actresses Aishwarya Rai, seen here in 2005, and Mallika Sherawat are leading the limited impact of Bollywood stars in the US, but most are already household names among the Indian diaspora with stars mobbed during film events in Europe.(AFP/File/Francois Guillot)

Gong Li , Aishwarya Rai and Laetitia Casta, “Bad Education” premiere,
Cannes Film Festival - 5/12/2004

biography
Aishwarya Rai was born in Mangalore, in the southern Indian state of Karnataka, on November 1st, 1973. Her father, a merchant navy officer, relocated the family to Mumbai (formerly Bombay) when Aishwarya was four years old. She excelled at academics as a child and chose science as her area of concentration, hoping for a career in medicine (zoology being her favorite subject at the time). Instead, Ash — one of her nicknames — opted for a career in architecture, and passed her college entrance interviews with flying colors.

This former Miss World with the captivating blue-green eyes has captured the hearts and imagination of millions of male admirers in her native India. Aishwarya Rai may not be well known outside of Asia, but we think it’s only a matter of time (and perhaps a role in a Western film) before India’s jewel becomes the whole world’s darling.

Aishwarya was crowned Miss World in 1994. She had previously done some modeling, and became well known in India after appearing in an ad for Pepsi. Since winning the Miss World title, she has become one of the most popular stars of India’s huge film industry known as Bollywood.