Aishwarya Rai (born 1 November 1973), also known by her married name Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, is an Indian actress, model and the winner of the Miss World 1994 pageant. Through her successful acting career, she has established herself as one of the most popular and high-profile celebrities in India. Rai has received several awards, including two Filmfare Awards from ten nominations, and she was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2009. She is often cited 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 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 in Mani Ratnam’s 1997 Tamil film Iruvar starring legendary versatile actor Mohanlal and had her first Hindi film release in Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya that same year. Her first commercial success was the Tamil romantic drama Jeans (1998), following which she achieved wider success and two Best Actress awards at Filmfare for her performances in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999) and Devdas (2002). She garnered critical appreciation for portraying a passionate artist in the Tamil romance Kandukondain Kandukondain (2000), Rabindranath Tagore’s heroine, Binodini, in the Bengali film Chokher Bali (2003), a depressed woman in the relationship drama Raincoat (2004) and as Kiranjit Ahluwalia in the British drama film Provoked (2006). Rai’s greatest commercial successes have been the romance Mohabbatein (2000), the adventure film Dhoom 2 (2006), the historical romance Jodhaa Akbar (2008), and the science fiction film Enthiran (2010). She also received praise for portraying a nurse in the drama Guzaarish (2010). Rai took a sabbatical from film acting in 2010, and made her comeback with the thriller Jazbaa (2015).

Rai married actor Abhishek Bachchan in 2007 with whom she has a daughter. Her 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 AIDS (UNAIDS). In 2003, she was the first Indian actress to be a jury member at the Cannes Film Festival.