One of India’s and perhaps the world’s most beautiful women, Aishwarya Rai was born on the 1st of November 1973, in Mangalore, Karnataka. The doe-eyed Rai was all set for a career in architecture, when the glamorous world of modeling beckoned her, changing her life completely. India’s favourite second-seed-makes-it-big story features Aishwarya Rai and her lifelong rival Sushmita Sen.

To the shock of spectators across the country, the 21 year old Rai lost to Sushmita Sen at the Miss India contest in 1994; this meant it would be Sushmita representing India at the Miss Universe contest, while Ash (as she is now called) would compete among other second fiddles at the Miss World contest. Luckily, India had a good year, and both beauties brought home the titles they were sent to achieve.

In the mid-nineties, it was still not the norm for beauty queens to just stroll into Bollywood as if it is their god given right. They had to prove themselves. Aishwarya showed some patience and ventured into cinema three years later, in 1997, with the Tamil film Iruvar, directed by Mani Ratnam. In the same year, she also appeared alongside Bobby Deol in Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya, which didn’t do very well, despite Ash’s beauty and music by legendary qawwali singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

Jeans was her first commercially successful film, it fetched her the Best Actress Award at Filmfare South.

The following year - 1999, Ash made it big in Bollywood with the successful and critically acclaimed Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam opposite Salman Khan, who she would go on to date, and Taal opposite Akshaye Khanna and Anil Kapoor. She was a dominating presence at the Filmfare Best Actress category that year, and won the award for Hum Dil…, defeating the formidable Shabana Azmi, who was nominated for Godmother.

Ash acted in films regularly for the next few years, but with minor success. She bounced back, and with a considerable bang, in 2002, with Devdas. In this film, she was part of arguably the most successful and talented team, as her co-stars were Shah Rukh Khan and Madhuri Dixit (the dance sequence with the song ‘Dola Re’ where both Ash and Madhuri Dixit dance, has made film history for its choreography, dancing and popularity). The film created waves at home and abroad, and got Ash some international acclaim.

The dark side of success was her break up with then boyfriend Salman Khan, who allegedly turned violent and harassed her. Ash’s next suitor, Viviek Oberoi came to her rescue and got proactive, and informed the media about the said harassment. This move got him the criticism of fellow industry members. While their relationship was known to every one, it struck people that he openly admitted to it on Karan Johar’s chat show, while she denied it.

Gossip apart, Ash s acting skills were now the talk of the town, and she was picked for two heroine centric projects Rituparno Ghosh’s Chokher Bali and Gurinder Chadda’s British film Bride and Prejudice, both in 2003. These two years proved to be the tuning point in Aishwarya’s life as she started gaining status as an international star. In 2005, she acted opposite Dylan McDermott (made famous by the TV show The Practice) in Mistress of Spices.

Just when it seemed that Ash has adopted Hollywood completely, she came back to Bollywood, in the famous song sequence Kajra re in the film Bunty Aur Babli. She danced along with future husband Abhishek Bachchan and dad-in-law Big B. She has since appeared in a number of Bollywood films, like Dhoom 2, Guru, Sarkar Raaj, Jodhaa Akbar, and the disastrous Umrao Jaan. In 2007, after battling rumours for months, Abhishek and Aishwarya tied the knot, in one of the most hyped weddings of Bollywood. Most of her films just before and since marriage have been with hubby Abhishek. Her on-screen chemistry with Hrithik in Dhoom 2 and in Jodhaa Akbar apparently lead to some unease in the Bachchan parivaar.

The queen of Bollywood, is now all set to appear in Pink Panther 2, and also in Mani Ratnam’s Raavan, where she will be seen, once again, with Abhishek. In an industry, where the careers of women begin at 18 and end at 25, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, at 35, has just been declared, though unofficially, the most bankable, desirable star.