Mirror, mirror on the wall, who in the land is prettiest of all?

Ever since the green colored wide eyed princess walked the ramp and won the title of Miss World in 1994, people couldn’t stop wondering how high she will rise with her beauty, brains and brand. Born in a small village in South India to a simple humble family, Aishwarya Rai managed to work her way up the bollywood ladder after receiving critical acclaim in her groundbreaking performance in a South Indian movie ‘Iruvar’ in 1997. Once again she mesmerized her critics by winning best actress in the movie ‘Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam’ and ‘Devdas’ which was a major box-office success and earned her the Filmfare Best Actress Award. With the movie attracting attention overseas, Rai received a special screening at the Cannes Film Festival. It was during this time that she garnered the attention of the West as an Indian actress and went on to appear in a few Hollywood projects. As her name gained popularity in the West, she was chosen by "Time" magazine in 2004 as one of the World's '100 Most Influential People' and in 2003, appeared on the cover of "Time" magazine, Asia Edition (TIMEasia). She was the subject of a "60 Minutes" profile on January 2 of 2004 and soon she was asked to appear on the Late Show with David Letterman. In addition to her appearances in the American media she was also featured on "Oprah's" 'Women across the Globe' segment. According to the Times of India article in 2005, Aishwarya Rai has been the only bollywood actor to have appeared in the above three shows.

When questioned about her accomplishments she claimed she was just warming up and one could clearly see this because she continued adding accolades to her resume. In 2003, she acted in the critically acclaimed and commercial success Bengali film, Chokher Bali, an adaptation of one of Rabindranath Tagore's novels by the same name. In October 2004, a wax figure of Rai became on display in London's Madame Tussaud's wax museum and in the same month, her first foreign film was released: "Bride and Prejudice". The film was an Indian version of Jane Austen's classic novel Pride and Prejudice. The film did well commercially in the U.K but not in India. Her next overseas venture, "The Mistress of Spices", was critically acclaimed though not commercially successful. She then appeared at the closing ceremony of the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, as part of a performance showcasing Indian art, on behalf of the 2010 Commonwealth Games, to be held in New Delhi. In between her overseas acting stints, she appeared in the Indian film "Bunty Aur Babli" in a hugely popular seven minute dance sequence for the song 'Kajra Re'.

In 2005, Rai signed a three-year contract with L'Oréal, as a spokes model for the cosmetics company. Apart from her outstanding filmography and her modeling career, she has also been compared to Angelina Jolie. Aishwarya Rai, known as the world’s most beautiful woman, has now walked away with another coveted title of having the ‘sexiest eyes’ in US TV E!’s Sexiest Body Parts List Aishwarya’s dazzling eyes have been voted the most sultry, beating the likes of Hollywood superstars Angelina Jolie. She has also been successful in her personal life especially her marriage into Amitabh’s family. After much speculation of her relationship with Big’s B’s son, in 2007 she finally came out and told the media of her secretive marriage.