From being a top model and winning Miss India title to establishing herself as a superstar and becoming first Indian actor to be on the jury of Cannes Film Festival, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has seen a memorable journey in Indian cinema. She has been one of the most influential Indian celebrities in the last three decades and continues to inspire millions of Indian girls.
Aishwarya Rai came in front of the camera for the first time when she shot an advertisement for the Camlin pencils when she was in class 9. She became a top model and went on to win the Miss India 1994 pageant. But even before the beauty pageant, Aishwarya was offered four Hindi films and she rejected all of them. In an interview with Vogue, she said, "I’m often cited as the person who established the beauty pageant-to-films route, but that was not the case with me. I had at least four film offers (before the pageants). In fact, I decided to participate in Miss India to step back from the film industry for a bit. If I hadn’t taken part in Miss India, Raja Hindustani (1996) would have been my first film."
Aishwarya made her Bollywood debut in the romantic drama Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya in 1997. The film, starring Bobby Deol as the main lead, flopped at the box office. Her first major hit was Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam in 1999 and the actress never looked back since then. She has starred in multiple blockbusters in the last 25 years. These include Mohabbatein, Devdas, Dhoom 2, and Jodhaa Akbar. In fact, her last two releases - Ponniyin Selvan I & II - were the highest-grossing films in her career. Both the movies collectively earned Rs 830 crore at the box office worldwide.
In her career, Aishwarya has also refused films with superstars including Aamir Khan's Raja Hindustani, in which Karisma Kapoor was roped in later. She refused to play the second fiddle in Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol-starrer Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. The role was eventually played by Rani Mukerji, after half a dozen actresses had said no to Karan Johar. As per reports, Rai also rejected Akshay Kumar's Bhool Bhulaiyaa as she was unsure if would be able to do justice to the role.
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