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The document provides a biography of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, an Indian actress. It details her breakthrough role in Devdas in 2002 which was nominated for multiple awards. It then discusses some of her other notable Bollywood films from 2002-2006, including Bride and Prejudice which was her first English language role. It also mentions some of her collaborations with director Rituparno Ghosh and her role in the blockbuster Dhoom 2 in 2006.

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The document provides a biography of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, an Indian actress. It details her breakthrough role in Devdas in 2002 which was nominated for multiple awards. It then discusses some of her other notable Bollywood films from 2002-2006, including Bride and Prejudice which was her first English language role. It also mentions some of her collaborations with director Rituparno Ghosh and her role in the blockbuster Dhoom 2 in 2006.

Uploaded by

yeseki8683
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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with a revenue of over ₹840 million (US$11 million).

[63][64] Alan Morrison, writing for Empire, praised the performances of the three
leads and wrote: "Rai proves she has the acting talent to back up her flawless looks".[65] Devdas was chosen as India's official
entry for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and received a nomination at the BAFTA Awards in the Best
Foreign Language Film category.[66][67] In India, the film won 10 Filmfare Awards, including a second Best Actress award for Rai.
[68]
Also in 2002, she participated in the UK television show From India with Love along with Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan,
Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta. The show took place at Manchester's Old Trafford and London's Hyde Park, with over
100,000 spectators.[69]
In 2003, Rai starred in two romantic dramas—her brother's production début Dil Ka Rishta alongside Arjun Rampal and Rohan
Sippy's Kuch Naa Kaho alongside Abhishek Bachchan.[70][71] Neither of these films fared well critically or commercially.[71][72] She
was later noted for her starring role in Rituparno Ghosh's independent Bengali film Chokher Bali, an adaptation of Rabindranath
Tagore's eponymous novel.[73] Rai portrayed Binodini, an emotionally manipulative widow who is struggling with her sexual de-
sires in early-20th century Bengal.[74] The film was a major critical success and Rai earned praise for her performance; Derek El-
ley of Variety noted: "Rai dominates the film with her delicately sensual presence and physical grace".[75] Commercially, the film
was a sleeper hit.[76][77]
After the success of Chokher Bali, Rai returned to mainstream Hindi film in Rajkumar Santoshi's Khakee (2004), an action
thriller featuring Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn and Tusshar Kapoor. The film tells the story of five constables
involved in a mystery surrounding a terrorist attack; Rai played Mahalakshmi, a gun moll. While filming for Khakee, Rai was ac-
cidentally hit by a running car that caused a fracture in her left foot.[78] Upon release, the film was a moderate critical and com-
mercial success.[79] In her next release, the romantic comedy Kyun! Ho Gaya Na..., Rai played Diya Malhotra, a university stu-
dent who develops a one-sided attraction toward her friend Arjun Khanna (Vivek Oberoi). The film received mixed-to-positive re-
views from critics but was commercially unsuccessful.[80][81]
In 2004, Rai garnered international recognition for her starring role opposite Martin Henderson in Gurinder Chadha's British
film Bride and Prejudice, a Bollywood-style adaptation of Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice. International film critics ex-
pressed mixed views on Rai's performance as the Punjabi version of Elizabeth Bennet; a review carried by The New York
Times called her "radiantly beautiful but inert"[82] while Rolling Stone noted "she is a world-class hottie with talent to match, as
she proves in her first English-speaking role".[83] With a worldwide gross of $24 million against a production budget of $7 mil-
lion, Bride and Prejudice was a commercial success.[84] Rai next collaborated with director Rituparno Ghosh for the second time
on the 2004 relationship drama Raincoat, an adaptation of O. Henry's The Gift of the Magi, which won the National Film Award
for Best Feature Film in Hindi.[85][86] Critics praised the film and noted the lack of glamour in Rai's role, which earned her a Best
Actress nomination at Filmfare.[85] Derek Elley of Variety called Raincoat a "chamber-sized gem" and said Rai had shunned "her
usual immaculate makeup and duds, and looking more like a broken, malfunctioning doll".[87] Gautaman Bhaskaran of The
Hindu said Rai "looks quite plain [and] seems to have made an earnest effort to emote, using less of her body and limbs and
more of her face, and eyes in particular".[88]

Rai Bachchan at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival


Rai next co-starred alongside Sanjay Dutt and Zayed Khan in the 2005 adult drama Shabd, which tells the story of an author
who as research for his next book, persuades his wife to pursue a relationship with a younger man. The film received predomi-
nantly negative reviews and was a commercial failure. The Times of India said: "For the umpteenth time, Ms. Rai looks drop-
dead gorgeous. And that's about it. She is like that picture postcard you get when what you were actually waiting for is a letter.
It's very beautiful to look at, but is of no use because it says nothing."[89] In the same year, Rai took on the lead role of Tilo in Paul
Mayeda Berges's romantic fantasy film The Mistress of Spices, an adaptation of the eponymous novel by Chitra Banerjee
Divakaruni.[90] Critics gave the film negative reviews[91][92] and it was a commercial failure.[93] Peter Bradshaw of The
Guardian called Rai's performance "annoying" and wrote she "wafts and simpers" through the entire film.[94] Rai's only successful
venture of 2005 was a special appearance in Shaad Ali's crime comedy Bunty Aur Babli, in which she featured in the popu-
lar item number "Kajra Re".[95][96]
In 2006, Rai starred in J. P. Dutta's Umrao Jaan and Yash Raj Films' Dhoom 2. Umrao Jaan is an adaptation of Mirza Hadi
Ruswa's Urdu novel Umrao Jaan Ada (1905), which tells the story of a doomed courtesan from 19th-century Lucknow. Rai
played the titular role, which was played by Rekha in the first film adaptation of the novel (1981). Reviewers, while comparing
the film to the 1981 adaptation, were critical of the film and of Rai's performance.[97][98] According to Joshi Poonam of the BBC:
"While only Rai could emulate the grace and poise of Rekha, she doesn't quite capture the intensity of Umrao's abiding melan-
choly", and "Rai's incandescent beauty and artistry [..] does indeed keep the audience watching, though not necessarily emo-
tionally engaged".[99] In the Sanjay Gadhvi-directed adventure film Dhoom 2, Rai portrayed Sunehri, a petty thief who helps police
catch an illusive criminal; the film has an ensemble cast including Hrithik Roshan, Abhishek Bachchan, Bipasha Basu and Uday
Chopra.[100] Critics gave Dhoom 2 mixed-to-positive reviews and the film was Rai's first major commercial success since Devdas.
The film was declared a blockbuster, and became the highest-grossing Indian film of 2006 with gross revenues of over ₹1.11
billion (US$14 million).[101] Rediff.com commented:
[Rai] is all gloss and no depth. You seldom feel any tension in her behaviour and expressions. ...Sunehri enters the film nearly
50 minutes after its opening in a disguise. In no time, she is wearing the flimsiest of clothes. Once she opens her mouth—and
she does it two minutes after appearing in the film—she spoils the image.[102]
Nonetheless, her performance earned her a sixth Filmfare Award nomination in the Best Actress catego

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