Aishwarya Rai turns 52: 10 iconic roles beyond Bollywood

When Madras Talkies dropped the first poster of Ponniyin Selvan Part 1, an adaptation of Tamil historical fiction of the same name, featuring Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, in 2022, fans were awestruck and said, "the queen was back".

Though the former Miss World prominently works in Bollywood, audiences elsewhere, including in South, have witnessed her growth since her debut in the widely acclaimed political drama Iruvar (1997) to her last headlining role in Ponniyin Selvan Part 2 (2023). They always have a story to tell about how they grew up watching Aishwarya Rai’s movies.

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In her nearly three-decade-long film career in Indian cinema, fans across India, speaking different languages, have shared the same thought about Rai — that she continues to build a legacy through her immense talent and brilliant acting.

Aishwarya Rai's birthday

Today, Aishwarya Rai turns 52. Born in Mangalore to Krishna Rai and Brindya Rai, Aishwarya Rai dreamed of becoming an architect. While pursuing her studies, she won the Miss World title in 1994, which opened many opportunities in modelling and acting.

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Though she acted in many super-hit Bollywood movies in a range of versatile roles — from a singer (Taal) to a thief (Dhoom 2) to a queen (Jodhaa Akbar) — her performances in other languages, including Tamil, Bengali, and English, were widely praised and memorable. Here are ten films that showcased her brilliant performances — excluding her Hindi films.

Iruvar (1997)

Let’s start with her debut movie. In a Tamil political epic drama, inspired by the lives of erstwhile Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu, M Karunanidhi and M.G. Ramachandran, Aishwarya Rai played a dual role. Under the direction of Mani Ratnam, Rai played the roles of Pushpavalli and Kalpana. The latter character was inspired by former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. Rai co-starred with veteran actors such as Mohanlal, Tabu and Prakash Raj.

Jeans (1998)

Within a year, Rai’s second Tamil film was released, opposite actor Prashanth. The film, Jeans, was directed by Shankar. In this movie too, she played dual roles — Madhumitha and Vaishnavi. In the story, Madhumitha disguises herself as Vaishnavi to deceive her future in-laws. Rai skillfully portrayed the stark contrast between the two characters — Madhumitha, a modern woman from an urban background, and Vaishnavi, a traditional girl raised in a conservative rural setup.

Kandukondain Kandukondain (2000)

Kandukondain Kandukondain is a movie adaptation of Jane Austen's 1811 novel Sense and Sensibility. Under the direction of Rajiv Menon, Rai portrayed Austen’s Marianne Dashwood as Meenakshi. Initially free-spirited, impulsive, and romantic, her character evolves with maturity, love, and emotional depth.

Rai co-starred with Mammootty, Ajit Kumar, Tabu and veteran actors such as Manivannan, Sri Vidya and Raghuvaran. The film was commercially successful and also won a National Award.

Chokher Bali (2003)

Rai played Binodhini in the Bengali drama based on Rabindranath Tagore's novel Chokher Bali. Directed by Rituparno Ghosh, Rai co-starred with Raima Sen, Prosenjit Chatterjee, and Lily Chakravarty.

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The story revolves around a young Bengali Hindu widow who loses her husband the day after their wedding and her struggles to find love and companionship. The film won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Bengali.

Bride and Prejudice: The Bollywood Musical (2004)

This is a Bollywood-style adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice. This English romantic comedy-drama was directed by Gurinder Chadha and released in the United Kingdom in 2004.

The Mistress of Spices (2006)

The Mistress of Spices is a romantic drama directed by Paul Mayeda Berges, with a screenplay by Gurinder Chadha and Berges. The film is adapted from Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s 1997 novel Mistress of Spices. She played a character named Tilo, an Indian immigrant who works as a shopkeeper in San Francisco.

Provoked (2006)

In this British drama, loosely based on the true story of an Indian woman subjected to domestic abuse, Aishwarya Rai plays the protagonist, Kiranjit Ahluwalia, a Punjabi woman enduring years of violence from her husband in the UK. After enduring sexual abuse, she sets him on fire in self-defense, unintentionally killing him, which leads to her life imprisonment. However, her case catches the attention of the Southall Black Sisters, an NGO, which ultimately helps secure her release.

Raavanan (2010)

As Raagini Subramanian, Aishwarya Rai returned to the Tamil Industry after a decade. Under the direction of Mani Ratnam, she portrayed Sita in a film that was largely adapted from the epic Ramayanam. She co-starred with Tamil actor Vikram and Malayalam actor Prithviraj.

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In her complex role as Raagini, she is kidnapped by the Naxal leader Veera (played by Vikram) to take revenge on her police husband (played by Prithviraj), who had killed Veera’s sister. As time passes, Raagini develops feelings for Veera and begins to question what is right and wrong, and who has the authority to decide these moral boundaries. The movie received mixed reviews but was praised for Rai’s remarkable performance.

Enthiran (2010)

Under the direction of Shankar, Aishwarya Rai played the character Sana in the Tamil science fiction film, opposite Tamil Superstar Rajinikanth. She portrayed a medical college student and the lover of Vaseegaran (played by Rajinikanth). The film revolves around Vaseegaran, a scientist who invents a human-like robot named Chitti, and the catastrophe that ensues when Chitti falls in love with Sana.

Ponniyin Selvan franchise (2022 & 2023)

In this historical fiction, adapted from the classic Tamil novel of the same name, Aishwarya Rai played dual roles as Nandhini and Oomai Rani. Nandhini, who sought to bring down the Chozha empire, married Pazhuvettaiyar and conspired to destroy the kingdom. As Oomai Rani, Rai portrayed Sundara Chozhan’s love interest, who was left in Sri Lanka. One of the critically acclaimed movies, it performed very well at the box office.