On November 1, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan turned 53. The anniversary is a useful moment to separate two stories that often tangle in her career: the global opportunities she was offered, and the quieter choices she actually made.
The offers began before the crown
Before she entered Miss India, Rai Bachchan was already a working model and had film offers in hand. In a 2012 Vogue India interview, she said at least four films came her way before the pageants. She has also said that had she skipped Miss India, Raja Hindustani opposite Aamir Khan could have been her debut; the role eventually went to Karisma Kapoor.
She chose the pageant route instead, partly because she did not want to abandon her studies and send the wrong signal to young people who saw her as a role model. In 1994 she became the second Indian woman to win Miss World, after Rita Faria.
Hollywood’s open doors
After her 1997 debut in Mani Ratnam’s Iruvar and her Hindi debut Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya, she became a leading actor through Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Taal and Devdas. Devdas took her to Cannes in 2002, and in 2003 she became the first Indian actress on the festival’s jury. Time named her among its 100 most influential people in 2004.
That visibility brought concrete Hollywood interest. Among the projects she has said she could not take on:
- Brett Ratner’s Rush Hour franchise, which he raised with her twice
- The role of Helen in Troy, opposite Brad Pitt
- A script brought by Michael Douglas
- Will Smith’s Hancock and Seven Pounds
Her explanation in a 2009 interview with The National was practical, not aspirational: Indian film schedules are often locked years in advance, so committing to international dates was difficult. The cross-border choices matter because they inverted the usual Bollywood-to-Hollywood arc. She did not leave Hindi cinema to chase global fame; she kept her base in Indian films and treated English-language work — from Bride and Prejudice to The Pink Panther 2 — as a side chapter.
A pace she chose, and a question the industry still faces
After Guzaarish in 2010, she took nearly five years away after her daughter’s birth in 2011. She returned with Jazbaa in 2015, then appeared in Sarbjit and Ae Dil Hai Mushkil in 2016, followed by Fanney Khan in 2018. Mani Ratnam then gave her a substantial return in Ponniyin Selvan: Part 1 and Part 2, for which she won the IIFA Utsavam Best Actress award in 2024.
At Cannes in 2023, when asked why Hindi cinema wasn’t offering her roles with the same depth as Ponniyin Selvan, she said, “This is a silent question that I believe all creative people ask themselves.” It is not a simple story of being sidelined: the gaps reflect her own stated preference for fewer, more focused films, but her answer also points to a wider shortage of complex roles for women actors at different ages.
Her presence at Cannes has continued for more than two decades, strengthened by a long L’Oréal Paris association; India gave her the Padma Shri in 2009 and France the Order of Arts and Letters in 2012.
Source: Bhaskar English
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