Aishwarya celebrates her birthday

Today (November 1) Aishwarya Rai as well as her large fans are celebrating her birthday.Aishwarya was an architecture student before she entered modeling as her part-time job. She was best known for her Pepsi commercial with Mahima Chaudhry. With her green-grey eyes, she was already approached by big names in India's film industry, where they offered her starring roles.

She rejected the film offers since she aimed to be an architect. However, fate had other things in store for her after she was crowned Miss World 1994.

Aishwarya Rai was born into a Tulu-speaking Bunt family in Mangalore, Karnataka. Her father, Krishnaraj, was a marine biologist, while her mother, Brindya, is a housewife.She has one elder brother, Aditya Rai, who is an engineer in the merchant navy.

In the 1994 Miss India contest, she won second place, behind Sushmita Sen, and was crowned Miss India World. She went on to win the Miss World title the same year, where she also won the Miss Photogenic award.After winning the pageant, she gave up her studies and spent one year reigning as Miss World in London.Rai continued to pursue a career as a model until she became an actress.

Rai became popular after appearing in a Pepsi commercial with actor Aamir Khan.She modelled for Longines watches, Coca-Cola,Lakmé Cosmetics, Casio pager, Philips, Palmolive, Lux, and Fuji films. She continued to model while pursuing her studies in architecture.She was named the official brand ambassador for De Beers diamonds in India.

She gained the attention of Bollywood through the film Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999), directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Her performance won her the Filmfare Best Actress Award. In 2002 she appeared in Bhansali's Devdas, for which she won her second Filmfare Best Actress Award.

After a setback in her career during 2003–2005, she appeared in Dhoom 2 (2006), which was her biggest commercial success in India. She later appeared in films like Guru (2007), Jodhaa Akbar (2008), and Enthiran (2010), which were commercially and critically successful. Rai has established herself as one of the leading actresses in Bollywood.Rai's off-screen roles include duties as brand ambassador for various charity organisations and campaigns. She is married to fellow actor Abhishek Bachchan. In 2009 she was honoured with Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian award given by the Government of India.

Rai is married to actor Abhishek Bachchan, they met in 1997.Their engagement was announced on 14 January 2007 and later confirmed by his father, Amitabh Bachchan.The couple married on 20 April 2007 according to traditional Hindu rites of the Bunt community, to which she belongs.Token North Indian and Bengali ceremonies were also performed. The wedding took place in a private ceremony at the Bachchan residence, "Prateeksha", in Juhu, Mumbai.

They have been described as a supercouple in the Indian media.Rai is very close to her family and lived with them in Bandra, Mumbai, until her marriage. Rai is Hindu and deeply religious.It was revealed on 21 June 2011 by her father-in-law Amitabh Bachchan, through his blog, that she is pregnant.It has since been revealed that the baby is due in November 2011.