Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s Birthday: 10 Interesting Facts We Bet You Didn’t Know About Her

Happy Birthday, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan: Did you know, there are tulips named after Aishwarya at the Keukenhof Gardens in the Netherlands? Read on to know some other lesser-known facts about the former Miss World.

Happy Birthday, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan: Actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan turns 49 today, but this evergreen beauty has many firsts attached to her name. Aishwarya, who started her journey in Bollywood in the year 1998, has over the years become a global icon. This mesmerising beauty has worked in many Hollywood projects too including Gurinder Chadha’s Bride and Prejudice and Jag Mundhra’s Provoked.

Here we list 10 lesser-known facts about the world’s most beautiful woman:

1. Aishwarya was crowned Miss World in the year 1994 and in her two-decade-long career, she has been part of over 45 films.
2. Can you guess when Aishwarya made her first debut? No, it wasn’t in Bollywood. Aishwarya landed her first TV commercial when she was in ninth grade. The TV commercial was for Camlin Pencil.
3. Aishwarya wanted to pursue a career in medicine. Later, she dropped the idea and decided to study architecture and got enrolled at Rachana Sansad Academy of Architecture before making her way to Bollywood and the glamour world. However, she quit her studies to pursue a career in modelling.
4. Remember that evergreen Pepsi Ad of 1993? Before winning the title of Miss World in 1993, Aishwarya starred in the Sanju Pepsi ad along with Mahima Chaudhary and Aamir Khan.
5. Her first acting debut was in 1997’s Tamil flick, Iruvar, and Aishwarya was seen in a Bollywood film alongside actor Bobby Deol in Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya the same year.
6. Aishwarya became the first Indian actress to be a jury member at the Cannes Film Festival in 2003.
7. Did you know, there are tulips named after her at the Keukenhof Gardens in the Netherlands?
8. She has many firsts to her name. Well, she was the first Indian to be invited to the Oprah Winfrey show, and the first female to have Madame Tussaud’s statue.
9. She has many prestigious titles attached to her name. She was honoured with Padma Shri in 2009. Aishwarya was also awarded Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government in 2012.
10. Aishwarya is not into materialistic things. She loves collecting articles written about her.

We wish this gorgeous diva, a very happy birthday!