Things you didn't know about the beauty queen Aishwarya rai, I bet you wouldn't have known all of these even if you were a die hard Aishwarya rai fan, so lets check how much you know about Aishwarya rai
Here is a collection of some interesting facts about Aishwarya rai

* Ash was born on November 1, 1973 in Mangalore, Karnataka to parents Krishnaraj and Vrinda Rai. She has an elder brother, Aditya.
* Affectionately referred to as Ash by the whole world, the star is nick-named Gullu at home.

* The light-eyed stunner did her schooling in Mumbai's Arya Vidya Mandir and picked Jai Hind and later Ruparel College to pursue her further studies. At some point, Ash contemplated taking up medicine only to dabble with architecture before the modeling bug bit her hard and for good.

* First runner up at the Femina Miss India pageant in 1994 (she lost to Sushmita Sen), the Scorpio beauty went on to win the Miss World crown at Sun City, South Africa.

* Instead of opting for a regular girl-meets-boy big banner love story as her debut, Aishwarya took up a interesting double role in Mani Ratnam's Iruvar co-starring Mohanlal. Her first film in Bollywood was Rahul Rawail's Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya opposite Bobby Deol.

*Having learned Bharat Natyam, it is no surprise that Aishwarya's dances are a delight to watch. Be it Nimbooda, Dola re, Kajra re or Crazy kiya re, the Taal star is a true blue dancing queen.

* Considering her universal appeal, London's famed Madame Tussaud's wax museum decided to showcase a wax figure of the actress. Other super stars to enjoy this honour include Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and shortly enough, Salman Khan.

* In 2003, Aishwarya became the first Indian actress to become a jury member at the Cannes Film Festival. Even so, her appearance at the prestigious event was mired with controversy owing to her choice of outfits, designed by Neeta Lulla, which met with harsh criticism. A regular at Cannes now, Ash's first appearance at the festival was in 2002, where she joined filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali and co-star Shah Rukh Khan to promote Devdas, which enjoyed an out-of-competition screening at Cannes' Grand Theatre Lumiere.

* Aishwarya floated a production company, Target Films, along with her brother, Aditya to make Dil Ka Rishta. Shot extensively in South Africa, the melodrama, featuring Arjun Rampal and conceptualised by mom Vrinda, flopped at the box office.

* Ash endorses brands like Longines, Coca Cola, Lux, Nakshatra and L'Oreal. Other than Aamir Khan, she is the only actress to model for both Pepsi and Coca Cola.

*She is all for getting the right look to her role. Whether it's sporting a tan for The Last Legion, getting her hair elaborately curled for Kyun..! Ho Gaya Na, putting on oodles of weight for Bride and Prejudice or getting into shape to play a sexy burglar in Dhoom 2.

* Her international projects like Bride and Prejudice, The Mistress of Spices, Provoked and The Last Legion may not have made waves, yet there's plenty on Ash's plate to brag about. She featured on Time magazine's cover and Rolling Stone's Hot-List, draped a sari around chat-show host Oprah Winfrey and appeared on Late Show with David Letterman. Also, she's currently shooting for Pink Panther 2 along with Steve Martin.

* The actress stands tall at 5 feet 7 inches and can fluently speak English, Hindi, Kannada and Tamil.

* Ash, previously dated Salman Khan and Vivek Oberoi, before finding her perfect match in fellow actor and Abhishek Bachchan. Despite the families attempts to keep it low-profile, her wedding to the Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan's son on April 20, 2007 garnered excessive media attention and intrusion.

* She may keep the world at an arm's length, however for close friends Ash is as warm as it gets. A wonderful mimic, the actress has a rather nutty sense of humour, as people close to her will vouch.

* Interestingly, Aishwarya has played both a sister and girlfriend to Shah Rukh Khan. While Mansoor Khan's Josh featured them as twins -- Shirley and Max, Aditya Chopra's Mohabbatein and Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Devdas paired them as eternal sweethearts.

* Her angelic disposition makes her unlikely candidate for vampish avatars. Yet, Rajkumar Santoshi's cop drama, Khakee had Ash going against type with a negative role.

* Aishwarya's list of special appearances include Mela, Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam, 23rd March 1931: Shaheed, Shakti: The Power and Bunty Aur Babli.

* Her strong performance in films like Shankar's Jeans (Tamil), Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Devdas fetched her a Filmfare trophy for Best Actress.

* For her honeymoon, Ash and Abhishek jet-setted to Europe. Calling it the 'best time' she's had, the duo made a quick appearance on the Cannes red carpet as well.

* Hubby Abhishek Bachchan tops the list of the co-star Ash has done maximum number of films with. The much-in-love duo worked together in Dhaai Akshar Prem Ke, Kuch Naa Kaho, Bunty Aur Babli, Umrao Jaan, Guru, Dhoom 2 and Ram Gopal Varma's forthcoming Sarkar Raj.

* Interestingly enough, Aishwarya figured in the adaptation of both the Jane Austen's novels. While Gurindher Chadha's Bride and Prejudice was a modern-day take of the beloved author's Pride and Prejudice, Rajeev Menon's Kandukondain Kandukondain (Tamil) took inspiration from Austen's Sense and Sensibility.

* Aishwarya Rai was the first choice for Dharmesh Darshan's Raja Hindustani, Karan Johar's Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and recently Priyadarshan's Bhool Bhulaiyaa.

* At the 2005 IIFA awards ceremony in Amsterdam, the Netherlands Board of Tourism announced a new breed of tulip, named after Aishwarya.

* While Madhubala, Nargis, Amitabh Bachchan, Dilip Kumar are her favourite actors, Ash can never get enough of the Michael Curtiz classic, Casablanca.

* Ash's exquisite allure hasn't stopped her from taking on author-backed woman-oriented roles. The actress has played a rape victim (Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai), a courtesan (Umrao Jaan), a young widow (Chokher Bali) and a victim of domestic violence (Provoked).

* Even as a kid, Aishwarya was inclined towards fine arts and learned Hindustani Classical and Carnatic music.

* Although she's maintains and dignified and diplomatic stance about most things, there's one thing Ash vociferously detests -- cockroaches.

* Purple or pink, every colour looks lovely on Ash. But black is her perennial favourite.

* While shooting for the intricate dance number, Nimbooda in Hum Dil Chuke Sanam, Aishwarya had a bad bout of sore feet. Yet, the professional in her refused to take a back seat and kept shooting.
* Ash had build her own official website www.aishwaryaworld.com. The site is presently defunct.

* Every stylist wants to dress up Ash. Even so, the looker fancies Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani.

* Her other half may be the brand ambassador for Ford Fiesta, but Ash sits pretty in her swanky Mercedes four-wheeler.

* The actress with the prettiest eyes has a big heart too, having pledged to pledged to donate her gorgeous bluish green eyes to the Eye Bank Association of India.

Via:Rediff