5 films that prove the acting prowess of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan!

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is the ninth most gorgeous woman in the world. She fearlessly dominated the International circuits and became one of the earliest actors to represent Indian Cinema on the global map. But beyond the glitz and the glamour she’s surrounded by, and the aura and magnetism she seamlessly carries with her, there’s a fine performer beneath that alluring exterior.

As the actor celebrates her 45th birthday, let’s have a look at his five best performances:-

1. Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999)

Rai’s breakthrough role was in this Sanjay Leela Bhansali romantic saga that became his breakthrough film as well. The actor played the role of Nandini, a motor-mouth belie brimming with playfulness and piquancy. She carried the role with three shades- Unrequited role for Sameer (Salman Khan), Callousness for her husband Vanraj (Ajay Devgn) and repentance for him in the end. And Rai blended the character with both magnetism and maturity!

2. Devdas (2002) 

Her greatest of critics have said that Aishwarya has looked and performed her best in the world of Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Despite the interruptive grandeur, she manages to hold the audiences’ attention. Devdas, her second collaboration with the filmmaker, is one such film. Every frame of this period drama was adjusted to perfection and panache, but at its heart was Rai’s effervescent Paro, whose love for Devdas formed the theme of this breathtakingly crafted love saga. It was a performance that required both vulnerability and volatility.

3. Guru (2007) 

SLB once said that he doesn’t think filmmakers understand the aura that Aishwarya Rai has and the power she generates on the screen. Mani Ratnam did that, first by the fascinating Iruvar in 1997 and then a decade later in their first Hindi union in Guru. Rai played the wife of Abhishek Bachchan, but she was unlike the Mansi of Taal. Despite the fact that they both were village belies, Mansi was submissive, Sujata was fierce and ferocious. And her scenes with Bachchan were both humane and humorous. It was a roller-coaster performance in a roller-coaster film!

4. Jodha Akbar (2008)

When the nation thought that gargantuan historical sagas could only be conceived by SLB, Ashutosh Gowariker made Jodha Akbar, a part-real, part-fictitious love story of Jodha Bai and King Akbar. The actor played a character that was coy, but also that knew how to be equally courageous and undaunted. And this is arguably the best she has looked in her two-decade long career.

5. Guzaarish (2010)

This was her third and so-far the last outing with Bhansali. The actor played Sofia D’ Souza, a nurse to a quadriplegic magician Ethan Mascarenhas. She hasn’t taken a holiday for the last 12 years, yet doesn’t grumble or moan. She’s only furious when Ethan wishes to die due to the claustrophobic life he’s been subjected to. This was a deeply moving performance in a film that deserved a lot more!

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