Aishwarya Rai has been the face of Indian cinema globally. Due to her ethereal beauty, she has carved a name for herself in Hollywood, too. That’s why every year she is called to the Cannes Film Festival.

Here are some of the notable Aishwarya Rai movies:

Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999)

This movie marked Aishwarya Rai’s debut on the screen. She co-starred with Salman Khan and Ajay Devgan. Aishwarya Rai played a Gujarati girl, Nandini, who falls in love with a wannabe musician, Sameer, played by Salman Khan. He has come to live in her palatial house to learn music from her father, a classical musician. When her father discovers this relationship, she throws Sameer out of the house. He arranges Nandini’s marriage to a lawyer, Vanraj(Ajay Devgan), who is smitten by her looks. When Vanraj discovers after marriage that Nandini is in love with Sameer, he takes her to Italy to reunite with her boyfriend. Both of them find Sameer in Italy, but Nandini refuses to go with him as she has already fallen in love with her husband. This movie was the biggest hit of its time. It was directed by the talented director, Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Aishwarya not only looked gorgeous in this movie but delivered an excellent performance as the love-struck Nandini.

Taal(1999)

Taal was one of the best Aishwarya Rai movies. She played a local Himachali girl, Mansi, who is spotted by a billionaire’s son, Manav, who has come to her place.

He watches her bathing in the rain with her sisters and immediately becomes smitten with her. He befriends her but returns to Mumbai. When she accompanies her father, Tara Babu (Alok Nath), to meet him in Mumbai, she is not allowed to meet his father, who is a friend of her father. She waits for him for a long time, and when Manav’s father arrives, a clash occurs between her father and him. His father slaps Manav’s father, which Manav witnesses. He becomes angry and decides to break up with her. She also ends their relationship, and both vow not to see each other again. Soon, Mansi is discovered by a music composer, Vikrant Kapoor, who praises her voice and looks. He takes her into music videos of remixed songs of his father, and she sings and dances in them. Soon, she becomes wealthy and famous. Whether she reunites with Manav or not is an important part of the story. Aishwarya Rai again delivered a spellbinding performance in this movie along with Akshay Khanna. Since the music was composed by international music director AR Rahman, it was a sensation.

Devdas (2002)

She played the childhood friend Paro of Devdas Mukherjee, but when she proposes to him, he backs out because of their different social status and his father’s opposition to the marriage. Paro’s mother is angry with her daughter’s rejection and vows to marry her within two weeks. She marries him to a rich landowner who has two grown-up children. Devdas is devastated by Paro’s marriage and starts drinking incessantly. At a Kotha(brothel), he meets Chandramukhi(Madhuri Dixit), who starts liking him, but he can’t forget Paro. In the end, due to his continuous drinking, he dies due to liver failure outside Paro’s house. Her husband does not even allow her to meet him and closes the gates of the house. This movie got Aishwarya Rai international acclaim when it premiered at Cannes. People were stunned by her beauty in this movie. Shah Rukh Khan, who portrayed Devdas in the movie, gave an excellent performance, and so did Madhuri Dixit. Sanjay Leela Bhansali directed this legendary movie.

Bride & Prejudice (2004)

In this movie, Aishwarya Rai made her international debut in Gurinder Chadha’s Bride and Prejudice, which was a loose adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. In the movie, she played the role of opinionated Lalitha Bakshi, Elizabeth Bennet. When Darcy(Martin Henderson) comes to Punjab to find a land for his hotel, she tells him this is the wrong decision. Darcy is very impressed with her. The movie was not a box office success, but it had good musical numbers.

Dhoom 2(2006)

This movie had Aishwarya Rai and Hritik Roshan working together. One of the must-watch Aishwarya Rai movies, in Dhoom 2, she played a thief called Sunehri. She has been hired by cop Jai Rathore to catch a master thief, Mr A, who has been behind a lot of robberies. The police have failed to catch him because he is the master of disguise and technology. Sunehri befriends him, and he does not know her true identity. But he discovers it when he accompanies her to a parade. So he asks Sunehri whether she will get him arrested because she is working with the cops. She says no, and then both of them kiss. So, during a diamond heist, when Sunehri and Mr A are caught, they enact his fake death. Mr A is, however, alive and lives with her, running a café in South America. They have returned their loot proceeds. In this movie, Aishwarya Rai was shown in a glamorous avatar with her hair curled and dyed. This movie showed the use of slick technology by Mr A.

Jodhaa Akbar(2008)

In this movie, Aishwarya Rai played Princess Jodhaa Bai of Amer province, who is forced to marry King Akbar as a political alliance. Her father forces her into this marriage. But she is averse to marrying a Muslim king. She is reluctant to accept him as her husband. But when she sees his respect for her and her religious beliefs, she falls in love with him. This is one of her finest performances in Aishwarya Rai movies. Akbar catches her talking to Sonu Sood’s character(Rajkumar Sujamal Singh) at night and thinks she is having an affair,but in reality, he is her cousin. Akbar banishes Jodhaa from his kingdom and, upon knowing the truth, asks for forgiveness. This movie had many spectacular moments, like the sword-fighting scenes between Aishwarya and Hritik’s characters. These scenes happen between Jodhaa and Akbar when he comes to her province to take her back. Hritik Roshan was the epitome of finesse as King Akbar. Sonu Sood also gave a fine performance.