"Sexy in India is not considered positive. But, with today's crop of fresh faces in the modeling arena, being sexy is an asset."

- Aishwarya Rai

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^{Aishwarya Rai(Ash) won the Ford Supermodel Contest at the age of 17, and has been on a roll ever since. She began her professional career as a model in several high-profile advertising campaigns in her native India.}

^{A particular Pepsi ad helped make her a household name back home. Her modeling led to a successful run in the world of beauty pageants. After she became the runner-up in the 1994 Miss Femina World contest (as Miss India), Aishwarya Rai won the Miss World title later that year.}

^{Since successfully crossing over into the Indian film industry in the second half of the '90s, Aishu (her other nickname) has appeared in more than three dozen films, making her a more prolific actress than most Western movie stars. She entered cine field playing female lead in the tamil film(South Indian) IRUVAR which is a Maniratnam movie.}

^{In her native land, she was chosen as India's Screen Best Female Newcomer for 1997. She followed that up by winning the Filmfare Award for Best Actress in 1999's Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, and Screen Weekly's Best Actress in 2000.}

^{Her modeling career hasn't completely been eclipsed by her screen success; she became the international ambassador/spokeswoman for Longines watches in 1999. And in 2005, Aishwarya Rai signed with L'Oreal.}