Aishwarya Rai

Aishwarya Rai Biography
Her looks and talent made her a sure shot winner in the beauty pageants but faring equally well in films was a point to be debated. Would Aishwarya be able to deliver emotions, dialogues and dance with the same élan?

Ash's first film, 'Iruvar' (in Tamil) laid an expensive egg in the south. Ditto for Aur Pyar Ho Gaya and Jeans. But eventually, the girl with a million-dollar face combined with a strong personality and intelligence conquered Bollywood.

The debate concluded and went in Ash's favor. Almost all the happening directors and producers of Bollywood started booking her dates for their projects. The success of Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Taal proved that she possessed and could deliver all that it takes to top the charts in Bollywood.


That has given an international edge to Ash's star status, something she enjoyed even with the Miss World title.

All this has done the inevitable to Ash's career graph. She has the major producers and directors chasing her for dates. Leading men in the industry send feelers to producers to cast them opposite her.
Preity Zinta



Rani Mukherjee Rani Mukherjee BiographyMember of the same illustrious film family from which Kajol draws her lineage Rani Mukherjee may still be at a distance from the citadel that houses her cousin. But there is no doubt about the light-eyed Bengali girl's mass appeal. Moreover, she is putting all her efforts and working hard to reach there.

Precocious yet innocently oblivious of it, it is the actress's unassuming self which draw friends and well-wishers to her.

Producers made a beeline for Rani's door (she was riding high on the success of Ghulam and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai) and just as she was gradually shifting positions towards the top in the popularity charts, she started getting the jolts. Good nature did not really help Rani in gaining stronghold and consolidating her position in Mumbai.

Films like Baadal cast a shadow on her prospects. The film left theatres in India without a whimper. Hope was alive in the form of Hadh Kar Di Aapne, which was in the pipeline. Rani had faith in Govinda and David Dhawan's saleability at the box office. Unfortunately, the film failed to raise a laugh and the cash boxes did not ring.

Rani tried to remain unfazed. She was looking towards the future and Hey Ram. As an actress, Rani was proud to be associated with an actor-director of Kamal Haasan's caliber and was thrilled to have Hey Ram in her lap. Even Hey Ram did not propel her career to the extent she had expected. There wasn't any critical appreciation of her performance in the film. Infact, Rani's fans became aloof when they saw their favorite actress locked in a passionate kiss in the film.

The actress does not regret though. ''I wanted to work with Mr. Kamal Haasan. The rest did not matter'' she said in an interview some time ago.

Rani still is excited about the projects that are lined up as her next films. A series of unsuccessful runs have not dampened the giggly self. She continues to be sprightly.
Kajol
Kajol Biography
Yesteryears' actress Tanuja may not have reached Mumbai's stellar skyline, as far as her popularity was concerned, but she had elegance, style and piquancy that very few actresses of her times possessed.

It is that style, class and piquancy that sets apart daughter Kajol from the rest of her contemporaries.

Born to the producer-actress duo of Shomu Mukherjee and Tanuja on August 5, 1975, Kajol grew up in an influential setting. Her father and uncles ruled in the arena of producing films and her mother, Tanuja, aunt Nutan and grandmother Shobhana Samarth were established actresses par excellence.

Her childhood, with sister Tanisha, was very normal and healthy. There was no dearth of happiness. 'We had toys, outings, studies, everything we could ask for' revealed the actress in an interview. Though in her growing up years she saw her parents split, it did not really affect her, she says.

Kajol took up films more as a hobby pursuit than a career choice. Rooted firmly in a family of film people, Kajol has strong financial support. Therefore, the actress was fortunate to never having to compromise on the kind of films she wanted to do for the sake of money.

The pre-requisites of a Bollywood actress, like a light complexion, dancing abilities, a slim and slender silhouette, chiseled features, all this Kajol did not enjoy. But she was an individual who did not fear to voice her thoughts and opinions, had loads of confidence, and oozed talent.

Kajol stepped into filmdom with Rahul Rawaail as her director and Kamal Sadaana as her co-star in a film titled Bekhudi. The film flopped but Kajol's draw continued to rise. Yeh Dillagi established her credentials as an actress. Her performance in the film made people sit up and notice the spontaneity and confidence she oozed.

There was no looking back. Hits or flops, Kajol remained unaffected. With every passing day her order rose and she became a star. She was probably the only star after Hema Malini who could carry an entire film on her shoulders, the only actress in the recent crop on whom distributors and producers could bank on for returns.

At the peak of her career, in her usual carefree approach to making decisions in life, she decided to tie the nuptial knot and move away from the camera for sometime. Not even once did the thought of the consequences marriage could mean to her career irk her. She was in love and wanted to marry. It was that simple.

Kajol is back from her sabbatical and ready for work. But she is sure of one thing. That her schedules are going to be relaxed. Remember she treats films as a leisure pursuit, not a medium for money. That she in any case has plenty. Plus there are hubby Ajay Devgan's production company, a dotcom enterprise and a distribution company.

In future, Kajol will be seen in projects of her home production company and in a select few ventures from outside. One film of Kajol's that is being talked about a lot is Sridevi and Boney Kapoor's untitled film with Shah Rukh in the male lead.

Vidya Balan


Vidya Balan BiographyVidya Balan is a Tamilian from Kerala. She is from the Iyer community. She comes from a middleclass family from Palghat, on the border of Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Vidya did her schooling from St Antony's School and later on joined St Xavier's College from where she graduated in sociology.

When she was doing her MA from Mumbai University, she was offered a role in a Malayalam film titled Chakram with Mohanlal, one of Vidya’s favorite actors. However, the project was shelved mid-way and Vidya had to wait for few more years to make her movie debut.

She made her debut as a model in a Surf Excel advertisement in 1998. She has acted in scores of ad films, most of which were directed by Pradeep Sarkar.

A couple of months later, she featured in three music videos (again directed by Sarkar) for ‘Euphoria’, Shubha Mudgal and Pankaj Udhas.

Vidya Balan started work as an actress in the Malayalam movie Chakram, paired against Mohanlal, however the film was abandoned mid-way through production. After making her debut in television advertising as a model for a Surf Excel advertisement in 1998, she proceeded to do over 25 TV ads, (mostly directed by Pradeep Sarkar), followed with a variety of acting stints in music videos (Euphoria, Shubha Mudgal and Pankaj Udhas), Hindi TV soap operas (Hanste Khelte and Hum Paanch) and a Bengali movie, Bhaalo Theko, for which she won the Best Actress Anand Lok Puraskar award in Kolkata. Hanste Khelte and Ektaa Kapoor's Hum Paanch.

In the meantime, she acted in Bengali movie Bhalo Theko with actor Joy Sengupta. She even won the ‘best actress’ Anand Lok Puraskar in Kolkata for her performance in the movie.

It was in Mumbai, during a pop concert, when filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra approached her to play the female lead in his movie Parineeta, to be directed by Pradeep Sarkar.

Vidya had to go through 40 screen tests and 17 make-up shoots before she was finally chosen for the lead role in the film.

Shilpa Shetty


Shilpa Shetty BiographyHot Bollywood bombshell Shilpa Shetty was born on June 8, 1975 to Surendra and Sunanda Shetty in the Southern Indian state of Karnataka. Her mother Sunanda was a famous model during her time. Shilpa’s native language is Tulu and she can also fluently speak Hindi, Marathi, Gujrati, Tamil, French and English. She attended St Anthony Girls' High School in Chembur and then went to Podar College. She was the captain of the school baseball team and has earned a black belt in Karate. This tall and fit Bollywood actress also actively participates in social activities and is attached to various social organizations like PETA and Anti Aids campaign.






Deepika Padukone

Deepika Padukone BiographyDeepika Padukone was born in Mangalore, Karnataka in the year 1986. She is the most celebrated Indian model and an upcoming actress.

Daughter of a former World badminton Champion Prakash Padukone and mother Ujjala Padukone, Deepika grew up into a sultry model with dreams in her eyes to make it big in showbiz industry. Though she played badminton during her school days and reached to the level of a State player, she did not take her game to the national level as she had set her sights on the glamorous world of showbiz.

Pursuing her dreams, Deepika Padukone quickly became a model endorsing leading brands like Liril soap, Limca, Close-Up toothpaste, Kingfisher and several other products, which include international cosmetics giant Maybelline. The pretty svelte model won numerous awards for her modeling style. Her sensuous photographs appearing on the 2006 Kingfisher Swimsuit Calendar has virtually proved that she is indeed a supermodel in her own right.

She was chosen as the 'Model of the Year' by Kingfisher at its Fashion Awards; and further was awarded the 'Female Model of the Year' award in commercial assignments category and 'Fresh Face of the Year' at Idea Zee Fashion F Awards.

Deepika Padukone entered film industry with a Kannada film, "Aishwarya" in 2006 starring opposite Kannada hero, Upendra. The following year she bagged three Bollywood films, "Om Shanti Om", "Pirate" and "Delhi 6". She has also appeared in a musical video, "Aap Ka Suroor" by Himesh Reshammiya.

This pretty girl has a long way to go in Bollywood and many predict that she will be the next big thing in Bollywood.

Priyanka Chopra

Priyanka Chopra BiographyPriyanka Chopra born on July 18th, 1982 in Jamshedpur in Jharkhand State, India is a talented Bollywood actress and a former beauty queen who won the Miss World title in 2000.

Born to Capt. Dr. Ashok Chopra, a surgeon in the Army and mother Dr. Madhu Chopra, Priyanka grew into a multi-talented lady finding her creative joys in singing, writing poetry and short stories, but never ever dreamt of entering the showbiz world. Incidentally her father too is a very good singer and Priyanka seems to have derived her singing talents from her father as she is more attached to him. Priyanka Chopra graduated from La Martiniere Girls' College in Lucknow. Prior to her graduation, she studied in several schools as her father; a serving officer in the Army was on constant move on army duties.

It was her father who sent Priyanka's photos to Femina Miss India pageant and the reluctant queen finally competed and won the Femina Miss India World title and later went on to win Miss World title in 2000. Soon the crowning beauty became the most sought after debutant in Bollywood with several big name movie deals coming by her way.

Priyanka Chopra began her movie debut with a Tamil film called "Thamizhan" in 2002 and followed it up with a Bollywood movie Andaaz" {2003} starring opposite Akshay Kumar and directed by Raj Kanwar. Making her screen presence felt strongly in "Andaaz", Priyanka won Filmfare's and Star Screen's Most Promising Newcomer award. She gave a commendable performance as a villain in "Aitraaz" {2004} and won all-round praise from critics and general public alike.

She acted in several other block buster movies like "Mujhse Shaadi Karogi" {2004} opposite Salman Khan, "Bluffmaster" {2005} opposite Abhishek Bachchan and Nana Patekar, "Don" {2006} opposite Shahrukh Khan and "Krish" {2006} opposite Hrithik Roshan, which indeed became the biggest hit of all time so far in Indian Cinema. She is also starring in the sequels "Krish 2" and "Don 2".

The former Miss World was also voted as the Sexiest Asian Woman of 2006 in a poll conducted by Eastern Eye, an Asian newspaper being published from Britain.

With age and talent on her side this dusky beauty has a long way to go in Bollywood. With some big releases due very shortly Priyanka’s popularity is surely set to sore to new heights.


Amrita Rao

Amrita Rao Biography