Aishwarya Rai (born 1 November 1973) is an Indian actress and former model. She has been called the "most beautiful woman in the world", Rai won the Miss India and Miss World pageants in 1994. After a brief stint with modeling, Rai made her cinematic debut through the 1997 Tamil film Iruvar, a semi-biographical political drama, directed by Mani Ratnam. She followed with Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya, that marked her Bollywood debut and Jeans, her first commercial success. The latter India's submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film for the year 1998.