Actress Aishwarya Rai was born on November 1, 1973, in Karnataka, India. She began modeling as a child and won the Miss World pageant in South Africa in 1994. She made her acting debut in Mani Ratnam's The Duo in 1997 and went on to appear in numerous Bollywood films. Her sexy dancing skills earned her the Best Actress award in 1999, making her a leading Indian actress. She later became a council member of the Cannes Film Festival in 2003. She was named one of the "100 Most Powerful People in the World" by Time magazine. Meanwhile, in 2007, she married Abhishek Bachchan. They had a daughter in 2011.