What are 10 lesser known facts about Aishwarya Rai?

I brings to you 44 things I am sure you never knew about the gorgeous birthday lady!

1. Aishwarya initially wanted to be an architect. Ultimately, modeling happened and we were gifted with this beauty

2. Aishwarya’s famous Pepsi ad co-starring Aamir Khan was shot in a single night during the Mumbai riots in 1992-93.

3. It is said that when President George W Bush visited India, he had invited Aishwarya to a luncheon, but she was unable to attend.

4. She featured in her first commercial ad for Camlin Pencils when she was in ninth standard.

5. Tulips, at the Keukenhof Gardens in the Netherlands, has been named after Aishwarya Rai.

6. Originally, before the release of the film Mohabbatein, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was meant to be a guest appearance. However, after the film released, the fact she was in the film became so popular that the filmmakers decided to make her a regular character.

7. Karan Johar had approached Aishwarya to play the role of Tina in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. However, the actress could not do it since her dates were blocked by her movie Jeans.

8. While she won the Miss World contest, the evening’s host Richard Steinmetz had asked her out but she politely refused.Among all her co-stars, Rajinikanth is Ash’s favorite. She recalls working with him as the best experience ever.

9. Bajirao Mastani was originally supposed to be made with Ash and Salman.

10. She has the habit of collecting all news articles which are written on her

11. She was the first Indian to ever visit the Oprah Winfrey show

12. In spite of having an army of servants at her command, Aishwarya, who is said to be an excellent cook, loves to take the effort of doing it herself for Abhishek.

13. As a token of his love for her, Abhishek, however, ditched the designer diamonds and instead gifted Aish with the very same ring that he used during the shoot of Guru.

14. Aishwarya fell in love with Abhishek Bachchan during the shooting of J P Dutta’s Umrao Jaan. They would be missing from the sets for hours driving the finicky Dutta up the nearest papier–mache wall.

15. Once during their courtship on the sets of Umrao Jaan JP got so exasperated that he ripped her costume into pieces after waiting forever for her to reach the sets for a dance number.

16. Aishwarya is not on talking terms with Priyanka Chopra. The two fell out seriously when Priyanka stole Aishwarya’s role in Rohan Sippy’s Bluff Master which ironically starred Abhishek Bachchan. Many years later Priyanka again stole Aishwarya’s item song in Ram Leela. Yes, Ram chahe leele chahe was originally to be performed by Aishwarya.

17. There are more than 17000 websites dedicated to Aishwarya Rai. As per IMDB, her official website is The ONLY Authorized & Official Website of Aishwarya Rai.

18. Aishwarya is an able singer. She has a great singing voice and she loves to sing for those close to her. Those privileged to hear her sing include husband Abhishek and daughter Aaradhya.

19. Aishwarya loves collecting knickknacks from all over the world.Whenever wherever Aishwarya travels she buys little souvenirs and her home Jalsa is strewn with souvenirs purchased by the family’s Bahu.

20. Aishwarya contributed a lot to the dialogues and emotional dynamics of the dramatic scenes in Jazbaa. She will be directing a film in the near future.

21. She doesn’t like to wear wigs while shooting.

22. She never wanted to enter in movies or modeling world her going in this branch is a total coincidence, in fact her favorite subject was zoology.

23. Her first commercial success was the Tamil romantic drama Jeans.

24. She is a Goodwill Ambassador for the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

25. She has one elder brother, Aditya Rai, who is an engineer in the merchant navy.

26. Her brother co-produced one of her movies, Dil Ka Rishta.

27. She trained in classical dance and music for five years during her teens.

28. She is the only actress who endorsed both Pepsi and Coca-Cola.

29. In 2003 she became the first Indian actress to be a jury member at the Cannes Film Festival.

30. Casablanca, which stars Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogard, is Aish’s all-time favorite movie.

31. Not many know that Aish has a huge collection of watches. The diva is a jewelry lover and also loves to collect watches.

32. In Britain, a limited edition of Barbie Doll was launched in 2005 which was inspired by Aishwarya. The doll got sold within a few minutes of launch.

33. The lead role from Raja Hindustani was first offered to Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. She rejected the role so that she could participate in the Miss India Contest.

34. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is a fond admirer of books and in fact during her free time she loves to read books on History.

35. Aishwarya’s secret to beauty is that she eats lesser food. She has a habit of nibbling of fruits immediately after lunch.

36. Once she caused a day-long traffic jam while filming a soap commercial in Dubai.

37. She knows five languages English, Hindi, Kannada, Tamil, and Urdu.

38. She was featured in People Magazine as one of the 100 Most Beautiful People in the World.

39. Aishwarya's nickname is Gullu.

40. As a young model, Aishwarya once had a close encounter with actress Rekha in a Mumbai grocery store. Rekha recognized Ash from her ads, tapped her on the shoulder and wished her all the best.

41. Aishwarya was one of the nine actresses Karan Johar had approached to play Tina in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai.

42. Aishwarya declined to work opposite Brad Pitt in Troy as well. The actor had divulged the details to a daily claiming he missed an opportunity to work with her.

43. Ash used to be among the back-benchers in college.

44. In 1994, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Sushmita Sen completed the Miss India Pageant in which Sushmita won whereas Aishwarya came second.