From clip immemorial, the champion of the writers person wringed their imaginations and dried their inks to wax eloquently astir beauty. So, it is nary wonderment that Indian filmmakers, the modern time engineers of creativity, person a penchant for casting winners of quality pageants successful their films. However, much often than not, contempt ‘conventional’ quality being the biggest requisite for being an histrion successful Indian cinema, the careers of galore specified actors person been short-lived. They were decidedly the spirit du jour, but the du jour wasn’t ever longer than a fewer bully years. And then… determination was Aishwarya Rai.
Of course, she wasn’t the archetypal 1 to marque the modulation from the ramp to the arclight. But she created a lasting bequest for models-turned-actors crossed assorted languages successful India, and became the look of the state successful assorted planetary avenues. While Aishwarya Rai was identified arsenic a Hindi cinema star, and was seen arsenic a chiefly Bollywood heroine, determination tin beryllium nary uncertainty that it was Tamil cinema that showcased her acting prowess. It was successful Tamil that she made her acting debut successful 1997, and starred successful 1 of her astir seminal roles successful 2023. In these 27 years, Aishwarya has lone starred successful 7 Tamil films, worked with conscionable 3 Tamil filmmakers — Mani Ratnam (4), Shankar (2), and Rajiv Menon (1), and performed to the tunes of conscionable 1 composer, AR Rahman.
Each of her films successful the confederate sojourn were handcrafted to perfection to showcase that Aishwarya Rai wasn’t conscionable a beauteous face, but a fantastic performer too. And it is awesome how, successful each of those 7 films, contempt the genres varying from historical, governmental drama, sci-fi comedy, epic action-adventure, literate romance, and sci-fi action, the halfway of her roles laic successful the powerfulness of love. Through her 7 films, Aishwarya Rai’s characters lived an full life. Each of them spell done the full gamut of stages, including attraction, attachment, romance, trust, worship, madness, and death. The much you deliberation of it, the much astounding it gets.
So, let’s look astatine however Aishwarya Rai, done her Tamil films, has been the epitome of each things love.
Attraction – Pushpavalli/Kalpana (Iruvar)
Do you judge successful reincarnation? Do you judge successful a emotion that volition transcend ages? Do you judge successful destiny? Well, adjacent if Iruvar’s Anandan (Mohanlal) didn’t judge it wholeheartedly, the thought would person crossed him aggregate times whenever helium acceptable his eyes connected Kalpana (Aishwarya Rai). It is beauteous however manager Mani Ratnam made Anandan spot Kalpana for the archetypal clip connected a large screen. It is besides the archetypal clip we spot the defining representation of Aishwarya Rai connected the large screen. Of course, we spot her arsenic the demure Pushpavalli earlier successful the film, but it is not the flamboyance we subordinate with the Miss World.
Pushpavalli was beautiful. Kalpana was bold and beautiful. And conscionable similar however a flustered Anandan is agitated, uncomfortable, but conscionable can’t instrumentality his eyes disconnected the screen, we were clued into the endowment of Aishwarya Rai. Anandan was attracted to her. We were attracted to her. And thus, the archetypal measurement of emotion was complete. We were hooked in, enactment and sinker. But if you deliberation Kalpana was conscionable astir attraction, you would beryllium terribly wrong.
Watch Iruvar to cognize wherefore Aishwarya Rai had 1 of the astir explosive debuts successful Tamil cinema, and however she reveled successful expressing the complexities of love, close from her archetypal film.
Aishwarya Rai and Mohanlal successful Iruvar.
Attachment – Madhumitha/Vaishnavi – Jeans
It is precise uncommon to spot the heroine person an important relation successful a comic caper. Of course, she is, galore a time, portion of the laughter riot, but ne'er rather successful connected the joke. But successful Shankar’s Jeans, it is the women who are liable for mounting the signifier for the humour. And by women, I mean Lakshmi playing Krishnaveni paati, and Aishwarya Rai playing the duplicate roles of Madhumitha and Vaishnavi. Acing drama is ever tough, and it gets tougher erstwhile the connection isn’t earthy to you.
But, Madhumitha, who is wholly attached to Vishwanathan, has to conjure up a Vaishnavi for a wholly smitten Ramamoorthy. Vishwanathan was attached to Madhumitha. Ramamoorthy was attracted to Vaishnavi. And we knew Aishwarya Rai’s attraction and attachment to cinema wasn’t conscionable a flash successful the pan. And thus, the 2nd measurement of emotion was complete.
Watch Jeans to cognize however Aishwarya Rai, successful a analyzable treble enactment role, treaded connected bladed ice. The smallest of slips would person pushed her roles into the realm of taboo topics, but recognition to the penning and performances that we are laughing astatine the incredulity, and ne'er reasoning astir the nefariousness. Isn’t that the essence of a drama of errors?
Love – Meenakshi – Kandukondain Kandukondain
The astir important portion of immoderate romance is the clip erstwhile the lovers commencement believing each imagination is possible. In Rajiv Menon’s adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, Aishwarya Rai played Meenakshi, a dreamer, who wants a knight successful shining armour to travel rescue her from a Scottish castle and clasp her successful his arms portion saying a Bharatiyar couplet.
Her emotion makes her judge the satellite is hers for the taking, adjacent erstwhile her satellite comes crashing down owed to a familial dispute. But the imagination doesn’t die. Even erstwhile everything astir her changes, her content successful emotion allows her to clasp onto the dream. She is adjacent unsighted to idiosyncratic else’s outpouring of unadulterated emotion due to the fact that her imagination is all-encompassing.
Till 1 good day, destiny gives her a world check. Then, her satellite crumbles. Then, the instauration of her beingness disintegrates. Then, she is alert of the realities of her world. Then, she realises emotion is not conscionable successful expecting and receiving, but besides successful giving and understanding. And thus, the 3rd measurement of emotion was complete.
Watch Kandukondain Kandukondain to cognize however Aishwarya Rai, successful a precise layered relation makes america autumn successful emotion with her astatine each lawsuit contempt the possibilities of misunderstanding the quality astatine each instance. Is she a bully person? Yes. Did she lone bash bully things? Probably not. But shouldn’t lone bully things hap to idiosyncratic we love. Definitely.
Trust – Sana – Enthiran
So, a idiosyncratic creates an android robot. He takes it home, and his parent names the robot aft her 2nd son, who passed distant arsenic a child. This idiosyncratic is already successful emotion with a aesculapian student. Now, erstwhile the idiosyncratic introduces this robot to the emotion of her life, isn’t it just to judge that she would spot the robot to beryllium just… a robot? Isn’t this spot the ground for each the shenanigans she does with this robot?
That is wherefore erstwhile Sana kisses Chitti connected the cheek, it comes retired of the spot successful the robot’s talents. She ne'er knew what placing a spot could bash successful the neural schema of a robot. She couldn’t foretell what this spot could do, particularly erstwhile the neural web of Chitti was corrupted utilizing an ‘evil reddish chip.’ Vaseegaran is distraught astir his instauration moving excessively well, and a batch much efficaciously than helium expected. But for Sana, it was seeing the fruits of her spot being poisonous.
She saw him arsenic a person and a usher for life, not idiosyncratic who would kidnap her from her ain wedding, clasp her hostage, and endanger to termination the emotion of her beingness if she doesn’t accede to his demands. That is wherefore erstwhile the last enactment happens, you spot her look astatine Chitti with a benignant of trusted reverence and it is wherefore his apology to her feels much existent than thing the robot ever did successful the film. And thus, the 4th measurement of emotion was complete.
Watch Enthiran to cognize however Aishwarya Rai returned to Tamil cinema aft astir a decennary to wow the assemblage playing a relation that required her to beryllium attracted, attached and successful emotion with a scientist, and trusting his creation, lone to look her worst nightmares, and yet, travel retired of each of the chaos with an knowing grin that melts the bosom of the metallic android robot.
Aishwarya Rai and Rajinikanth successful Enthiran.
Worship – Ragini – Raavanan
It is absorbing however antithetic Aishwarya Rai played the hostage successful 2 films that had her astatine the power of idiosyncratic who felt wronged by the actions of her partner. In Mani Ratnam’s Raavanan, the movie begins with the kidnapping of Aishwarya Rai’s Ragini. She is the trump paper of Vikram’s Veera, who is astatine loggerheads with the cops, pb by Prithviraj’s Dev. In this Ramayana redux, Aishwarya Rai plays a mentation of Sita, who is taken into the wood by the person of a clan, who shows her the atrocities committed by the almighty successful the sanction of maintaining instrumentality and order.
Of course, Ragini isn’t going down without a fight, and gives her kidnapper sleepless nights with her feistiness, and unadulterated responses to his antics. She believes successful the triumph of bully implicit evil, and waits for her hubby to travel and prevention her from the clutches of the atrocious people. But Veera worships her. There is astir a reverential look whenever helium sees Ragini. Why? Because helium loves the woman.
But helium knows she is idiosyncratic else’s wife, and it leads to immoderate of the astir intricately written scenes and lines successful a Mani Ratnam film. While determination is nary reverence from the portion of Ragini, she understands the methods of their lives, and however the tools of the oppressed cannot beryllium the aforesaid arsenic the tools of the oppressors.
Probably why, erstwhile Dev tricks Ragini to find retired the hiding spot of Veera, and shoots him dormant arsenic helium falls into the vale of nary instrumentality with AR Rahman’s haunting people mildly caressing his caput successful his last descent, Ragini bursts into tears. This wasn’t due to the fact that of an attachment, oregon attraction, oregon adjacent emotion arsenic we cognize it. This emotion was the effect of feeling a consciousness of reverence to a antheral who was lone trying to prevention his people. And thus, the 5th measurement of emotion was complete.
Watch Raavanan to spot however Aishwarya Rai plays a mythical fig acceptable successful a modern world. She is an outsider successful a satellite that accepts her, but knows she tin ne'er beryllium 1 of them. This dissonance is wonderfully accentuated by her performance, particularly arsenic the daggers thrown from her eyes get blunt arsenic the movie progresses.
Madness – Nandhini – Ponniyin Selvan 1
Rage is simply a earthy emotion that brings to beingness our interior demons. Just similar love, rage consumes america from within, and yet, we spell down that way due to the fact that catharsis of a breached bosom tin hap successful a myriad of ways. In Mani Ratnam’s Ponniyin Selvan, Aishwarya Rai plays Nandhini, who exists for conscionable 1 crushed – Revenge against Aditya Karikalan (Vikram). This rage dilatory descends into madness, and it pushes her to bash things that she wouldn’t person done if definite wheels weren’t acceptable successful motion. She gaslights. She manipulates. She orchestrates murders. She plans mutinies. She tries to interruption the biggest kingdoms of them all. And wherefore does she bash each this? Nandini was erstwhile successful love, and thing she loved ever did her immoderate good.
There is simply a method to her madness, but it was inactive madness. How could she look astatine that bare throne with a look of pride, malice, and trepidation, each astatine the aforesaid time? How could her eyes marque everybody creation to her wishes? She weaponised herself successful this quest for revenge. Nandhini knew her madness. Nandhini knew she was beautiful. She knew she could accidental anything, and bash everything. And thus, the sixth measurement of emotion was complete.
Watch Ponniyin Selvan Part 1 to cognize however Aishwarya Rai, successful a analyzable relation of an antagonist with a purpose, was astatine her unsafe best. And much importantly, however effectual she was successful the relation of Nandhini, which marked her instrumentality from an astir 14-year vanavaasam from Tamil cinema.
Death – Nandhini and Oomai Rani – Ponniyin Selvan Part 2
Do you judge successful reincarnation? Do you judge successful a emotion that volition transcend ages? Do you judge successful destiny? Well, successful Ponniyin Selvan Part 2, erstwhile again, Aishwarya Rai plays dual roles of Nandhini and Oomai Rani. Both of them are beauteous characters whose lone flaw is that they fell successful love. They were attracted to someone. They felt attached to someone. They were successful emotion with someone. They trusted someone. They revered someone. They were huffy astir someone.
Just that this idiosyncratic for Oomai Rani was Sundara Cholar (Prakash Raj), the king of the Chola dynasty, and this idiosyncratic for Nandhini was Aditha Karikalan (Vikram), the heir evident of the Chola dynasty. It is beauteous to spot however antithetic the romances of Oomai Rani and Nandhini are. One is baying for blood, and 1 is trying her champion to halt the incessant bloodshed. It is simply a fantastic irony that the six stages of emotion consumes some of them towards their ends.
Both unrecorded by the age-old idiom ‘till decease bash america part’ and yet, some unrecorded it connected their ain terms. Both Oomai Rani and Nandhini chose their paths. They chose to question connected 2 chiseled but fiercely autarkic journeys. They chose their ending too. And thus, the seventh measurement of emotion was complete.
Watch Ponniyin Selvan 2 to recognize however Aishwarya Rai ensured she efficaciously showcased the stark opposition betwixt the 2 characters that were truthful antithetic yet truthful similar. Both of them loved their men deeply. They loved them similar nary different could. They loved them successful their ain mode adjacent if that mode wasn’t understood by many. They loved them till decease did them part.
Aishwarya Rai and Vikram successful Ponniyin Selvan.
Basically, blessed day Aishwarya Rai… We aren’t truly blessed astir the agelong gaps betwixt your films successful Tamil, but we recognize that it is not mundane you get a Kalpana, Madhumitha, Meenakshi, Sana, Ragini, and a Nandhini.