“I'm not the type who will yell about my achievements from the rooftops,” said the once-Miss World.

Which is why her many achievements sit ever so lightly on her shoulders. From being the first Indian actress to be on the jury of the Cannes International Film Festival, to being the second Bollywood personality – after her father-in-law, the legendary Amitabh Bachchan – to have her wax figure on display at London’s Madame Tussaud’s, the honours have been plentiful. In 2005, she was the subject of a 60 Minutes profile which revealed that “according to thousands of Web sites, Internet polls and even Julia Roberts,” Aishwarya was “the world's most beautiful woman”. She has a tulip in the Netherlands named after her, and Mattel also released a limited edition of Barbie dolls of Rai in the United Kingdom. The first Bollywood personality to appear on Oprah's ‘Women Across the Globe’ segment, she has ranked ninth on Harpers and Queen's list of ‘Most Beautiful Women in The World’ and People Magazine’s ‘World's Most Beautiful People’ ranking, to name just a few.

Her star quality is astounding.

A smitten Karan Johar admits that he was so mesmerised by Aishwarya Rai Bachchan on the sets of Ae Dil Hai Mushkil that he almost forgot about his lead pair Ranbir Kapoor and Anushka Sharma! “There was so much build-up about Ash coming on set. To me, it felt like she is the only star in the film. I am not undermining my love for Ranbir and Anushka (Sharma), but when Aishwarya walked in, I was like OMG… one star has finally come on the set.”

Her magnetism remains effortless.

Ranbir Kapoor has tried explaining it thus – “When you meet Aishwarya, her eyes glitter. She doesn’t have to try, she doesn’t have to do anything, yet, at the same time, she does a lot.”

Her power-packed performances can silence the most stringent critics.

From her impassioned Paro of Devdas, to the emotionally manipulative widow of Chokher Bali, from her grim portrayal of a depressed woman in Raincoat, to her abused wife who works as a nurse to a quadriplegic illusionist in Guzaarish, to her stunning portrayals in box office hits like Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Dhoom 2 and Jodhaa Akbar… she has been so much more than a sight for sore eyes.

She continues to push the envelope with her choices.

Whether it’s purple lipstick at on the red carpet which became the absolute scene-stealer of Cannes, to a role in the upcoming Fanney Khan, which is said to highly stylised, with shades of Beyonce and Madonna, everything Ash does, hits the headlines. Yes, she even has the world scurrying to find out more about slimming oils, after it was recently revealed that a huge package containing toning oils from a farm in the South was being delivered to her!