Aishwarya Rai was born in Mangalore, in the southern Indian state of Karnataka, on November 1, 1973.
Her father, a merchant navy officer, relocated the family to Mumbai (formerly Bombay) when Aishwarya was 4 years old.
She excelled at academics as a child and chose science as her area of concentration, hoping for a career in medicine (zoology being her favorite subject at the time).
Instead, Ash opted for a career in architecture, and passed her college entrance interviews with flying colors.