Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has built a career across languages and film industries, working with acclaimed filmmakers such as Mani Ratnam, Rituparno Ghosh and Shankar. While her Hindi films brought her mainstream popularity, some of her most memorable characters came from Tamil, Bengali and English-language cinema. From her acting debut in a political drama to her portrayal of a formidable queen in a historical epic, here are five non-Hindi film characters that showcased her range as an actor.
Aishwarya made her acting debut with Mani Ratnam's 1997 Tamil political drama Iruvar, playing two characters, Pushpavalli and Kalpana. Loosely inspired by the lives of Tamil Nadu political figures M. G. Ramachandran and J. Jayalalithaa, the film follows the relationship between cinema and politics. While Pushpavalli is portrayed as a restrained and affectionate woman, Kalpana is an aspiring actress with a lively personality.
One of Aishwarya's most distinctive performances came in Rituparno Ghosh's 2003 Bengali film Chokher Bali. Based on Rabindranath Tagore's novel, the period drama follows Binodini, an educated young widow navigating a society that restricts women's choices and desires. Aishwarya understated performance portrayed the character's intelligence, emotional conflicts and defiance of social conventions, and remains one of the most complex roles in her filmography.
In Shankar's 1998 romantic comedy Jeans, Aishwarya played Madhumitha, a young woman who falls in love with Vishwanathan, played by Prashanth. She also portrayed Vaishnavi, the fictional twin sister created by Madhumitha's grandmother to help the couple overcome a family obstacle. The film gave Aishwarya another opportunity to play contrasting personalities in the same film, balancing Madhumitha's romantic and confident nature with Vaishnavi's more reserved demeanour.
Aishwarya played Meenakshi in Rajiv Menon's 2000 Tamil romantic drama Kandukondain Kandukondain, an adaptation of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. Sharing the screen with Tabu, who played her elder sister Sowmya, Aishwarya portrayed a romantic, free-spirited young woman who believes in following her heart. Her character draws inspiration from Marianne Dashwood, the passionate younger sister in Austen's novel. The film also featured Ajith Kumar, Mammootty and Abbas.
Aishwarya returned to Tamil cinema with Mani Ratnam's historical epic Ponniyin Selvan, playing Nandini, the powerful queen of Pazhuvoor. Based on Kalki Krishnamurthy's historical novels, the two-part saga follows political rivalries and succession struggles within the Chola dynasty. Nandini is an ambitious and calculating character whose personal history fuels her desire for revenge. Aishwarya's portrayal of the queen, with her measured expressions and commanding screen presence, became the central attraction of both films.