Aishwarya Rai in her first Hindi film Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya (1997)
Though the film was written off originally, the movie more than doubled its budget at the box-office making it Aishwarya Rai's first official Hindi hit.
Originally the critics were not that kind to her - but the industry was. She bagged all the mega banners in one go; be it Mani Ratnam, Shankar, Yash Raj, Subash Ghai and Sanjay Leela Bhansali. She had also been offered Karan Johar's films and Rajshri's (but it didn't come to being).
She was compared to Madhuri Dixit in 1997 - from her first film when Madhuri had done 70 films already, which wasn't a fair comparison. In just 3 years of course, Ash climbed to the top with sheer hard work and dedication.
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