Aishwarya Rai Bachchan birthday special: Nothing describes the actor as aptly as Jeans Song Poovukkul, calling her the 'eighth wonder of the world'

It's Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's birthday on November 1, and the actor has turned 49 this year. She is a former beauty queen and went on to be crowned Miss World in 1994, the second Indian to achieve this feat back then. Even before Aishwarya entered the Miss India contest, she was a popular face in the modelling world. Within two years of becoming Miss World, she forayed into acting with Iruvar, the Mani Ratnam directorial, in 1996. Since then, there has been no turning back for the actor.

Aishwarya's mesmerising beauty became an integral part of her movies, and she has always been a sight to behold. In 1998, the Poovukkul music video from Jeans, which is set across six nations, also stars Prashanth. The song, composed by AR Rahman and lyrics penned by Vairamuthu, refers to Aishwarya as the "eighth wonder of the world" and compares her to other wonders of the world. The song, which was written by Javed Akhtar in Hindi, was rendered as Ajooba.

As per reports, Shankar, the director of Jeans, said that there was no real list, but that the wonders that were chosen were thought about carefully. The crew travelled the globe for thirty days, stopping to film scenes at the Taj Mahal, the Egyptian pyramids, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Colosseum, the Empire State Building, and the Eiffel Tower.

The song starts with The Great Wall of China, wherein the actor dresses up according to Chinese culture, and Prashanth is lost in her beauty.

It's followed by the Eiffel Tower in Paris, and Aishwarya looks gorgeous as ever in a Parisian look.

They then travelled to New York City and shot against the backdrop of the Empire State Building. Every frame of the song is so picture-perfect that just as the lyrics suggest, one can't take their eyes off of this wonder that's Aishwarya Rai!

We see the actor adapting to the beautiful Anarkali look while shooting at the Taj Mahal back home in Agra. Flawless beauty, indeed!

Aishwarya then dons the Cleopatra look while just walking and giving her infectious smile at the Egyptian pyramids.

Just like how the Romans do, the actor walked and twirled royally at the Colosseum and the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Although these are man-made structures across the globe, nothing could match the beauty that the Universe created, which is Aishwarya. The song Poovukkul concludes that, and rightly so.

Anu Parthasarathy and Aneez Jeeva created the song's costumes.

The song indeed sums up how the moment she steps out, the actor manages to turn heads effortlessly. There's no stopping to admire the actor's flawless beauty, whether at the Cannes Film Festival, promotional events, or even airports.

Even in her movies, the actor has been lauded for her strong performances, like in Devdas (2002), Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999), Guru (2007), Taal (1999), Kandukondain Kandukondain (2000), Jodhaa Akbar (2004), and even Raincoat (2004).

The actor didn't care about the criticism and showed that models can act well enough to get praise for it. Just like how Aishwarya has aced the desi and royal looks in films, she has aced the bombshell avatar in Dhoom 2 (2006) and Ae Dil Hai Mushkil (2016).

After a gap of four long years, Aishwarya returned to the big screen and was reunited with her mentor, Mani Ratnam, in Ponniyin Selvan. Her beautiful entry by looking outside her palanquin was enough to light up the screen. It felt like a full circle, just like how Prashanth couldn't stop gushing towards her in Jeans. Similarly, Karthi as Vandiyathevan couldn't take his eyes off of Nandini, the character played by Aishwarya. In one of the scenes, he is also heard saying, which loosely translates as, "I stand before a shining diamond," and admits that he is a little dazzled by her presence.

Be it the portrayal of a royal in the Chola dynasty or a modern world, if you have Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, she will always be among the wonders of this world!