Devdas, 2002
In the film that won her second Best Actress award, she starred opposite Shah Rukh Khan and Madhuri Dixit. The Sanjay Leela Bhansali film, which featured on Time’s list of the “10 best films of the millennium”, was screened at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. It was India’s official entry for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and was nominated at the BAFTA Awards in the Best Foreign Language Film category.
Chokher Bali, 2003
A sleeper hit, this Bengali drama by Rituparno Ghosh, an adaptation of Rabindranath Tagore’s novel of the same name, is one of the few independent films Rai Bachchan has appeared in. She plays a complex character – that of an emotionally manipulative widow – and earned praise from film critics.
Raincoat, 2004
Her grim portrayal of a depressed woman, her second film with Rituparno Ghosh, was lauded for her ability to wow audiences and critics even when stripped of the trappings of glamour. It was something no one expected from an ex-Miss World and it won her a Best Actress nomination.
Enthiran, 2010
The sci-fi film remains Rai Bachchan’s biggest commercial success. If nothing else, it is worth watching for the unlikely on-screen pairing of Rai Bachchan with Tamil superstar Rajinikanth.
Guzaarish, 2010
In this film by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Rai Bachchan portrays an abused wife who works as a nurse to a quadriplegic illusionist (Hrithik Roshan). The film failed at the box-office but won the praise of film critics.