Aishwariyaa's first film was Oliyampukal (1991), followed by Mamagaru (1991), Rasukutty (1992) and Meera (1992). She played a double role in Butterflies (1993) and also in Gardish (1993), which was a remake of the Malayalam movie Kireedam. Early in her career, she turned down opportunity to work with Mani Ratnam in Thiruda Thiruda (1993).[2]
Following her marriage in 1994, Aishwariyaa quit the film industry and chose to prioritise bringing up a family. However her marriage fell apart and she became addicted to drugs as a result of her husband's addiction, which made it difficult for her to re-enter the film industry after her divorce in 1996. After undergoing a rehabilitation process, she chose to continue her education in computer science and joined to work with the NIIT in 1997 and prioritised her work as a software engineer.[2] She then accepted an offer to be a part of a television show produced by Suresh Chandra Menon, after being convinced by her friend, actress Revathi. After a four-year sabbatical from films as a result of her marriage, childbirth and divorce, Aishwariyaa made a comeback in R. Parthiban's Housefull (1999) portraying an inspector-in-charge of the bomb disposal squad.[3] She continued to portray supporting roles in films such as Suyamvaram (1999), Sathyameva Jayathe (2000) and Narasimham (2000) during the turn of the century.[2]
Personal life
Aishwariyaa was born as Shanta Meena to Bhaskaran and actress Lakshmi. She has a stepsister (Samyuktha) from her mother's third marriage with Sivachandran.
She was married to Tanveer Ahmed in 1994 and later divorced him in 1996. The couple have a daughter born in 1995.[2][4]