South Asian Business news and information

She was the sexy Chinese assassin, Hu Li, in Rush Hour 2 who continuously kicked Chris Tucker's ass, and Jen Yu, the thief in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon who stole Green Destiny, the legendary sword. Zhang Ziyi, is a very popular actress in China. She can be referred as the “Aishwarya Rai” of China. This twenty eight year old actress has great accomplishments under her belt. She may not be a successful model like Aishwarya Bachchan but when it comes to acting  she is no less than Aishwarya Bachchan.

Zhang Ziyi was born in Beijing on February 1979. Her father was an economist and her mother was a kindergarten teacher. As both her parents used to work, she was sent to boarding school when she was 100 days old. She used to come home once a week.

As some of her friends told her that she was very weak, her parents put her in dance and gymnastics school. Zhang first studied in Xuanwu District Children’s Palace. Later, she went to Beijing Dance Academy. In 1994, she won the National Dance Competition. At the age of 15, Zhang enrolled in Central Academy of Drama in Beijing.

Working as a model:

At the age of fourteen she appeared in a TV commercial for skin care product. She was not the main character but she got money and she was happy. As she started to earn money she stopped taking allowance from her father.

Acting career:

While studying in Central Academy of Drama, she did her first movie, Touching Starlight. It was director Zhang Yimou, who gave Ziyi her big break. From thousands of applicants Zhang Yimou chose her for his movie The Road Home. Ziyi plays a young girl who falls in love with her new teacher. The movie won Silver Bear award in the 2000 Berlin Film Festival. For her performance Zhang Ziyi won the Hundred Flowers award.

It was Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon that turned Zhang Ziyi into a movie star. Directed by Ang Lee, the movie did astonishing business in USA. Normally, foreign movies are not much widely accepted in USA but Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was a big success in Hollywood box office. Not only the film collected $128million in USA, but also won Academy Awards in four categories including Best Foreign Language Film and ten nominations including Best Picture.     

Followed by Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Rush Hour 2, Hero, Memoirs of a Geisha established Zhang as an actress in Hollywood.   

Useful Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhang_Ziyi

http://www.helloziyi.us/Biography.htm

http://www.helloziyi.us/Articles/First-Times.htm