Rai's final film of 2010 was the drama Guzaarish; her third collaboration with director Sanjay Leela Bhansali and actor Hrithik Roshan. The film tells the story of Ethan Mascarenas, a former magician (played by Roshan) suffering from quadriplegia, who after years of struggle, files an appeal for euthanasia. Rai's role was that of Sophia D'Souza, Mascarenas' nurse, who is abused by her alcoholic husband. Due to her and Bhansali's prior associations, Rai agreed to the project before reading its script. Despite flopping at the box office, Guzaarish met with positive critical comments. The Telegragh described it to be "one of Aishwarya Rai's best performances" and The Times of India summarised, "Aishwarya is a stunning picture of fire and grace, walking away with certain scenes by her sheer vitality." In 2011, Rai was cast as the protagonist of Madhur Bhandarkar's social drama Heroine; however, due to her pregnancy, Rai was replaced by actress Kareena Kapoor, the original choice for the role.
Rai gave birth to a girl, Aaradhya, on 16 November 2011. Rai is commonly referred to by fans and the media by the nicknames "Ash" and "Aish", but has stated that she dislikes being called as such. She has discouraged people from referring to her by names other than "Aishwarya" as she does not want to "spoil [her] good name".
Rai Bachchan is one of the most popular Bollywood celebrities. Despite constant media speculation, she keeps her personal life well-guarded. Her physical appearance and performances have made her a style icon for young women. In 2011, India Today noted that there were over 17,000 websites dedicated to her. She was selected by Verve magazine in its list of the country's most powerful women. In 2001, Forbes named Rai among the top five Indian movie stars. In a reader poll conducted by UK's Hello! magazine, she was voted "the most attractive woman of 2003". In the same year, Rai appeared in Rolling Stone magazine's annual "Hot List". In 2004, she was chosen by Time as one of the world's most influential people, and appeared on the cover of its 2003 Asia edition.
She ranked 2nd in The Times of India's 50 most desirable women of 2010, and ranked 9th for 2011. In 2011, she has received a lot of negative publicity for failing to lose her post-pregnancy weight as is apparently "required" of a public figure. However, she silenced her critics by walking the red carpet at the "AmfAR Cinema Against Aids" gala in 2012 Cannes Film Festival for the 11th time. Later that year, Rai has made it to the issue of New York Magazine's list of "Forty Women That Women Find Beautiful", where she grabbed the 21st position in the list, with New York Magazine saying "She may be the "world's most beautiful woman," but what we really love is that she never feels fragile onscreen,". The market research firm YouGov named Rai the world's eleventh most admired person of 2018.