Priyanka Chopra Claims ‘Worlds Sexiest Asian Woman’ Crown
A permanent fixture in the top three in recent years, the beauty queen turned A-list Bollywood star beat off very tough competition from some of the most stunning women from around the world. It has rounded off a dream year for Priyanka, which included a starring role in super-hit film Agneepath, delivering a superb performance in India’s official entry to the Oscars, Barfi and launching an international pop career alongside chart-topping singer Will.i.am. Clearly delighted with the win, Priyanka said: “I'm hugely flattered. Who wouldn't want to have a title like this bestowed on them! A big shout out to everyone who voted for me."
Eastern Eye showbiz editor Asjad Nazir, who annually puts together the popular list together and is chairman of the judging panel, believes a dream year will give Priyanka Chopra the perfect platform to possibly becoming a Hollywood star in 2013. “The sheer diversity of the projects that Priyanka did in 2012 combined with her close connection to fans online worked in her favour and added to her already impressive fan base. That is why she was able to beat off pop stars, TV personalities, models and fellow film stars. I am sure she will build on this success by becoming a successful international pop star and cracking Hollywood in a big way in the next couple of years,” said Asjad.
The biggest surprise of 2012 was the number of television actresses from India who entered the list for the first time. Ek Hazaaron Mein Meri Behna Hai stars Nia Sharma (5) and Krystle D’Souza (9) became the first ever TV actresses from India to crack the top 10. Fans of highest new entry Nia Sharma were so determined to get her into the list that she was trending on Twitter for nearly a week during the voting process. Other Indian television actresses who made the list included Drashti Dhami (12), Sanaya Irani (13), Kritika Kamra (19), Jennifer Winget (21), Yashashri Masurkar (24) and Asha Negi (32), “The fact that so many television actresses made the top 50 showed that Bollywood is no longer the only dominant force in India and that television is playing a much bigger part in the lives of people around the world,” said Asjad Nazir.
The mass interest in the 2012 list was such that Asjad Nazir, Eastern Eye's UK based Showbiz Editor, topped the list of the most tweeted people in India for a week on social networking site Twitter during the voting process. Other notable stars in this year’s list include Deepika Padukone (4), Bipasha Basu (6), Sonam Kapoor (7), Diana Penty (15) and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (16) . The highest placed Pakistani was super model turned television personality Mehreen Syed (10) and the highest placed star from the west was once again Hollywood actress Noureen Dewulf (11), who is currently starring alongside Charlie Sheen in hit US sitcom Anger Management. Others in the list included Parineeti Chopra (18), Rani Mukerji (22), Esha Gupta (23), Sussanne Roshan (25), Alia Bhatt (29), Giaa Manek (41) and singer Tasha Tah (47).
2012’s full list is published in UK’s most established and popular Asian newspaper Eastern Eye on December 7.
Top 20
1. Priyanka Chopra 11. Noureen DeWulf
2. Kareena Kapoor 12. Drashti Dhami
3. Katrina Kaif 13. Sanaya Irani
4. Deepika Padukone 14. Anushka Sharma
5. Nia Sharma 15. Diana Penty
6. Bipasha Basu 16. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan
7. Sonam Kapoor 17. Sonakshi Sinha
8. Freida Pinto 18. Parineeti Chopra
9. Krystle D’Souza 19. Kritika Kamra
10. Mehreen Syed 20. Sunny Leone
List compiled by Asjad Nazir