PRIYANKA CHOPRA won back the crown she lost to Katrina Kaif last year to be named the world’s sexiest Asian woman for the second time in three years.
The actress and singer came out on top following another year of record-breaking votes from across the world for UK-based Eastern Eye newspaper’s now globally renowned annual list.
Popular TV actress Drashti Dhami, who had led the voting for most of the process, finished second, narrowly missed out on the top spot. Fellow TV star Sanaya Irani was third, with last year’s winner Katrina ending up fourth in the closely run race.
A permanent fixture in the top three since the list was first published in 2004, superstar Priyanka beat off tough competition from some of the most attractive women in the world, in the 11th edition of what has now become the most definitive list of its kind. The mass interest in the 2014 list was such that it was trending across India and Pakistan during the voting process and more than 10 million votes were cast in all.
The stunning win rounds off another dream year for Priyanka, which saw her deliver one of the best performances of 2014 in boxing drama Mary Kom, release international pop songs, do tireless work for charity and shoot for what will arguably be next year’s two biggest films Dil Dhadakne Do and Bajirao Mastani.
“Someone once told me, ‘sexy is what sexy does and you do it best when you are yourself’. I don't know what I did to deserve this but I’ll happily accept this title. I am very flattered to have been named Eastern Eye's Sexiest Woman' once again. The fact that this is decided by a public poll across the world makes this even more special to me. Lots of love to everyone who voted and here's to always being yourself," said Priyanka.
Eastern Eye showbiz editor and chairman of the judging panel Asjad Nazir, who founded the list and puts it together every year, believes Priyanka has become an important international icon for India. “Apart from being one of the most stunning women in the world, Priyanka has demonstrated she is beautiful on the inside too with her humanitarian work. She has also become a strong symbol of girl power with projects like Mary Kom and represented her country admirably around the world. That is why more women than men actually voted for her this year and why she was trending across Twitter during the voting process,” said Asjad.
Just like in the past two years, the biggest surprise was the dominance of Indian television actresses. Drashti (2) and Sanaya (3) led the voting at different times. The highest new entry was reality TV star Gauahar Khan at number 5, followed by young actress Preetika Rao (10). Other Indian TV actresses who made the list included Nia Sharma (7), Asha Negi (12), Shakti Mohan (13), Surbhi Jyoti (16), Hina Khan (23) and Kritika Kamra (30).
“There are 25 small-screen stars in the list this year, which once again shows television is equally as powerful as Bollywood in India. In fact, at one stage it looked like Drashti was going to win had it not been for a late surge from Priyanka fans. This shows that television plays a much bigger part in the lives of people around the world and why so many movie producers are now signing TV actresses for Bollywood,” Asjad added.
The highest-placed American was Anger Management star Noureen DeWulf (15), who dominated the non-Asian vote. The top Pakistani was Humaima Malick (20) and the highest-placed British girl was reality TV star Jasmin Walia (32). The oldest woman in the list was 47-year-old Bollywood icon Madhuri Dixit (28) .
Other notable stars in this year’s list include Deepika Padukone (6), Kareena Kapoor Khan (8), Sonam Kapoor (9), Shraddha Kapoor (17), Alia Bhatt (24), Mahira Khan (34), Kangana Ranaut (38), Anushka Sharma (47) and Kanika Kapoor (50).
The full countdown of the 50 Sexiest Asian Women in 2014 is published in the UK’s most established and popular Asian newspaper, Eastern Eye, on December 5. “What makes this list really special is that most of those featured in it are women the public can relate to. Fans also look at the all-round qualities of those they are voting for and that is why more women than men vote annually,” Asjad explained.
