Bipasha Basu voted Hottest Asian Woman
Showbiz Desk

LONDON—Bollywood actress Bipasha Basu has been named the sexiest Asian woman by the British newspaper Eastern Eye.
On claiming the top spot for the second time after 2005, the Indian actress said: “I’m glad I got the crown back and will try and hold on to it this time.
“I think sexiness goes beyond looks and is a total package, from your personality to the way you carry yourself in your everyday life. I’m really grateful to all who voted for me because I work very hard,” added the actress, who is looking forward to her next release “Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal”.
Commenting on Bipasha’s international appeal, Hamant Verma, editor of Eastern Eye and the founder of its Sexiest Asian Women in the World List, said: “Bipasha is a living embodiment of sexual attractiveness. Her acting ability, beauty and charm are capable of arousing great interest in her from the world’s media.”
Last year’s winner, former Miss World and Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra, bagged the third position this year while actress Madhuri Dixit was voted the runner-up.
The other Bollywood actresses who made it to the top 10 positions are Aishwarya Rai, voted as the fourth sexiest Asian woman and Shilpa Shetty, who came in sixth followed by Katrina Kaif, Kareena Kapoor and Lara Dutta.
The public voted for those they thought were the sexiest Asian women from a list of 100 names published in the newspaper and on its website. The chairman of the judges’ panel was Eastern Eye’s show business editor Asjad Nazir.
Meanwhile, Bipasha Basu is looking forward to her Hollywood projects but says she cannot comment on them till they really go on the floors. “I’ve got a couple of lucrative offers but the writers have gone on strike and Hollywood will be shutting down for the next six months. I have appointed Simone Scheffield now and she is in touch. Even the Ben Kingsley project will take a long time as it is in the scripting process now. Right now, I can’t reveal much. So, until I have the narration, I cannot speak about it. Nothing will begin before August next year,” says Bipasha.
The actress had also been offered a role in the Lost series. “Yes, I was offered an interesting cameo. The director J.J. Abrams was also planning a new series on medicos and I was offered a role. But I am not taking it up right now since it will take two years of my work and I can’t afford to do that,” says the Dhoom actress.
Coming back to her Indian projects, Bipasha is looking forward to Raj Kumar Santoshi’s Ashoka and Siddharth Anand’s next film which she plans to start shooting after Vivek Agnihotri’s Goal releases. “I am excited about Ashoka since it’s my first period film. The role is tremendous and fascinating. It is a role of a lifetime. Earlier I was looking forward to Rituparno Ghosh’s Draupadi, but it has been held up for some time. But unlike Goal, where I was casual about the role, for this role I have to do a lot of preparations which I am planning from January. I am also looking forward to Siddharth’s next which also stars Katrina Kaif, Minissha Lamba and Deepika Padukone.
“Right now, it’s only Goal for me. I specially liked one particular scene which is shot with John and me in the locker room. It was very touching,” she says. She adds, “What I realised during the shoot was that racism actually exists. I was standing at Southall with Arshad (Warsi) when two boys passed us in their car. They were hanging out of the car and rapping such filthy things. It was disgusting.”
The actress brushes off rumours about Ronaldo coming to Mumbai for the premiere. “I don’t know how it started. We were planning to have tie-ups with Manchester United when I told Vivek I will speak to him. He would shoot a promo which will encourage football in India. But it didn’t happen. There were a lot of regulations so we let go,” she says.