Aishwarya, Mallika among most desirable women in world
Showbis Desk

NEW YORK—Bollywood glamour queen Aishwarya Rai and sultry Indian actress Mallika Sherawat have been named in the “Top 99 Most Desirable Women” list of the online AskMen magazine. Aishwarya at no.27 and Mallika at no.67 are joined by Indian American model and food show host Padma Lakshmi at no.66.
Over five million AskMen.com readers cast their votes to identify the females from the worlds of music, fashion, sports, and entertainment who have the characteristics they value in a potential companion, like intelligence, humour, charisma and ambition. Katherine Heigl, Emmy wining actress of “Grey’s Anatomy” TV series, and the star of box-office hit “Knocked Up”, takes the top spot for the 2008 list released Jan 31 by the men’s lifestyle magazine.
Mallika’s citation at the site reads that “her complete comfort with her body is apparent, both in her brashness off-screen and her on-screen performances”. She came to international limelight for her short role with Jackie Chan in “The Myth”. She is now starring in English-language films-”The Aquarian Gospel” and “Unveiled”.
Aishwarya is described by the magazine as “the most beautiful woman to come out of Bollywood” to have mark on the American audiences. In 2007 she appeared in films like “Guru” and “The Last Legion”, and was signed on to co-star in the Steve Martin-helmed “Pink Panther 2”.
Her getting hitched - to actor Abhishek Bachchan - has not made a difference, the site says. Padma Lakshmi, the estranged wife of author Salman Rushdie, the magazine says, “is best known for her hosting gig on ‘Top Chef’, making men throughout the country take an interest in the culinary arts for one hour every week”.
The three Indian divas are more desirable than tennis star Maria Sharapova (74), actress Lindsay Lohan (95) and Lucy Pinder (69), British glamour model who has received the title of “Best Breasts in the World”. Meanwhile, the shooting of “Ugly Aur Pagli” (a rather strange name for a movie) is getting uglier and “paglier”. Last week, leading lady Mallika Sherawat stormed out of the sets of the wacky film when Ranvir Shorey arrived hours late for the shooting.
Ranvir, known to be headstrong and adamant when the occasion demands, doesn’t deny the incident. He told reporters: “Yes, we did have a spat last week. We keep having differences of opinion and then keep making up. But this one was more serious. “I wasn’t well at all. I had viral fever. I popped some pills and came for the shoot. But I was about three hours late. Mallika left in a huff. So I had to shoot solo scenes that day.”