Monikangana Dutta

If there's a challenger to Carol's crown, it's certainly Monikangana, currently India's hottest model.

The dusky, earthy Dutta stole the show at Mumbai's 2007 Lakme Fashion Week, with designer after designer choosing her to don their showstoppers.

In October 2007 she starred alongside Preity Zinta, Bipasha Basu and Priyanka Chopra on the inaugural Vogue India cover shot, which further served to boost her career.

Nandita Das

Though she's undeniably gorgeous, with girl-next-door good looks, there's more to Nandita than meets the eye. In an era that routinely casts females in vapid roles, where the importance is on pin-up quality and not the acting, she might well be India's most critically acclaimed young actress.

Her powerful performances in Deepa Mehta's Fire and Water, followed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's Aks, Chitra Palekar's Maati Maay and Santosh Sivan's recent Before The Rains have made her an international movie celebrity.

Ujjwala Raut

If any Indian model has the right to the Supermodel title it has to be Ujjwala, the most successful international Indian model of the current era.

Name a high-end fashion house and she's likely donned its wares on the catwalk: Yves Saint-Laurent, Victoria's Secret, Roberto Cavalli, Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, Valentino and Oscar de la Renta, to name a few.

Given all the recent Western interest in the allure of Indian women, it can be argued that Ujjwala sparked the movement with her trans-continental success

Diandra Soares

Diandra doesn't have to say anything about the fair versus dark controversy. She lets her pictures do the talking.

With penetrating eyes and a sizzling hot body, Diandra is the hottie of choice for men's magazines. In fact, her beach-side Maxim magazine photo-shoot has become the stuff of legend.