10. Aishwarya Rai

She's set tongues wagging at Cannes, shared screen space with Ben Kingsley (in the forthcoming The Last Legion), draped a sari over Oprah Winfrey, and done dinner with Clint Eastwood and Harvey Weinstein. Opinions are undeniably divided over her histrionic abilities, but Ms Rai is the face of Bollywood, making unprecedented headway toward Western shores.

From her well-received debut in Mani Ratnam's Iruvar back in 1997, 10 years on she has just silenced critics with a strong performance in the filmmaker's Guru.

This, weeks after she made men drool with Dhoom:2.

Off-screen, there's absolutely no debate on who makes the most consistent newsprint -- more has been written on Ash's impending nuptials with Abhishek Bachchan than on most issues of state. And people are still dying to know what she'll wear.

Check out the Women's Day Special

Nope, this one's iconic all right.

Photo: Jo Hale/Getty Images

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