Namrata Shirodkar
 She
is Miss India 1993 and elder sister of onetime Bollywood actress Shilpa
Shirodkar. After winning the Miss India title and fourth place at the Miss
Universe pageant she decided to join Bollywood. Though she was never in the
same league as the Aishwaryas and Sushmitas, Namrata was noticed recently
for her role in Hathyar.
Though most of her films flopped like Mere Do Anmol Ratan and
Hero Hindustani, with Vaastav Namrata`s career just took off. As
a prostitute who gets married to Sanjay Dutt, her performance received good
reviews. Pukar with Madhuri Dixit and Anil Kapoor got her some
coverage. Her role of a young mother in Hathyar, the sequel to
Vaastav got her noticed. Namrata can be seen in the forthcoming hyped
Mahesh Manjrekar’s experimental film Pran Jaye Par Shaan Na Jaaye.
Sushmita Sen
 The
year was 1994 and 18-year-old Sushmita Sen gave India her first win in the
Miss Universe contest. The dark horse had won the race. The 5’9” tall
Sen-sation literally created waves but her entry into Bollywood, Dastak
was a dismal failure. Considered too tall for a Bollywood heroine Sush went
on to prove detractors wrong when she was noticed for her role as the other
woman in the David Dhawan superhit Biwi No 1.
As her item numbers like the one from Fiza became superhits, Sush
became hot property. On the personal front, she has adopted a baby Renee.
Sushmita will be seen in the upcoming Mahesh Manjrekar multi-starrer Pran
Jaaye Par Shaan Na Jaaye.
Aishwarya Rai
 Aishwarya
Rai or Ash as she is usually called first made news as the sexy woman clad
in black asking Aamir Khan, "Hi! I`m Sanjana, have another Pepsi?” That was
just the beginning, after innumerous ramp shows and TV commercials, Ash
decided to run for the Miss India title. A last minute slip made her lose
the title to dark horse Sushmita Sen. That very same year she made history
as the winner and hot favourite at the Miss World Contest.
Bollywood beckoned and Ash made her debut with Mani Ratnam`s Tamil film
Iruvar. With Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya, Aishwarya entered Hindi
cinema. Alas, both the films turned cold turkey at the box-office. But Ash
reigned when two of the biggest films of 1999 Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam
and Taal sent the BO in a tizzy with its success. Ash had arrived.
After a relative lull, during which she did Mohabbatein, Josh, and
Kandukondein Kandukondein Ash was back in a period role that of Paro
in Devdas. In the meantime her off and on affair with Salman Khan was
off for good. And coming up is none less important than India`s first IMAX
film, Taj Mahal, where she plays Mumtaz. Ash has also been chosen as
the Indian brand ambassador for the Swiss watch giant Longines.
Nafisa Joseph
 She
was all of 18 when she won the Femina Miss India contest in 1997. At the
Miss Universe contest, her rather unconventional statement, that the biggest
injustice done in the world would be to bring a child into it, and not offer
it peace, made the judges sit up and listen.
In 1999, she was a judge for the MTV VJ Hunt. A week later she too got a
call from MTV asking her to give a screen test to become a VJ. She did and
was chosen to host `MTV Houseful` and `MTV Smirnoff Megamix`. She has been
doing so ever since. Nafisa was also seen briefly in a television series
called C.A.T.S that was based on the hit 70`s show `Charlie`s Angels`. Apart
from being a model is an animal lover she actively works with PETA (People
for Ethical Treatment of Animals).
She is now the Editor of a new fashion magazine called `Gurlz`. She also
writes a column on animals for `The Times of India`, Bangalore. Nafisa has
dreams of opening up her own production house or event management company in
the future.
Priyanka Chopra
 The
5th beauty to do win the title, Priyanka won the millenium Miss World
contest at the age of 18. Coming from an Army background, she has been to
the four corners of India from Leh and Ladakh in the north to Kerala in the
south from Bombay in the west to Jamshedpur in the East.
After studying in Lucknow and Bareilly she went for further studies in
the USA. She had decided to become a software engineer or a criminal
psychologist when Miss World happened.
It was but natural for her to follow on her illustrious predecessors and
make a debut in films. With the Southern film Tamizhan Priyanka made
her acting debut. A theatre enthusiast Priyanka will be making her debut in
Bollywood soon.
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