2009: Top 10 hottest Bollywood actresses

Thanks to all the hot actresses it was a sizzling year in Bollywood. We flipped though all the scorching details to come up with the 10 actresses who, according to us, contributed the most to this rise in temperature. And there are some notable names that didn't make it to our Top 10 Hottest Bollywood Actresses of 2009 list. Anyway, let's begin with the sizzlers.

10. Priyanka Kothari: While Ram Gopal Varma's Agyaat remained largely unknown to the filmgoers, the lead actress in the film, who incidentally plays an actress in the film, became quite a known body.

Though her name change from Priyanka to Nisha and back to Priyanka didn't seem to do any good to her career or even to her acting abilities, she does make for nice eye candy.

Her oomph is getting her a few roles in Tamil, Telegu and Kannada films and last heard RGV has threatened to make a sequel to Agyaat.

Since the sequel is likely to have the scorching Priyanka Kothari, we don't exactly mind. Only RGV should let her do what she does best and not trouble her with too many dialogues and emotions.

9. Sonam Kapoor: Anil Kapoor's little girl has indeed grown up. Though Sonam is best known for her dazzling smile, we believe that there are many other things that add to her sexiness. Her acting abilities, for example.

Sonam has actually surpassed Aamir Khan's choosiness when it comes to signing films. In the last three years she has appeared in only two films. But that doesn't take away any shine from Sonam's star value. And we do remember that she called Ash 'Aunty Ji,' but that didn't have any impact on Sonam's standing on our list (it's a different story about Ash).

8. Mahie Gill: Anurag Kashyap's Dev.D redefined Devdas and while the film rightfully belonged to the director and the lead actor, who can possibly forget Paro - the girl who shoots nude images of herself to send to her lover across the seas. And the scene everyone just can't seem to stop talking about, where Paro carries a mattress to the fields to have sex with Devdas.

Mahie reasserted herself in again in Anurag Kashyap's next release Gulaal. Though her following film Aagey Se Right bombed, we believe that this girl has a lot of potential.

7. Vidya Balan: Vidya Balan, probably upset with the criticism that she received on her looks and dressing in 2008, kept a low key for most of 2009. But when we saw her in Paa, we couldn't help but appreciate the fresh new Vidya.

This year we also got a sneak peek of yet another facet of Vidya in the upcoming Isqiya and if the trailer is any indication, we might just have to promote Vidya quite a few steps higher in our list for 2010.

6. Deepika Padukone: While we expected a doubly hot Chandni Chowk to China given that Deepika was in a double role, but the film seemed more like journey on foot from Chandni Chowk to China. But then Deepika didn't let her fans go disappointed, she looked ravishing in Love Mera Hit Hit item number in Billu.

Then came Love Aaj Kal, that had Saif Ali Khan in a double role but Deepika stole the show with her zing. Though we aren't exactly sure about the status of the Deepika-Ranbir affair, we believe that the two should again come together on the big screen.

5. Bipasha Basu: The Bongshell finally acted in a Bengali film and looked lovely in it. It is not always that we would refer to Bipasha as lovely, sexy is the more appropriate adjective.

Bips gave her fans ample opportunity to ogle at her in Aa Dekhen Zara and All The Best: Fun Begins, but then we were a little disappointed. In 2009 we didn't get to see the Bipasha that we knew of. Therefore we ranked her somewhere in the middle, at No. 5.

4. Sushmita Sen: Some things get better with age and so does Sushmita. When we saw her on the ramp walking for Sanjana Jon at Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week, we were literally left gaping.

Sushmita's sizzling scenes with ex-beau Randeep Hooda in Karma and Holi would easily rank as the hottest in Bollywood. Though her films didn't make much of an impact in 2009, Sush definitely did.

3. Lara Dutta: Beauty queens make for hot actresses and Lara Dutta just adds more weight to the statement. First we saw her in a de-glam role in Billu. Our only grudge is that Priyadarshan could have easily slipped in a Mandanikiesque waterfall song, but he didn't.

But Lara made-up for the lack of glamour in Billu with Blue. For us the only thing worth watching in the film was Lara and this single role was reason enough for us to put her on the No. 3 pedestal.

2. Priyanka Chopra: Priyanka played 14 roles in 2009! Okay, 12 of them were in a single film What's Your Raashee?. This just means that in 2009 we got to see lots of Priyanka and we loved it (can't say the same about the film What's Your Raashee? though).

With a film like Kaminey and a character like Sweety, Priyanka would've anyways made it to our top 10. Sexiness isn't always directly proportional to the amount of skin shown. If the number of followers on Twitter followers was a criteria, Priyanka would've been No. 1 (on second thoughts make that No. 2, Shashi Tharoor would've been at the top).

1. Kareena Kapoor: And who's the hottest of them all? Okay, you already know. While the poster for Kurbaan could've been reason enough for the top slot, but we aren't that shallow.

Bebo had more than one reason to deserve the crown of the hottest Bollywood actress of 2009, her item number in Billu, the firebrand boy-hater-but-boy-magnet role in Kambakkht Ishq, as Mrs Khanna in Main Aur Mrs Khanna and of course Three Idiots. Whatever the box office results of the films be, Kareena was the real paisa wasool and hence the hottest.

Well, everyone around would be wondering, where's Katrina? We too agree. Putting together a list like this and not including Katrina is nothing short of sacrilege.

But then Katrina has been on top of every list that we came across this year (and the years earlier) and we think that it would be unfair to Katrina to make her compete with others for the sexiest crown. Hence, we have unanimously decided to put Katrina in the Hall of Fame, a place for people whose presence actually makes contests look like a sham, because they'd win anyway.

There are other notable names missing from the Top 10. Before you accuse us for not sparing even a thought for them, here they are: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Kangana Ranaut, Riya Sen, Neha Dhupia, Gul Panag and more. We needn't necessarily elaborate why they aren't amongst the 10 hottest, but Aishwarya's omission does deserve an explanation.

Ash didn't appear in any Bollywood or for that matter any Indian film this year. And that's enough ground for disqualification. Even off the screen Ash wasn't impressive enough (we have very high expectations from her). But then 2010 is a different year and she's got at least four big releases.

Who knows, by the time 2010 ends, we might even have to make place for Ash in the Hall of Fame.