Bollywood's Diwali Bombshells

Ahead, Tinsel town's most explosive firecrackers. Proceed with caution

Whatever size she be, Kareena is a heavyweight in the hotness department.

Doubters need to check out her red sari clad booty in Chammak Challo. Bebo has already notched up one superhit this year with Bodyguard opposite Salman, and she's set to make it a brighter Diwali with SRK in RA.One.

Vidya Balan's Silk Smitha curves have generated enough heat to keep The Dirty Picture headline-worthy and that's even before the biopic's released.

She's going to be a nuclear reaction. We can't wait.

Careful, Katrina Kaif sets off smoke alarms.

Movie star Barbie followed up her Sheila sizzle with superhit turns in Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and Mere Brother Ki Dulhan. She's among this year's hottest patakas.

Volcanic Ash: Mama-to-be Aishwarya is all fire under the icy exterior. She's going to be giving up movie stardom for mommyhood for a while, but there's no keeping this girl down.

Weapon of Mass Destruction: Priyanka Chopra has had an eventful year breaking up with boyfriend Shahid and making up with arch-rival Kareena.

She's also going to be chasing good friend SRK on screen in the sequel to Don. Watch out for fireworks.

Deepika was all set to be scorching in Dum Maaro Dum but that turned out to be somewhat of a damp squib. What can we say, Zeenie baby is a hard act to follow. The Dimpled One did, however, put herself right back in the headlines with a very public kiss with real life beau, Siddhartha Mallya.

Bombs Away: Bollywood's hot favourite Bipasha Basu is now a single lady after breaking up with longtime boyfriend John.

There might still be a happy ending in store for her, since she has a movie with Hollywood beefcake Josh Hartnett and may or may not be currently dating Shahid Kapur.

Hotness Hall of Famer Malaika is an entire fireworks factory by herself. Mrs Arbaaz Khan is the yummiest mummy around and she's made item numbers classy.

Pretenders to her throne are a dime a dozen, but few can compete with Malaika's Munni appeal.

Nargis Fakhri is a chocolate bomb waiting to explode. Now that the Rockstar gang is in full publicity mode, Nargis' debut is among the most anticipated in Bollywood, even without all those Ranbir rumours.

Traverse through her Twitter profile to catch a glimpse of her candid photographs. She's a stunner even without make-up, there's no doubt about that.

Slinky Minx Mallika Sherawat is a rocket, and a noisy one at that. A red carpet appearance at the Oscars, a hop swivelling turn as Jalebi Bai and an item number in the Tamil remake of Dabangg - Mallika's going places.

Love her or hate her, you have to admire her spunk.

Lisa Haydon's model behaviour landed her a role in Aisha, opposite Sonam Kapoor and Abahy Deol. Just recently, her sultry dance moves and barely-there clothing in the song Shake it saiyyan from Rascals had us drooling in our chairs.

She's Bollywood's flavour of the month and we're not complaining.

Even though her biggest claim to fame in Bollywood is her relationship with Abhay Deol, the former Miss Britain is high on our Bombshell list.

She made her debut this year in the critically acclaimed Shor In The City, where she played a supermodel. Paired opposite Heroes star Sendhir Ramamurthy, Preeti's chemistry with the hunky actor was enough to seek our attention. The on-screen couple's much-publicised liplock was worth all the hype.

Sonam Kapoor's film choices have rarely been as praiseworthy as her fashion choices but if she's a chip off the old block then her best is yet to come. Anil Kapoor's little girl will next be seen in Abbas-Mastan's Players and might even star opposite Farhan Akhtar in Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra's Bhaag Milkha Bhaag.

Southern sizzler Asin is a fireball from down under.

She has the distinction of having debuted opposite one Khan (Aamir) in smash hit Ghajini, and followed it up with a role opposite another Khan (Salman) in second smash hit, Ready.

Sonakshi Sinha is the newest phooljhari in town. Shotgun Jr. is still just a film old but the fallout from Dabangg has made sure she remains on Bollywood's hot list.

Bodacious Shilpa Shetty should come with a flammable warning. Marriage may have put her out of sight, but she's very much on our minds.

Reality star, IPL team owner, fitness guru - Shilpa's worn many hats. She'll be back and with a bang.

Preity Zinta comes giftwrapped in sugar and spice. She's been away from Bollywood for a while but now is back and looking to carve a small screen career with a chat show.

Giselli Monteiro was the best kept secret in Love Aaj Kal. Jaws dropped when she was revealed to be a Brazilian model rather than the homegrown Punjabi lass she played. Her career hasn't yet taken wing, but given that she has no difficulty slipping into quintessentially Indian roles, we have no doubt that Giselli's filmy future is anything but bright.

Lovely Dia Mirza is a heaven-sent hottie.

Along with Zayed Khan, she recently produced and starred in Love Breakups Zindagi. Will this finally be her star making role?

The sun never sets on Chitrangada Singh's dusky beauty.

She starred in Yeh Saali Zindagi this year and will be appearing in Desi Boyz next.

Lighteyed Celina Jaitley is a smokin' H-O-T mommy-to-be.

Kangana Ranaut had a controversial few months after falling out with ex-flame Adhyayan Suman and a spat with the producers of her next movie Rascals.

But she is and always was a bindaas babe.

Jacqueline Fernandes was too hot for her Saudi Prince ex-boyfriend to handle. He wrote her an album fiull of breakup songs.

When you debut opposite Salman Khan, there really is no looking back. Zarine Khan was written off as a Katrina lookalike after Veer, but her miniskirted turn in Ready's Character Dheela number bounced her right back onto the the It Girl map.

Barbara Mori is a firecracker made in Mexico. Shes been M.I.A from Bollywood post Kites, but she's still sensational.

Neha Dhupia spells sizzle with a capital S.

Now well known for taking quirky roles in offbeat movies like Phas Gaye Re Obama, Neha's career choices won't put her in Bollywood' major league but make her interesting all the same.

Shruti Haasan is so nuclear she might cause radioactive fallout

Genelia D'Souza will next star opposite John Abraham in Force and maybe in real life opposite beau Riteish Deshmukh. Wedding bells may ring soon.

Riya Sen is a pocket sized rocket with or without a little MMS-help

Poorna Jagannathan, the ‘other' Delhi Belly girl is a former journalist from Los Angeles. Her NRI attitude and upbringing clearly reflected in her role, that of Imran Khan's surprise girlfriend (seriously, there's no other way to describe that role).

She was bold, mysterious and funny. Not only that, she brought a certain ‘exotica' to the film that you can't quite put into words. Poorna is definitely one actress to watch out for.

She's been around for quite a while now, as a popular VJ and host. Her acting credentials weren't anything to write home about until Aamir Khan's production, Delhi Belly, where she played Imran Khan's fiancée.

Shehnaz's bold, sexually provocative act, along with her brilliant comic timing, was one of the highlights of the blockbuster. Her resume also boasts of a screenwriting credit for Yash Raj Films' Luv Ka The End, which marked Shraddha Kapoor's (Shakti Kapoor's daughter) debut.

Her debut, opposite Abhishek Bachchan in Game, might have flopped badly, but that hasn't stopped supermodel Sarah Jane-Dias from grabbing eyeballs galore.

While there aren't any reports of her signing any new films, it's obvious this ravishing beauty's firecracker sex appeal will have the producers lining up before long.

Monica Dogra, from the group Sha'ir and Func, debuted opposite Aamir Khan in Dhobi Ghat.

Her splendid performance and gorgeous looks, coupled with her crackling chemistry with both Aamir and Prateik (the film's other lead), catapulted her to the top of the hottest debutantes list.

Bootylicious Sameera Reddy might spontaneously combust so don't get too close

Her Bollywood career might have run off the track, Koena Mitra's train is still burning (Photo: Maxim)

Yana Gupta was greased lightning atop a buffalo in Babuji Zara Dheere Chalo. This year, she made news for going without an essential item of underclothing in public.