Top 10 attention-seekers

Poonam Pandey: No one had ever heard of this Kingfisher Calendar model until she made her now infamous promise to strip naked if India won the 2011 Cricket World Cup. They did, she didn't. But she'd already cashed in on the publicity that had followed. She appeared on reality show Khatron Ke Khiladi Season 4 and became a celebrity of sorts on Twitter, posting pictures of herself in various stages of undress and a series of outrageous tweets.

In May 2012, a year after she reneged on her promise/threat, Poonam stripped for SRK's Kolkata Knight Riders when they won this year's Indian Premier League. She tops our list of attention-seekers, as somebody who spent a whole Sunday tweeting racy photo after racy photo of herself in a bath tub should.

Rozlyn Khan: Even Poonam Pandey inspires emulation, it seems. Little known model Rozlyn Khan stripped in honour of Chennai Super Kings, the team Kolkata Knight Riders beat. Before the Indian Premier League finals, she announced that she would do a special ‘Bikini Shoot with Captain Dhoni' if his IPL team Chennai Super Kings won. “As I promised did a full monty for Dhoni!” she tweeted, with the picture of herself. And if Poonam Pandey spent a day in her bath tub, so did Rozlyn. Except this was legit, sort of. She took a public bath in water dyed red to simulate blood, for a PETA campaign.

Sherlyn Chopra: She has made the most of her blink and miss stardom as the first Indian to become a Playboy pin up. The model-singer-actress'only significant role has been in the movie Dil Bole Hadippa, though she has appeared in a string other movies with risqué names and risqué content. Playboy magazine slightly overstated their Miss November's status on their website by listing her as 'Bollywood Goddess,' but it's unlikely that Bollywood will be knocking on her door any time soon.

Rakhi Sawant: Time was when Rakhi would have been top of this list. That she occupies fourth place is a testament to Twitter and the perils of taking public baths. Nevertheless, Rakhi is the one who started the trend of grabbing headlines by means of controversy and outrageous statements. Loud and unabashed, she's the girl who speaks her mind and for whom there's no such thing as bad press. Way back in 2008, Rakhi began her career as drama queen by crying foul when singer Mika kissed her at her birthday. Since then Rakhi has been offering cheap thrills, be it her non-wedding in the reality show Rakhi Ka Swayamvar or blaming Aamir Khan for stealing the concept of her show Rakhi Ka Insaaf and using it for Satyamev Jayate.

Veena Malik: After Bigg Boss there was no dearth of attention for this Pakistani model. First it was her purported romance with fellow contestant Ashmit Patel. Then a controversial nude shoot for FHM magazine which landed her in hot water in Pakistan, prompting her to accuse the magazine of digitally manipulating the picture. The actress made her Bollywood debut in the obscure Daal Mein Kuch Kaala Hai that was notable only for her scantily-clad posters. She has now signed up to play Silk Smitha in the Kannada version of The Dirty Picture.

Payal Rohatgi: B-grade actress Payal is a veteran of films named Tauba Tauba, Mazaa Mazaa and Men Not Allowed. If you haven't seen her in her underwear in any of these films, you might have spotted her on reality shows Bigg Boss, Fear Factor and Survivor India. Recently Payal made news when she did a steamy photoshoot with her live-in partner Sangram Singh.

Pooja Mishra: This model and VJ is another product of the Bigg Boss house. She was known for her constant bickering with her fellow inmates in the show. In April this year, Pooja Bedi filed a criminal case against her for defaming her on national television while Pooja Mishra claimed that her ex-boyfriend Timmy Narang had paid Pooja Bedi to harass her.

Shradha Sharma: Yet another Bigg Boss contestant, Shradha was soon forgotten when she was voted out of the show. But she took a shortcut to fame, to put it loosely, when she accused TV star Shweta Tiwari, who also happened to be the ex-wife of Shradha's boyfriend Raja Chaudhary, of “sleeping around” in a four-page interview to a magazine.

Shamita Sharma: Proving yet again that taking your clothes off on the flimsiest excuse will get you attention no matter what, South Indian actress Shamita Sharma stripped for a campaign by a social organization called Citizens Action Forum to protest against moral policing in Mumbai.

Nisha Yadav: And, of course, getting naked will help have Mumbai drains cleaned before monsoon arrives in the city. So that's just what South starlet Nisha did.