Indian models who turned actresses

1. Bipasha Basu

This Bong babe's career took off when she won the Ford Supermodel Contest in 1999 at the young age of 17. She soon rose to the top in the field of modelling and became a leading supermodel of her time. Bipasha joined Bollywood with the movie 'Ajnabee' for which she won the Filmfare award for the Best Debut. Her successful transition from modelling to acting has been phenomenal, and many aspiring models/actresses look up to Bips...

2. Freida Pinto 

Freida Pinto has been living a dream after her appearance in the film 'Slumdog Millionaire'. Prior to acting in the film, Freida was an anchor in the show 'Full Circle' on Zee International Asia Pacific. She modelled for four years appearing on ramp shows and magazine covers. The credit for Freida's landing on the Hollywood scene, and being highly successful at it, entirely goes to her modelling career which brought her into focus as one of the most successful Indians in the West.  

3.Deepika Padukone 

With a successful modelling career and a Kingfisher Calendar photo-shoot to her credit, Deepika broke into Bollywood with the superhit 'Om Shanti Om'. Deepika, however, does not like being referred as a model-turned-actress because, according to her, she has not dropped modeling and would love to take it up again whenever she feels like. Well, irrespective of what the conclusion is, we all know that this young girl is already counted amongst some of the most successful actresses in the industry at the moment.  

4.Katrina Kaif 

Katrina Kaif started her modelling career, in London, at the age of 14. After a stint at the London Fashion Week, Katrina found her calling in Bollywood and went on to star in the disastrous film 'Boom'. After the movie bombed, Katrina stayed on in Mumbai and continued modelling while taking up acting classes and, also, lessons in Hindi. Today, she is one of the top actresses of the country with a box-office success ratio that others can only look at with envy.  

5.Anushka Sharma 

At the age of 15, she was at the Lakme Fashion Week, and had a dream debut opposite Shah Rukh Khan when she was 20. This Bengaluru based model finally made a mark in the industry with her last release 'Band Baaja Baraat', sweeping quite a number of awards for her act. She is one of the most promising new actresses of Bollywood today.  

6.Jacqueline Fernandez  

Miss Sri Lanka, Jacqueline Fernandez came over to Mumbai and embarked on a career in modeling and was instantly noticed by our Bollywood filmmakers. She debuted with Aladin in 2009 but wasn't really able to leave a strong impression. However, presently, she is the new buzz in B-town with Murder -2 on the treshold of hitting the screens. Having replaced drama and tantrum queen Mallika Sherawat, Jacqueline, now, has all attention on her and we think that she will justify the mileage that she has been getting.  

7.Mugdha Godse 

Mugdha was the semi-finalist in Femina Miss India 2004 and made her Bollywood debut in Madhur. Bhandarkar’s Fashion. She was appreciated a lot for her performance in 'Fashion'. She went on to star in another Madhur Bhandarkar film, 'Jail' which, however bombed. Hopefully Mugdha will bounce back and etch out as successful a career in Bollywood like she did as a model.  

8.Monikangana Dutta 

This Assamese beauty was discovered outside her Delhi college when she was 21. In a few years time she became a permanent fixture on the ramp and a Bollywood debut wasn't something she could turn away from, for too long. Moni made a very appreciated debut in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's film 'Guzaarish'. However, the biggest jewel in her crown is her being selected as one of the Angels of lingerie giant Victoria's Secret. She has gone to prove that nothing is really impossible for a mega successful Indian model for which, MensXP salutes her.