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The Most Famous

MODELS from India

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This page contains a list of the greatest Indian Models. The pantheon dataset contains 249 Models, 7 of which were born in India. This makes India the birth place of the 15th most number of Models behind Netherlands and Japan.

Top 7

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Indian Models of all time. This list of famous Indian Models is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

Photo of Reita Faria

1. Reita Faria (1943 - )

With an HPI of 42.35, Reita Faria is the most famous Indian Model.  Her biography has been translated into 25 different languages on wikipedia.

Reita Faria Powell (née Faria; born 23 August 1943) is an Indian physician, former model and the winner of Miss World 1966 pageant. She is the first Miss World winner to be qualified as a medical doctor.

Photo of Padma Lakshmi

2. Padma Lakshmi (1970 - )

With an HPI of 32.63, Padma Lakshmi is the 2nd most famous Indian Model.  Her biography has been translated into 26 different languages.

Padma Parvati Lakshmi (Tamil pronunciation: [ˈpɐd̪maː ˈlɐkʂmi]; born September 1, 1970) is an Indian-American author, model, activist, and television host. Born in India, Lakshmi immigrated to the United States as a child and was raised in California. She became a model before embarking on a career in television. Lakshmi hosted the cooking competition program Top Chef on Bravo continuously from 2006 to 2023. For her work, she received a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Reality Host in 2009 and 2020 through 2022. She is also the creator, host, and executive producer of the docuseries Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi, which premiered in June 2020 on Hulu. The series covers the food and culture of immigrant and indigenous communities across America. She has written five books: two cookbooks, Easy Exotic and Tangy, Tart, Hot & Sweet; an encyclopedia, The Encyclopedia of Spices & Herbs: An Essential Guide to the Flavors of the World; a memoir, Love, Loss, and What We Ate; and a children's book, Tomatoes for Neela illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal. In 2023, she was listed among Time's 100 most influential people in the world.

Photo of Namrata Shirodkar

3. Namrata Shirodkar (1972 - )

With an HPI of 27.42, Namrata Shirodkar is the 3rd most famous Indian Model.  Her biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Namrata Shirodkar (born 22 January 1972) is an Indian actress, model, producer and beauty pageant titleholder. She primarily known for her work in Hindi films. She won the Femina Miss India title in 1993. She is best known for her works in films such as the Kachche Dhaage (1999), Ezhupunna Tharakan (1999), Vaastav: The Reality (1999) and Pukar (2000), for which she was nominated for the IIFA Best Supporting Actress Award, Astitva (2000), Dil Vil Pyar Vyar (2002), LOC Kargil (2003), and the crossover cinema Bride and Prejudice (2004), which was particularly successful in the UK. She married Telugu actor Mahesh Babu in 2005.

Photo of Rakhi Sawant

4. Rakhi Sawant (1978 - )

With an HPI of 25.99, Rakhi Sawant is the 4th most famous Indian Model.  Her biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Rakhi Sawant (also known as Fatima Durrani; born Neeru Bheda; 25 November 1978) is an Indian dancer, model, actress and television talk show host, who has appeared in many Hindi and a few Kannada, Marathi, Odia, Telugu and Tamil films. She was a contestant on the first season of the Indian reality television series Bigg Boss 1 (2006) and a challenger and finalist in Bigg Boss 14 (2020). She was the prospective bride in Season 1 of the Swayamvar TV series. Sawant has established herself as a sex symbol in Bollywood.Sawant launched her own political party, headed by Jai Shah, called the Rashtriya Aam Party, to contest the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections. However, after the election, she joined Republican Party of India (A).

Photo of Namitha

5. Namitha (1981 - )

With an HPI of 22.75, Namitha is the 5th most famous Indian Model.  Her biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Namitha Vankawala is an Indian actress, model and politician who predominantly works in Tamil and Telugu cinema along with a few films in Kannada and Malayalam. She serves as a state executive member of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) in Tamil Nadu.

Photo of Nicole Faria

6. Nicole Faria (1991 - )

With an HPI of 17.68, Nicole Faria is the 6th most famous Indian Model.  Her biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Nicole Estelle Faria (born 9 February 1990) is an Indian actress, model and the winner of the Miss Earth 2010 pageant. She is the brand ambassador for various brands including Clean & Clear and Swiss luxury wristwatches, Frédérique Constant. She was featured on international fashion and lifestyle magazine covers, like Elle, Vogue, Cosmopolitan, JFW, Man's World Magazine and appeared on the Kingfisher Calendar in 2014. She has made significant contribution in spreading awareness about the detrimental effect of pollution on Rabindra Sarobar Lakes in Kolkata, West Bengal. In January 2018, Nicole received an award from the President of India, Ram Nath Kovind for being the first Indian woman to win the title of Miss Earth 2010. She was one of 112 women honoured as First Ladies of the country for their pioneering achievements after an extensive research process made by the Ministry of Women and Child Development of India.

Photo of Tulip Joshi

7. Tulip Joshi (1979 - )

With an HPI of 15.42, Tulip Joshi is the 7th most famous Indian Model.  Her biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Tulip Joshi is a former Indian actress and a businesswoman. She has appeared in Hindi, Kannada, Punjabi, Malayalam and Telugu films.

Pantheon has 7 people classified as models born between 1943 and 1991. Of these 7, 7 (100.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living models include Reita Faria, Padma Lakshmi, and Namrata Shirodkar. As of April 2022, 2 new models have been added to Pantheon including Namitha and Tulip Joshi.

Living Models

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Newly Added Models (2022)

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