Aishwarya Rai has frequently been called the most beautiful woman in the world. Similarly, early reviews of "The Pink Panther 2" suggest that the sequel to the quickly-forgotten, Steve Martin-starring remake of the popular Peter Sellers vehicle is the greatest film ever made.

Actually, that second statement isn't strictly true. But having carefully studied various images of Ms. Rai, we're happy to announce that the first piece of hyperbole has some root in reality. Indeed, the 35-year-old Indian actress and model has already been officially crowned the planet's hottest lady once before, having won the Miss World crowd in 1994.

That this is (possibly?) the first time you're hearing about the glamorous Mangolore-born star probably has something to do with the fact that her extensive film career has been primarily Bollywood-based. In fact, as far as we can tell, "PP2" is her first U.S. film. Better late than never, as our gallery attests.