International women's day: 9 Actresses Who Got India On The World Map

This list would be an abomination if it didn't have Ash. The bombshell is a former Miss World who went to act in a lot of films. She has graced the Cannes Film Festival and put India on the global radar in 2000's. She even went to act in the Hollywood flick 'Pink Panther 2'. Time and again, the western film world saw her as the de facto representative of Bollywood when she was in her prime.

Deepika has become a global icon real fast. Maybe her infectious smile boosted her chances, for she bagged the chance to act next to Fast & Furious big shot Vin Diesel in the upcoming flick 'xXx: Return of Xander Cage'. The actress's success propelled her to the ninth position of the 2015's Forbes Celebrity 100.

Dia Mirza is a former Miss Asia Pacific. Although she had failed to rise to the star heroine's status, she has extensively worked with the global organisations such as PETA, Panasonic and others. She has been recipient of Women's Achievement Award, Green Globe Honor for Extraordinary Work and many other international honours for her public work.

The former Miss India and Miss World is more of an international icon than a Bollywood actress. The actress is diversified herself into various arenas such as personality development and acting in South African Cinema. She is currently engaged with her work in an international NGO.

Kalki heavily experiments with her acting skills. Her unusual choices had landed her different roles which were mostly appreciated by international critics such as Roger Ebert. Also, her acclaimed performance in 'Margarita with a Straw' won her an international award & nominations. Off-screen, she has vociferously fought for the gender equality and battled for women's freedom against patriarchy.

Katrina is one of the most googled celebs and she has always managed to stay in the news. She has been declared, by a prominent UK magazine, as the Asia's sexiest woman four times. She was also declared as 'World's Sexiest Woman' by leading international magazine FHM. Her beauty inspired toy manufacturer Mattel to release Barbie dolls which were modeled after her. Lastly, she is one of the few actresses who has a wax statue in Madame Tussauds.

Everyone knows that Lara Dutta was a former Miss Universe.She was also appointed as United Nations Goodwill Ambassador. She did her job dutifully for a year. What is more is that she is the last Indian to win the Miss Universe title to this date.

Parveen Babi was the first Bollywood star who was featured on the international Time magazine. It is a rare honour for not many Indian actresses were featured by the magazine during the period where there wasn't much of recognition bestowed upon Indian Cinema. Plus, making it to the cover page of Time is still deemed as an achievement.

Priyanka might be doing her film career diversification out of selfishness but her skyrocketing career is partly boosting India's image. Although she might be overtaken by Deepika in the Forbes Celebrity 100, but she is certainly on par with Padukone in Hollywood front as she is famous internationally. She has gotten herself a lead role in a TV series and is starring in the 'Baywatch' movie as a villain.