Popular singer and former One Direction band member Zayn Malik has topped the '50 Sexiest Asian Men' list, compiled by UK based Eastern Eye newspaper. Zayn rose up from ninth position last year and came on top. At 22, he also became the youngest ever to top the list.
Last year's winner, Bollywood actor Hrithik Roshan, came in second with Pakistani singer and actor Ali Zafar holding onto the third position.
Eastern Eye's Entertainment Editor Asjad Nazir said Zayn got more global attention than any other Asian star in 2015. `Leaving One Direction did no damage at all to Zayn. From social networking sites to global media everyone around the world was talking about Zayn this year. Whether it was his haircuts, love life, solo career or life after One Direction, he had the kind of mass interest globally never seen before for an Asian celebrity. He has also established arguably the most multi-cultural fan base in the world and this was illustrated by the diversity of those who voted in force for him from around the world. And he did all this without an official solo single release. The prospect of what he can achieve when his official debut single releases is mind-blowing,` said Asjad.
Popular Indian television stars Barun Sobti (4) and Vivian Dsena (5) complete the top five. Others in the top 10 are Fawad Khan (6), Salman Khan (7), Shahid Kapoor (8), Shah Rukh Khan (9) and Gurmeet Choudhary (10).
The highest placed newcomer in this year's list is 24-year-old Indian television actor Parth Samthaan (11).
Just like the 50 Sexiest Asian Women list, television stars dominated in a big way.
Other small screen stars in the list include Kushal Tandon (13), Gautam Rode (16), Kunwar Amar (17), Rithvik Dhanjani (20), Harshad Arora (23), Shakti Arora (25), Mohit Sehgal (28), Shaheer Sheikh (31), Shabir Ahluwalia (35), Ravi Dubey (40) and Gautam Gulati (43).
`There are 29 stars in the list of 50 Sexiest Asian Men for 2015, who are either working in television or made a mark on the small screen before switching to cinema. This not only demonstrates the dominance of TV in the world we live in today, but also shows changing taste of audiences who are choosing to stay at home. Expect more small screen stars to be signed for movies in the coming years and more A-list movie stars to take on TV projects,` said Asjad.
Ali Zafar (3) remained the highest placed Pakistani for the ninth year in a row and Hrithik Roshan (2) remained the highest placed Indian for the fifth year in succession. Virat Kohli (30) is the only sportsman to make the list and 50-year-old actor Shah Rukh Khan (9) is the oldest in the 2015 countdown.
Others in the 2015 list include Ranbir Kapoor (12), Varun Dhawan (15), Ashish Sharma (18), Ranveer Singh (22), Akshay Kumar (24), Rana Daggubati (29), singer Arjun (36), Atif Aslam (39) and Emraan Hashmi (46).
