Former Miss World Aishwarya Rai has been voted as the sexiest actress in India by the 2004 Durex Global Sex Survey.

Almost one in five (19.3 per cent) of respondents voted for Rai, who is currently riding high on her latest release Bride and Prejudice. Despite getting mixed response for her performance, Ash is fairly upbeat about the success of the film.

Shrugging the criticism about her zero chemistry with Martin Henderson the beauty queen says, "Our chemistry is in the dialogues; our characters are trying to come together, while on their defensive. We aren't supposed to be conventionally intimate."

But she saves her most vicious attack for the designers who were pulling her down as she was posing with Henderson at the premiere in London.

"I feel very sorry for Indian designers. It's sad they don't know anything about fashion overseas," she harrumphs.

She adds, "My clothes were designed by Giorgio Armani, the ultimate in chic elegance. For the Cannes Film Festival's opening, I wore Armani and we went through the same procedure. That's the way top designers work all over the world. But our learned designers in Mumbai had no clue. They really thought I walked into a store in London and picked up my clothes! "

"The funniest comment was from a Bollywood designer, Rocky S. He said I wore a blonde wig in London and didn't know how to carry them off. That's priceless. I've been media-monitored every single day, and always worn my hair straight and black. If a designer doesn't know how to identify blonde, that's really dangerous. I see no reason for this kind of viciousness. It's petty."

Pheww.. quite a hot talk from the hottest lady in India.

Hey Durex... how about adding the ‘Firey Beauty' category next year? Hmmm... but we all know who's gonna win this one; don't we?