London, Dec 13: For the second year in a row, Bollywood star Hrithik Roshan has emerged as the "sexiest Asian man in the world" in an online survey conducted by a London-based weekly.The 38-year-old actor pipped the likes of Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, John Abraham and Ranbir Kapoor to clinch the top spot."The star of 2012 hit 'Agneepath' beat off tough competition from around the world and won by an even bigger margin than last year as he received votes from all over the world from continents that included Asia, Europe, Africa and South America from fans of all ages and different cultures," the Eastern Eye Newspaper said in a release.Even though he was the hot favourite and led right from the beginning, the win came as a major surprise to Indian cinema's hottest pin up."I am extremely humbled at the decision of the public, also a little embarrassed as I just can't imagine myself as sexy! I'm actually someone who's just trying to get by with his battered, bruised and broken tools. So a big thank you to all for this dose of encouragement! Thank you Eastern Eye readers for this very sweet recognition," said Hrithik.He beat Pakistani singer-turned-actor Ali Zafar who was the surprise runner up. 'Dabangg' hero Salman Khan finished third and last year's runner up Shahid Kapoor came fourth.Bollywood newcomer Sidharth Malhotra was the highest new entry at fifth place and narrowly beat off popular TV star Kushal Tandon who was sixth.Shah Rukh joined the list at seventh place and was followed by John Abraham at eight and Ranbir at nine.Eastern Eye showbiz editor Asjad Nazir, who puts together the very popular list and is chairman of the judging panel, said despite having the best physique, those voting for Hrithik were impressed by a lot of his other qualities. "Although guys and girls from different age groups, cultures and countries pushed Hrithik to the top of the list they all pin-pointed different qualities that make him the sexiest man on the planet. Whilst some were impressed by his physique and good looks, others liked that he is humble, a devoted family man, father and hardworking individual."This not only makes Hrithik the perfect role model, but the dream man of women around the world and someone men are aspiring to be like. The mass global appeal means it will only be a matter of time before he becomes an even bigger international star," said Nazir.The list had a massive group of television stars that include Barun Sobti (10), Karan Tacker (11), Gurmeet Choudhary (22), Karan Singh Grover (24), Vivian D'Sena (27) and Ashish Kapoor (28).A record-breaking year in terms of voting resulted in the list trending across Twitter for a week in India, as well as introducing the highest ever number of newcomers."Just like the women's list the massive emergence of the television stars showed that they are catching up fast to the dominant Bollywood heroes and playing a much bigger part in the lives of people. That probably explains why so many film stars are using television to promote their movies. Such is their popularity that it is highly likely a TV star could top the list next year," said Nazir.The top 20 also included One Direction star Zayn Malik (12), newcomer Varun Dhawan (13), singer Jay Sean (14), actors Akshay Kumar (15), Emraan Hashmi (16) and Imran Khan (17), followed by Abhishek Bachchan, Saif Ali Khan and Pakistani singer Atif Aslam.
Updated on: December 13, 2012 14:48 IST
