Monikangana DuttaWe started this list with one of our favourites, so it seems apt that we end it with another one.
The Assamese model Monikangana Dutta was discovered at 21 while she was out with her friends and though she remained sceptical, she was encouraged by the idea of being groomed by Noyonika Chatterjee.
After performing superbly at the French Metropolitan agency's 2003 Top Model Contest in Ecuador, Dutta bagged herself a modelling deal in Paris where she walked for several top designers including Vivienne Westwood, Christian Dior, Leonard and Chloe among others.
In India, she was featured on the cover of the inaugural edition of Vogue and walked the runway at fashion weeks in Mumbai.
After her brief flirtation with Bollywood -- she appeared in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Guzaarish -- Monikangana Dutta has all but disappeared from the Indian fashion circuit, making her all the more enigmatic!
Image: Monikangana Dutta
Photographs: Manish Sharma