These sexy sirens ditched fashion for films

They all started out on the catwalk, but most of these hotties wanted to make a move to the movie business!

Let's face it -- modelling as a career has a verrry short shelf life.

And it doesn't pay half as well as the movies.

Plus the glamour, the fame, the endorsements, the freebies -- no wonder most good-looking young women who make it to the ramp are usually eyeing the silver screen from afar!

Here, we take a look at some of the best-known names from both fashion and films who have moved from one profession to another -- and a few of them switched back again!

Monikangana Dutta

Her debut movie Guzaarish, directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, hits theatres tomorrow. But this Assamese looker is already rumoured to be throwing around a diva-like attitude -- and maybe it's not completely unwarranted.

Moni was discovered outside of her Delhi college at the ag of 21 and in a year's time, she emerged as one of the top five winners of the French Metropolitan agency's 2003 Top Model Contest in Ecuador and landed a modelling contract in Paris. Since then, she's been a permanent fixture on the Indian ramp and today, at 27, Moni is already the stuff of legends in the modelling business -- she has lately closed a deal as the first Indian to represent lingerie giant Victoria's Secret as one of its Angels.

Will her movie career meet with the same success as her fashion foray? We'll know soon enough!

Most likely Moni is hoping to follow in the footsteps of one of B-Town's leading young actresses, Deepika Padukone.

Dippy pursued ramp modelling alongside college and soon she was bagging lucrative endorsement deals. She was honoured with the title of 'Model of the Year' at the fifth annual Kingfisher Fashion Awards in 2005 and the following year, sizzled in a bikini for the prestigious Kingfisher Calendar.

An appearance in Himmesh Reshammiya's Naam Hai Tera music video would prove to change her life -- it brought her to the notice of Farah Khan, who cast her opposite SRK in the blockbuster Om Shanti Om. And that was it -- Deepika Padukone's reputation as one of the hottest young actresses on the block was sealed.

With a mention of Deepika, arch-rival Katrina can never be far behind.

In fact, her fame far eclipses Dippy's -- she's one of the most sought-after Indian beauties in the business today.

Born to a British mother and Kashmiri father, Kat embarked upon a modelling career in London at the age of 14. A stint at London Fashion Week saw her cross paths with filmmaker Kaizad Gustad, who cast her in the box office disaster Boom.

While Boom tanked, Katrina moved to Mumbai and continued to pursue modelling and acting, even learning Hindi from scratch in the bargain. Hard work and perseverance paid off and now, when she's seen on the ramp, it's only as the star showstopper of the evening, not a model!

This Bong beauty won the Ford's Godrej Cinthol Supermodel contest in 1996 at the age of 17, after participating upon the advice of ex-supermodel Mehr Jesia.

Following a successful stint of modelling in New York, Bipasha returned to India and made her debut in Bollywood with the movie Ajnabee, for which she won the Filmfare Best Female Debut Award.

Since then, she's gone on to create a huge fan following and even her presence in a sizzling item number can weigh in on the success of a movie.

She won the 2002 Gladrags Mega Model Hunt and reached the semi-final round of the 2004 Femina Miss India pageant, but up until two years ago Mugdha was just another face on the Indian catwalk.

All that changed with her acting debut in Madhur Bhandarkar's movie Fashion, in which she played a model struggling to make it big in the Indian industry. She carried it off well and like Bipasha before her, won the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut in 2008.

Although none of her successive releases has met with commercial success, Mugdha has managed to bag several more movie roles and only time will tell whether any will click as well as Fashion.

The lovely Lisa is of Indian origin but has spent most of her life abroad. It was only two years ago that the 24-year-old made her modelling debut in Mumbai and has since made a name for herself in fashion, becoming the face of cosmetics giant Lakme and bagging prestigious magazine covers.

It was veteran actor Anil Kapoor who noticed her in a coffee shop and got in touch with her agency for his daughters' home production Aisha. It released earlier this year with Lisa in a supporting role and while she continues to model, it may be that she makes a permanent switch to movies soon.

This 22-year-old made her modelling debut at the Lakme Fashion Week in 2007, at the age of 19. Anushka then forged a successful career in fashion, landing plum assignments and even stating that she didn't want to get into acting.

That is, however, until she was offered a lead role opposite King Khan in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi in the year 2008. The movie did well at the box office and it looked like the young actress was well on her way to stardom, but unfortunately, none of her releases post RNBDJ has managed to light up the box office.

It's not just the younger crop of models who have set their sights on the big screen. They took their cue from some very successful actresses of the previous decade, like Sonali Bendre.

Sonali was into fashion when she won the Star Dust Talent Search for a fresh young face and came to Mumbai to train as an actress in the early '90s.

After her debut in Aag, opposite Govinda, she struggled with insignificant films until a breakthrough with a string of box office hits later in the decade. She went on to act opposite all the Khans -- SRK, Salman, Aamir and Saif -- something few actresses can boast of even today, before stepping back from the limelight to marry and embrace motherhood.

The '90s also saw the meteoric rise of Madhu Sapre in the fashion world.

This Maharashtrian mulgi made headlines with her second runner-up position in the 1992 Miss World pageant and her controversial print ad for Tuff Shoes in 1995, posing in the nude with then-boyfriend Milind Soman.

Madhu starred alongside Katrina in Boom, but unlike the latter, her acting career never did take off. She has now retired from modelling and post her marriage to an Italian, shuttles regularly between Italy and India.

Like Madhu Sapre, Jesse has made a big impact in fashion but her acting career is yet to go places.

Not many know that she was in the running for the Miss India title alongside Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai in 1994 and made it to the finals. Post that, she became one of India's leading catwalk queens and is still going strong as a model at the age of 35.

However, except for bit roles in movies like Fashion (2008) and Gulaal (2009), Jesse has not really established herself as an actress.

At 34, Nethra also continues to dominate the country's fashion scene.

Originally from Gujarat, she won the Look of the Year contest conducted by Femina Magazine in 1997 and for awhile, it looked like she was going to make it big in Bollywood, especially when she won the Best Female Newcomer Award at the Star Screen Awards in 2000 for her performance in the movie Thakshak.

Despite seven films in the following years, however, she is still known best for her presence on the ramp.

Dipannita is also originally from Assam.

The sultry siren made it to the top five finalists of the Miss India 1998 pageant and also won the Miss Photogenic title. Since then, she has joined the ranks of Jesse and Nethra to dominate the fashion scene well into her 30s.

Unfortunately, Dipannita's acting career has never heated up -- despite a couple of television shows and a handful of movie roles, she is still best known as a model.

She beat out Madhu Sapre to bag the title of Femina Look of the Year in 1994 and also took on the title of Elite Look of the Year.

At 36, Sheetal was one of the seniormost models of the Indian industry until she retired from the ramp earlier this year and has worked her charm for big names like Armani, Fendi and Maybelline.

Aside from a role in the forgettable Kabhi Bhi Kahin Bhi (2008), she has never graced the big screen and now intends to pursue photography.

Rahul Roy's wife was once one of the biggest names on the Indian fashion scene.

Taking up modelling while still in college, she blazed a trail of successful ad campaigns, music videos and endorsements, alongside stints as a veejay and even an item number in the 2001 movie Asoka.

Since her marriage to the actor, however, she has settled into domestic bliss and no longer craves a life in front of the cameras.