Zafar, who was pleasantly surprised by the win, said, “I am very flattered and never expected to be given this title. I still don’t know how I made it to this list, let alone top it. I saw a tweet frenzy right before the poll, which resulted in my trending worldwide on Twitter, so I had an idea about the volume of votes polled, I didn’t expect to top the list though! I would like to thank my fans who voted for me, from the bottom of my heart.”
Speaking to The Express Tribune, when asked how it felt to have trounced all his equally handsome competition, Zafar said, “I am a Hrithik fan too! Anyone would feel good having received the title, but beating anyone else to it is not the reason why I’m happy. It’s the fact that so many people made an effort to vote for me that has me smiling.”
Eastern Eye showbiz editor Asjad Nazir, who compiles the annual list and is chairman of the judging panel, said, “Such was the volume of votes received from different continents, that the star of hit film Chashme Baddoor and soon to be released comedy Total Siyapaa was trending worldwide on Twitter. This is something that has never happened before, and showed that Ali is inarguably the biggest global celebrity Pakistan has right now.”
Guess who else made it to the list? Everyone’s beloved, drool-worthy TV actor Fawad Afzal Khan of Humsafar fame! Fawad rose 18 places from last year to the 25th spot on this year’s list.
Other notable names in the list included Shahid Kapoor (4), Salman Khan (5), Ranbir Kapoor (6) and Shahrukh Khan (14).
So what did Ali’s wife Ayesha Fazli have to say about all of this? She laughed, and light-heartedly said, “Well, it’s not news for me at least, I am glad the world has finally acknowledged it too!”
