Aishwarya Rai, feels a Bollywood actor, is the sexiest woman in the film industry. It's Akshaye Khanna, the 'Taal' co-star of the former Miss World.

For the uninitiated, the Aish-Akkshaye duo did two films as a romantic pair: 'Aa Ab Laut Chalein' and 'Taal'. And they incidentally released in the same year: 1999. Unlike the former, the latter was a blockbuster, thanks to AR Rahman`s mesmerizing melodies. Khanna conceded about his penchant for staring at Rai (who was 26 when they shot together) while promoting his latest film 'Ittefaq' on a popular television reality show recently.

Karan Johar, the producer of 'Ittefaq' and also the show's host, asked Akshaye as to who was the 'sexiest woman in the industry` according to him. Pat came the reply from Akshaye, who said, "Aishwarya Rai". He also added that he could hardly take his eyes off her during the shoot of both their films and even after they met occasionally.

"As a celebrity, she might have been used to people staring at her; however, I found it embarrassing that I couldn't take my eyes off her; she was simply fantabulous!" he said.