The verdict is out. Bollywood trade pundits have announced that Akshay Kumar, Saif Ali Khan, and Abhishek Bachchan, in that order, are the top three Bollywood heroes of the year gone by, and Rani Mukherjee, Bipasha, Priety Zinta and Priyanka Chopra have been the top heroines of the year.

In the list of Bollywood heroes, the fourth and fifth places have gone to Amitabh Bachchan and John Abraham respectively. Akshay's films Waqt, Bewafaa, Dosti and Garam Masala have been among the Top 10 in the UK Charts.

In the UK , Akshay's films pegged a total of £ 3 million as compared to Shahrukh Khan £542000, Aamir Khan £627000, Salman Khan £1.5 Million and Saif Ali Khan £1.25 Million.

Akshay's new look, coupled with his list of hits over the past year, has given such a strong fillip to his career that he even bagged a Rs 10-crore contract with a modeling agency. And with his excellent performance in Family, it seems as if Akshay is set to take his success of 2005 to greater heights in the new year.