Chastity Bono, civil rights advocate, journalist, author, musician, and the daughter of Cher and Sonny Bono, is in the early stages of changing her gender.

She will be transitioning from female to male, having already started the sex change process earlier this year, shortly after celebrating her 40th birthday.

Known to family and friends as Chaz, Chastity Bono came out as a lesbian two decades ago. Now she's undergoing bold, gender reassignment treatment.

The star's publicist, Howard Bragman, confirmed the news and issued the following statement, already referring to Chastity Bono with a different pronoun:

"Yes, it's true. Chaz, after many years of consideration, has made the courageous decision to honor his true identity. He is proud of his decision and grateful for the support and respect that has already been shown by his loved ones."

"It is Chaz's hope that his choice to transition will open the hearts and minds of the public regarding this issue, just as his 'coming out' did nearly 20 years ago."

"We ask that the media respect Chaz's privacy during this long process as he will not be doing any interviews at this time."

Bragman declined to answer specific questions about the sex change process, which typically involves hormone therapy, and sometimes - but not always - surgery.

Here's wishing Chaz nothing the best in this endeavor.

Most people in America are plenty familiar with Hollywood and the various sexy actresses that appear in the movies it produces. Unfortunately, most Americans are not familiar with Bollywood, India’s version of Hollywood and a source of many of the world’s beauties. Let’s try and rectify that a bit by meeting some of the hottest women Bollywood has to offer.

Brinda Parekh

If you’re not familiar, Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Mumbai-based Hindi-language film industry in India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema. There is a substantial amount of India’s cinema that is not included in the term Bollywood. That means that a number of great looking women were not eligible for this list. For one example, look to your left at Brinda Parekh. However, Bollywood is the largest part of the Indian film industry and one of the largest in the world.

The women of Bollywood are generally from India, although there are exceptions. Remember this is a country of over a billion people, so there’s plenty of women to choose from. For reference, India is almost quadruple the population of the United States. Many of the women on this list got their start in models and beauty pageants. There’s a few Miss Indias and at least one Miss World and one Miss Universe in these rankings. In fact, India has had an amazing run of success in international pageants, reflecting the great beauty of their women.

Simran Kaur Mundi

If you’re looking for future faces of Bollywood, one might start with current Miss India Parvathy Omanakuttan. You can check out pictures of her in our Miss World 2008 post. Or maybe you’ll simply enjoy a picture of the Miss India runner-up, Simran Kaur Mundi. I’ve posted one to the right for your viewing pleasure. The future prospects look good.

Of note is that there has been a growing presence of Indian English in Bollywood films. It is not uncommon to see films that feature dialogue with English words and phrases, even whole sentences. There are also a growing number of films made entirely in English. Maybe we will soon see a blending of the two hemispheres with more of these women in films that can easily be seen in the United States.

Until that time, however, you can enjoy these rankings and get to know some women you might not yet know of:

30. Minissha Lamba

Lamba’s initial ambition was to become a journalist, but while studying she pursued modeling as a hobby and it stuck. She soon became a top model in the industry, and proceeded to slide over into movies in 2005 where she now spends most of her time.

Jha is touted as the next big thing to hit Bollywood. She’s done some films in the South, but is currently signed on to a number of major Bollywood projects. The former air hostess and model fits the definition of ‘dusky beauty’ and should be making movies for years to come.

28. Nisha Kothari

Also known as Amoha, Kothari is known mainly for her daring costumes and sexy item songs that have been popular. Only 25, she looks to have some of her best work in front of her.

As a model, Rohtagi worked for big name brands, but gained attention after appearing in a television ad for Cadbury’s Temptations Chocolates. This helped her career in Bollywood take off, where she first appeared in a Hindi remake of the Hollywood teen flick American Pie. And odd production for a generally conservative country. She’s moved up to more respected fare, and remains a sizzling on-screen presence in whatever film she’s in.

26. Mona “Sherlyn” Chopra

Born Sherlyn Chopra, but often credited as Mona Chopra, the sex bomb entered the Bollywood industry with some C-grade movies. She has tried many different ways to gain publicity, often appearing in extremely hot poses, photo shoots and movie scenes.