The crowning of Manushi Chhillar as Miss World has brought back the memories of 1994, when Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai hit the international scene with Miss World and Miss Universe in the same year. The beautiful ladies inspired a whole generation of young girls to pursue the Beauty Pageant scene seriously.
However, the saga of crowning Beauty Queens internationally dates back to 1951.The oldest such pageant is Miss World which began in that year. It was only in 1966 that an Asian could win the crown and it was Reita Faria, a medical student. She was offered films but declined and pursued her career as a doctor.
There are four major beauty pageants internationally, for women. These are Miss World, Miss Universe, Miss International and Miss Earth. In the country, too Miss India was being crowned since 1947. Barring a few years , the contest has been held regularly. Traditionally the Miss India Winner was sent to Miss Universe and the runner up was sent to Miss World. However, since 2013
a separate pageant Miss Diva has been held to send delegates to Miss Universe and the Miss India winner will represent India at Miss World annually. Miss Asia pageant started in 1965 and Indian contestants have won this challenge too, apart from the big two.
Many of these beautiful ladies have acted in Hindi films. it will be worthwhile to recount various Beauty Queens, who made a mark in Bollywood.
The Forties
Pramila ( Esther Victoria Abraham) was the 1947 Miss India who had a film career from 1935 to 1961.She was last seen, at the age of 89, in the Marathi film Thaang in 2006, just before her death. The song presented is from her film Basant ( 1942), which had, incidentally a nine - year old child artiste who grew up to become Madhubala, the uncrowned Beauty Queen of Hindi cinema !
Fleur Ezekiel was the 1959 winner of Miss India , who was the first one to represent the country in Miss Universe, but could not win. She also did not make hindi films her career.
The Sixties
The contestant representing India in Miss World 1965 was Persis Khambata. Though she was unplaced in the final title, she did win Miss Photogenic.She debuted in K.A.Abbas's Bambai Raat Ki Baahon Mein in 1967 and was featured in the title song. However, she earned fame in Hollywood as part of the crew in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, for which she went bald. She became one of the early artistes to cross over to Hollywood.
The SeventiesThe first ever Femina Miss India title-holder to win an international pageant was the 70s icon Zeenat Aman. She was crowned Femina Miss India Asia Pacific and went on to win Miss Asia Pacific 1970 held in Philippines. She had a resounding film career and was the style icon, a deviation form the usual "sati-savitri" image of hindi film heroine.
Interestingly, while the first Indian to win Miss World was Reita Faria in 1966, the first Indian to win Mister World was Rohit Khandelwal in 2016, a full 50 years later !
One doesn't know if Manushi Chhillar will become a heroine or not, but if she does, she has a stiff challenge to scale the heights which some of her predecessors have done.
However, the saga of crowning Beauty Queens internationally dates back to 1951.The oldest such pageant is Miss World which began in that year. It was only in 1966 that an Asian could win the crown and it was Reita Faria, a medical student. She was offered films but declined and pursued her career as a doctor.
There are four major beauty pageants internationally, for women. These are Miss World, Miss Universe, Miss International and Miss Earth. In the country, too Miss India was being crowned since 1947. Barring a few years , the contest has been held regularly. Traditionally the Miss India Winner was sent to Miss Universe and the runner up was sent to Miss World. However, since 2013
a separate pageant Miss Diva has been held to send delegates to Miss Universe and the Miss India winner will represent India at Miss World annually. Miss Asia pageant started in 1965 and Indian contestants have won this challenge too, apart from the big two.
Many of these beautiful ladies have acted in Hindi films. it will be worthwhile to recount various Beauty Queens, who made a mark in Bollywood.
The Forties
Pramila ( Esther Victoria Abraham) was the 1947 Miss India who had a film career from 1935 to 1961.She was last seen, at the age of 89, in the Marathi film Thaang in 2006, just before her death. The song presented is from her film Basant ( 1942), which had, incidentally a nine - year old child artiste who grew up to become Madhubala, the uncrowned Beauty Queen of Hindi cinema !
The Fifties
In 1952, two contests were held and the winners were Indrani Rehman and Nutan.
Indrani participated in Miss World , but could not win it. She devoted herself to dance and did not pursue a film career, Nutan excelled at acting and had a great track record and is known to be one of the most expressive actresses, ever. She won the maximum number of Filmfare awards. Her portrayal of complex characters is unmatched. This is a song from one of her early films Shabab.
Indrani participated in Miss World , but could not win it. She devoted herself to dance and did not pursue a film career, Nutan excelled at acting and had a great track record and is known to be one of the most expressive actresses, ever. She won the maximum number of Filmfare awards. Her portrayal of complex characters is unmatched. This is a song from one of her early films Shabab.
Then in 1953 Peace Kanwal was crowned Miss India , but India's challenge was withdrawn in Miss Universe that year.The very next year Leela Naidu won Miss India, but there was no participation in the international representation. Peace Kanwal acted with talat Mehmood in the film Dil-e-Nadaan , whose songs were very popular.
Fleur Ezekiel was the 1959 winner of Miss India , who was the first one to represent the country in Miss Universe, but could not win. She also did not make hindi films her career.
The Sixties
The contestant representing India in Miss World 1965 was Persis Khambata. Though she was unplaced in the final title, she did win Miss Photogenic.She debuted in K.A.Abbas's Bambai Raat Ki Baahon Mein in 1967 and was featured in the title song. However, she earned fame in Hollywood as part of the crew in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, for which she went bald. She became one of the early artistes to cross over to Hollywood.
The SeventiesThe first ever Femina Miss India title-holder to win an international pageant was the 70s icon Zeenat Aman. She was crowned Femina Miss India Asia Pacific and went on to win Miss Asia Pacific 1970 held in Philippines. She had a resounding film career and was the style icon, a deviation form the usual "sati-savitri" image of hindi film heroine.
The organisers of beauty contests are often accused of objectifying women. Probably that's why , they include in their schedule a segment where the participants answer a question to show that the whole thing is about "beauty with brains". it is difficult to understand how far that is acceptable to discerning audience, but this is the current trend.
Zeenat Aman proved that she had enough acumen to survive in Hindi films and get popular, acting with big banners for a long time.
There were other 70s winners, too appearing hindi films, but with far less success than Zeenat Aman. In 1971 Prema Narayan was Miss India and in 1978 Kalpana Iyer won the crown, both getting supporting roles in Hindi films, never to be considered the leading ladies.
Zeenat Aman proved that she had enough acumen to survive in Hindi films and get popular, acting with big banners for a long time.
There were other 70s winners, too appearing hindi films, but with far less success than Zeenat Aman. In 1971 Prema Narayan was Miss India and in 1978 Kalpana Iyer won the crown, both getting supporting roles in Hindi films, never to be considered the leading ladies.
The 1976 Miss India, Naina Balsavar did not compete in the Miss World pageant that year due to the presence of South African candidates , in line with the apartheid policy of the country. She acted in a film Raakh, some 13 years later.The runner up Nafisa Ali did act in the films but intermittently.
In 1979, Swaroop Sampat won the Miss India contest and was our representative in Miss Universe that year. She subsequently joined hindi films and also did TV serials such as Ye Jo Hai Zindagi on DD.
The Eighties
The 80s saw five Miss Indias taking up a film career. Sangeeta Bijlani , in 1980 and Sonu Walia in 1985 had a lukewarm popularity in films ( though she did a lot of films: 20 releases in 1991!) and were known more for off-screen activities. Sangeeta married Azharuddin ( the film-cricket nexus is another theme altogether !).
Sonu Walia won Filmfare Supporting Actress award, too but as a lead heroine , her chances were restricted. Sahila Chaddha , in 1983, was even less successful as an actress.
The 1981 runner up Meenakshi Seshadri, however, had a fairly successful tenure as a mainstream heroine. Her performances have been critically acclaimed, apart from being commercially successfully, too.
Sonu Walia won Filmfare Supporting Actress award, too but as a lead heroine , her chances were restricted. Sahila Chaddha , in 1983, was even less successful as an actress.
The 1981 runner up Meenakshi Seshadri, however, had a fairly successful tenure as a mainstream heroine. Her performances have been critically acclaimed, apart from being commercially successfully, too.
The beauty queen to have really hit the jackpot was Juhi Chawla, the Miss India Universe 1984. Though her debut film Sultanat was not remarkable, she made a comeback in the 90s with better roles and made hit pairs with all heroes of 90s. She graduated into supporting roles with ease and is considered an accomplished actress, apart from turning a producer with Shah Rukh Khan.
And so, we come to the Nineties, the happening era of Beauty Queens. Before the duo of Sen & Rai hit the headlines, we had Madhu Sapre ( 1992) and Namrata Shirodhkar ( 1993) being crowned Miss India , but had no international recognition. Both joined films and had short lived careers, since they were relying solely on the beauty queen charisma but lacking histrionics. Pooja Batra , the 1993 Miss India International also had a brief film career.
Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai were crowned Miss India and first runner up, respectively. That is why Sen went on to Miss Universe and Rai to Miss World. The double whammy of both Indians topping the contest inspired a lot of girls back home to follow the footsteps. Both entered films and Rai was the more popular one, also being chosen for the Pink Panther series in Hollywood.
The 90s continued to churn out Miss Worlds and Miss Universes who were Indians.
Diana Hayden won the Femina Miss India contest in 1997 and was crowned Miss World 1997.
In 1999, India had a double delight again, as Yukta Mookhey won Miss World and Gul Panag was in the top 10 of Miss Universe. Both joined Hindi films and were successful in varying degrees. While Mookhey debuted in Pyaasa ( 2002), Panag had Dhoop ( 2003) as her first film.
The new millennium saw more success for Indians in the beauty pageants. A triple triumph was in store !
Lara Dutta got the Miss Universe 2000 tiara becoming only the second woman from India to be crowned with the title. She has been the last one, too. At the same time Priyanka Chopra was the winner of the Miss World 2000 pageant and Diya Mirza won the Miss Asia -pacific. The only time a country had won all three in the same year was Australia in 1972. Priyanka has been a prolific performer, having acted and sung in films. She has also been part of international series Quantico.
In the last few years there have been fewer beauty queens taking up a film career. Those who took up the challenge found it difficult and had fewer films than earlier aspirants.
Gayatri Joshi, the 2000 Miss India International had a solitary Swades to her name.Miss India 2001 Celina Jaitely was the 4th Runner Up in Miss Universe that year. In 2003, Neha Dhupia was placed in top 10 in Miss Universe. Tanushree Dutta in 2004 was placed top 10 is Miss Universe and Sayali Bhagat, the same year was Miss India World, both getting into films. Puja Gupta, the Miss India in 2007 won Miss Universe that year and Esha Gupta was the Miss India International. Simran Kaur Mundi , the 2008 Miss India also got into films with Jo Hum Chaahein ( 2011).
Interestingly, while the first Indian to win Miss World was Reita Faria in 1966, the first Indian to win Mister World was Rohit Khandelwal in 2016, a full 50 years later !
One doesn't know if Manushi Chhillar will become a heroine or not, but if she does, she has a stiff challenge to scale the heights which some of her predecessors have done.
Leaving you with a song of Urvashi Rautela, the Miss India 2013, from the 2017 film Kaabil, which says it all:
सारा ज़माना , हसीनों का दीवाना !
सारा ज़माना , हसीनों का दीवाना !
3 comments:
as usual the complete reseach paper as i read --almost history is covered of miss world /miss universe and the heroines who took acting as career .
just by the way --
Yasmin Daji is an Indian doctor, model and beauty pageant titleholder. She was crowned Femina Miss India 1966. She represented India at Miss Universe 1966 ...
she was studying in christ church college when madhu and vinay were there ,her father daji sahab . used to come to 88/127prem nagar known to baaba. -
Great. I had included the name of Yasmin Daji earlier but since she did not go into films, edited it out.
Just an addition to this excellent and exhaustive blog. In 2000, there was one more triumph- The Mrs. World [ Gladrags ]was won by a Doctor from J J Hospital- Mumbai. Her name is Aditi Govitrikar
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