Moving beyond geographies, states and strata, the growing world of beauty queens

When Sini Shetty from Karnataka was announced the winner of Femina Miss India World 2022 at the grand finale of VLCC Femina Miss India, Tweeteraties were joyous and celebrated her big win with hashtags like #SiniShetty and #OurNewQueen. The 21-year-old girl who hails from the same state as the previous winners including Lara Dutta, Sarah Jane Dias, Sandhya Chib, Nafisa Joseph, Rekha Hande, and Lymaraina D’ Souza, has certainly proved that beauty and talent are no longer restricted to cities known for giving chances and exposure like Delhi, and Mumbai.

Even the other two winners at the competition- the first runner-up Rubal Shekhawat from Rajasthan and second runner-up Shinata Chauhan from Uttar Pradesh- proved how Miss India as a competition is going beyond metropolitan cities and becoming a catalyst for change and inspiring young girls from around India, even from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities to dream big and aspire to make a difference.

In the words of Natasha Grover, Brand & Operations Head of Miss India Organization, Femina Miss India celebrates diversity, and year after year, it has been successful in tapping talents from across the states in India. "Our Miss India 2022 winner and runners-up have proven that regions and boundaries are neither an obstacle nor a factor for judgment. It's truly what's within us that counts,” she told Firstpost.

For her, these girls had the self-belief, honesty, and personality that carried them forward and helped them win prestigious positions. In the past, Mangalore-born Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was given the title of the ‘most successful Miss World' by the pageant’s organizers in 2021 as a celebration of 27 years of her win. Even Priyanka Chopra took part in the beauty contest from Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, and emerged as the runner-up – Femina Miss India World 2000.

In Priyanka Chopra: The Incredible Story of a Global Bollywood Star, Pradeep Guha, one of the mentors of the contestants for that year’s contest, remembers how one of the jury members was uncertain about Priyanka but later she went on to win the hearts with the Miss World title. Manushi Chhillar, the winner of the Miss World 2017 pageant, represented her state of Haryana at the Femina Miss India 2017 pageant, which she won, and went on to become the sixth representative from India to be crowned Miss World. She recently made her acting debut with the role of Sanyogita in the historical drama Samrat Prithviraj.

Not to miss Miss Universe 2021 Harnaaz Sandhu, who was born in the village of Kohali in Gurdaspur district, Punjab. Sandhu had been previously crowned Miss Diva Universe 2021 and is the third entrant from India to win Miss Universe. She has also been crowned Femina Miss India Punjab in 2019 and placed as a semifinalist at Femina Miss India 2019. If you remember, VLCC Femina Miss India 2020 Manya Singh and how her story of being raised in the small town of Hata in Uttar Pradesh, to becoming a beauty queen has made many emotional. The daughter of an autorickshaw driver not only won the coveted crown but conquered hearts with her simplicity, dedication, and story have inspired millions of people across India.

Actor Neha Dhupia, who was crowned Femina Miss India in July 2002 and has been mentoring the participants for the last 6 years, says that it really isn’t much of a demarcation whether you are coming from Delhi, Mumbai, or non-metropolitan cities. However, she does feel that it’s an interesting mix to see talents from different states representing. “The world has opened up so much and at the same time it’s the size of a dot,” she told Firstpost and added how social media has opened doors for such talents. “They are experienced, they are knowledgeable, they know how to dress and they know how to talk, they are really well-read, well educated and well-informed girls from everywhere, and what’s great now is that they own their individuality.”

Though Neha says that girls who come from non-metropolitan cities are slightly more ethnic in their looks with a certain sense of freshness but as a mentor, she never looks at the state that they are representing. “At the end of the day you are looking for Miss India who is going to represent the country at the Miss World and more international beauty pageants so what we are looking for is an international winner and that girl could be from any part of the country as long as she owns her individuality, own her magic and stands out and stands up for herself,” she said.

Inclusivity is another reason why girls in smaller towns are making noise in beauty pageants. “Society has become inclusive, and also the pageant industry has become inclusive so all these are the reasons why change is happening,” said Sini. Recalling the history, we all remember how the world got their goosebumps moments in 1994  when Sushmita Sen won the Miss Universe and Aishwarya Rai became Miss World. This was the time when TRP of the beauty pageants was at its peak. The history was repeated once again in 2000 when all three Miss India winners won their respective international pageants - Lara Dutta (Miss Universe), Priyanka Chopra (Miss World), and Dia Mirza (Miss Asia Pacific).  Since that peak, however, there's been a sharp drop in how girls have fared on the international stage and hence lost in interest amongst the viewers.

However, the interest of viewers in these beauty pageants has once again increased after the win of Manushi and Harnaaz and now with so many beautiful stories coming from different parts of India in the form of the participating girls, the dream of 'Banungi mein Miss India' is not distant anymore for many of them.

Nivedita Sharma's work experience includes covering fashion weeks in Milan, Pakistan, Vancouver, Hong Kong, Dubai, and award functions like IIFA, and TOIFA. 

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