The year was 1996, five years after liberalisation. The world was making its way to India, and so was Miss World. The international beauty pageant was brought to then Bangalore by Amitabh Bachchan’s ABCL. It did not go well. As The New York Times reported, “Strange bedfellows found themselves entwined in their mutual outrage―feminists who found such contests degrading to women and Hindu nationalists who saw the show as an invasion of western degeneracy”. Women’s groups held a mock pageant at a public park, awarding titles such as Miss Poverty and Miss Homeless. The protests became so severe that the swimsuit competition had to be moved to the Seychelles.
Twenty-seven years later, the Miss World pageant is once again being hosted by India this year. “It was not difficult to choose India,” says Julia Morley, chairman and CEO of the Miss World organisation. “It is a joy and thrill to be here.”
It was in 1966 that India got its first Miss World. Reita Faria went to London with a suitcase full of borrowed clothes and makeup. For the swimsuit section, she had borrowed a suit from model Persis Khambatta. But the suit did not fit her well, and so she spent the ￡3 she had brought with her to purchase a new suit and a pair of heels, which she never wore again. Since then, India has had five Miss Worlds―Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Diana Hayden, Yukta Mookhey, Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Manushi Chhillar. If the current Miss India, Sini Shetty, wins the Miss World title, India would have the maximum number of Miss Worlds. Shetty says she does not find it a burden to compete in her home country. She would love her fellow contestants to explore India and its culture. “Our values are encapsulated by ‘atithi devo bhava’, which means the guest is equal to God,” says Shetty. “Having a background in hospitality, I think I will do a decent job. I know that I am representing 1.4 billion people.”
However, Shetty will not find her task easy. She has to compete with winners from 130 countries for the title. It is like working a full-time job, but all the work is done on yourself, says Liza Varma, former Miss India, show director and groomer of Miss India participants. “Your day starts at 6am and goes on till 11pm, and is packed with two to three hours of workout, yoga, controlled meals and meetings.”
Varma says that the moment Chhillar walked into her home in 2016, she knew that the young model was going to win the crown for India. For nearly six months, Varma groomed her on her body language, catwalk, confidence, pose and poise. “She had real dedication and was committed to working hard,” she says. Chhillar’s dieticians have earlier shared that she would begin the day with warm water, never skip breakfast, avoid sugar and eat in small quantities. From diet to grooming to personality development to even skin and dental health, participants are prepared to be the best version of themselves, says Varma.
But besides all this, the most important asset is that X-factor within oneself, says Dr Aditi Govitrikar, actor, physician and model who became the first Indian woman to win the Mrs World title in 2001. On beauty pageants being called regressive, she says, “There has always been this argument, but it is also true that beautiful women have a place in society, and that includes their inner beauty. In the field I have chosen, I get paid for how I look. Brands rope in models to promote their products. Moreover, these women get a platform to support a cause and spread a message. Having said that, even though Miss World and Miss Universe have their own criteria, many beauty pageants have now tweaked their rules to become more inclusive, where height and body measurements do not matter.”
When she won Mrs World, she was criticised for competing after marriage. Your career is over, people told her. “But I had to change the notion that a woman’s life was over after marriage,” she says. “Today [things have changed so much that] when I judge such pageants, women tell me they want even their daughters-in-law to participate.”
The Miss World pageant, founded in 1951, is the longest-running international beauty contest. It started with Julia’s husband, Eric―who was the publicity director of an entertainment company―getting the idea to include an international bikini contest in the Festival of Britain. Due to protests from countries like Ireland and Spain, the bikini was changed to a one-piece bathing suit, but it did not impact the contest’s growing popularity. The rise of TV spurred it further, and by 1959, the BBC had begun broadcasting it.
Since the beginning, 70 Miss Worlds have paraded their beauty, talents and intelligence on the world stage. The current Miss World, Karolina Bielawska from Poland, says she is excited to come to India, and hopes to work in a Bollywood film one day. She says her mother had planned a much-anticipated trip for them to India, but it never materialised. “So now, it is like fulfilling her dream,” she says. “I am really looking forward to visiting Agra, Bengaluru and Mumbai, and absorb their culture. I love butter chicken and cannot wait to try other Indian flavours.”
According to Julia, what makes Indian winners unique is their hard work, discipline, sense of humour, kindness, respectfulness and originality. The past Miss Worlds from India have not only put the country on a global map, but they have also gone on to become global icons, superstars and entrepreneurs. If Shetty wins the Miss World title, she will have large heels to fill.