When the judges of the Pantaloon Femina Miss India (PFMI) 2009 cast their votes, Ms Pooja Chopra from Pune won the Miss India World title, while Ms Ekta Chowdhry from Delhi and Ms Shriya Kishore from Mumbai won the Miss India Universe and Miss India Earth 2009 titles respectively.
Unlike previous years, both the Miss India World and Miss India Universe are sharing the top spot, followed by Miss India Earth.
After the field was narrowed down to five, the final question to pick the top three was: “If you meet God today what question will you ask Him?” The five were given 90 seconds to write their answers.
Ms Chopra, 23, who has been brought up by a single mother, said she would ask God why certain children were deprived of the love of a mother.
Ms Chowdhry, also 23, who has given up a graduate degree in business administration, said: “When we are born equal, why do we divide ourselves under the name of religion and shed blood? Religion must unite us and not divide us.”
Ms Kishore, a 22-year-old from Mumbai’s Kandivli suburb who is a graduate in hotel management, said: “When we see people dying all around us, why does one have this feeling of immortality within?”
The three winners were picked from 20 finalists. During the evening, all 20 beauties sashayed on stage clad in gorgeous outfits designed by Prasad Bidappa and Vardha Ranjan.
And once the three winners had accepted their trophies and sashes, they wanted to do some things immediately.
Ms Chopra told The Times Of India that she wanted to hug her mother and gorge on chocolate brownies with ice cream.
Ms Chowdhry said she wanted to celebrate to the hilt—but only after a quick bite of chawal ki kheer. Mumbai girl Kishore said she wanted to relive her victory over and over again. The following morning, the winners addressed the media and one of the questions predictably was about their intentions to join Bollywood.
“Please do not ask us about Bollywood for the next year until we have completed our mission of bringing back the international crowns,” was Ms Chopra’s response.
One journalist asked whether the beauty queens actually follow through on their promises. Ms Kishore responded by saying that their responsibility as winners was to set the ball rolling so others could take up from where they left off.
“Why do you need a crown to do charity?” asked Ms Chopra. “I have been working with the Dagdusheth Bal Sangopan Trust for two years when I was not the celebrity I am today.”
Later in an interview with IANS, Ms Chowdhry said that apart from the month-long rigorous classes in grooming, fitness and diction for the event, her honesty and never-say-die attitude helped her win the title.
“I always believed in myself. I feel that my honesty played a pivotal role in my victory because I always speak my mind and stand by what I believe in,” she said.
“Honesty will never let you down. If you are honest and a hard worker, things will definitely fall in place sooner or later. You just have to believe in yourself. I did that because I knew it was now or never for me,” she said.
The Delhiite said she first dreamt of becoming a model when she saw Sushmita Sen win the Miss Universe title in 1994.
“That was the first time I realised that I too want to be there in this profession. I have been modelling for the past two years but I wanted to get familiar with the industry before I participated in a major event like this. The effort and planning has paid off,” she said.
Miss India World Ms Chopra was all praise for her single mother. “The last 23 years have not been kind to my mother. Bringing up two girls (Ms Chopra and her sister) was not an easy task,” she told IANS.
“For me, she is the woman of substance and this title is dedicated to her because she never stopped me from doing what I wanted. Her only condition was that I should not neglect my studies.”
She is in no mood to sit back and relax. Her next target, she said, will be to win the Miss World title later this year in Johannesburg, South Africa.
STYLISH JUDGES
THERE was style and oomph off stage too – at the judges table. Former beauty queen Sushmita Sen was there, as was Bollywood’s latest sensation Asin, who turned heads in an electric blue gown and actress Deepika Padukone, dressed in an opulent black gown.
The Bollywood men were represented by director Madhur Bhandarkar and actor Ajay Devgan who sported a formal look. The other judges were fashion designer Nandita Mahtani, Anil Chopra of Lakme, IMG managing director Ravi Krishnan and fashion magazine editor Mickey Bourdman.
