Ma’am, is Shah Rukh Khan going to come?” asked a participant of I Am She 2010 Miss Universe India Pageant to event director Sushmita Sen. The Bengali beauty sighed in mock exasperation as 29 other participants crowded her for last-minute tips and encouragement.
For the last fortnight a South Goa resort was host to 30 of these beautiful girls from all over India who were being groomed for the I Am She 2010 Miss Universe India Pageant. On Thursday night, the gruelling training and grooming sessions culminated in a glitzy evening which saw the crowning of winners of various sub-contests that were held during their stay in Goa such as “I Am Fit”, “I Am Talent”, “I Am Congenial,” and “I Am Me”.
The talent contest was an eye-opener as to how beauty can be combined with talent and each of the girls impressed the gathering. Some sang, others danced, recited poetry, performed monologues, painted and even cooked. The winner of the contest was Shruti Iyer, who enacted the hilarious “Chaturlingam balatkar speech” from the movie 3 Idiots.
The judges, Amrita Rao, Sandhya Mridul and Koena Mitra, praised the contestants effusively and the atmosphere was totally informal with Sushmita and her team cheering and whistling from behind the judges. “You are superb,” said Sandhya Mridul to a contestant who painted a picture on canvas in three minutes (the time limit for the talent contest), adding, “Mujhe to billi banana bhi nahin aata (I can’t even draw a cat)”.
“These girls are great, I have become like a mother to them. I have two children, but after the last 15 days I feel I now have 32 kids,” said Sushmita to the roaring cheers of the girls.
“Goa is very special for me as I was crowned Miss India here in 1994 and bringing these 30 contestants here gives me a strong feeling of history repeating itself,” she told reporters, adding, “It is a weird feeling that I got the Miss Universe franchise given the fact that I was a winner.” Maybe history will repeat itself this time and the crown will come back to India this year.
After Goa, the girls will go on to Chandigarh and the I Am She finale will be held in Mumbai on May 28. The winner of the pageant will then go on to represent India at the 2010 Miss Universe pageant.