India failed to win the Miss Universe pageant again. Indian beauty pageant winners, fashion designers and just about anyone who is anyone in the fashion industry is wondering where our Indian beauties are failing. Lara Dutta Bhupathi’s reaction on Twitter surmises the country’s disappoint, “Bummer that Miss India didn’t make it to the top 16. Have we lost our edge?? It’s been 11 years.”
Tapur Chatterjee, internationally known model, says, “The prospects for winning on such a platform are not limited to only grooming and intelligence. Overall personality matters. The kind of aura Sushmita Sen and Lara Dutta carried was completely different.”
Former Mrs India Shilpa Reddy explains, “Sushmita Sen and her contemporaries were not only a well-groomed lot, but they oozed with confidence. They emerged at a time when the global exposure to India was very less. So when these girls stepped out in all their magnificience they won over the world.”
This year’s verdict came as a surprise to many as the Miss India contestant, Vasuki Sunkavalli, was a fine blend of beauty and brains.
Holding the country responsible, Tanvi Singla, Miss Asia Pacific World India 2011 says, “I feel that the winning contestant had the support of the people of her country who voted for her. How many people in India were even aware that the contest was going on? I blame inefficient PR for it. We need to promote our beauties at national and international levels aggressively.”
Dr Jamuna Pai, a cosmetic and aesthetic physian, who deals with all the contestants before they are sent to international pageants, says their prospects would increase immensely if they were just given more time and exposure. “The girls are too busy running around working on campaigns for sponsors and they have absolutely no time to prepare themselves,” she says.
Sundeep Soparkar, the official choreographer of “I Am She” says, “Beauty pageants have a lot to do with branding. Sushmita Sen and Lara Dutta won because the brands needed their faces. Now, there are way too many pageants as well. So, internal rivalries are hampering opportunities, leading to the best being buried in the competition.”