The current Femina Miss India World is Nikita Porwal from Madhya Pradesh. She was crowned by the previous titleholder, Nandini Gupta, on 16 October 2024 in Mumbai.[4]
The first Miss India was Esther Abraham, from Calcutta, who won the title in 1947. The pageant was organized by the local press.[5][6]
Indrani Rehman after being crowned Miss India 1952Miss India 1952, Indrani Rehman with former Indian Congress leader S.K. Patil, and two of the sponsors of the Miss India contest of 1952Miss India 1952 Contestants posing for the photographers at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai. Miss India 1952 winner, Indrani Rahman (third from left) and the Runner-up Suryakumari (sixth from left)
In 1952, two Miss India pageants were held. Indrani Rehman and Nutan were the winners.[7] Nutan was crowned Miss Mussorie, while Rahman was crowned at Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai.[8] Rahman later represented India at the first Miss Universe pageant in 1952.[9]
In 1953, Peace Kanwal from Punjab was crowned Miss India at the Kardar-Kolynos pageant, organized by filmmaker Abdur Rashid Kardar. She later became a Bollywood actress.[10][11]
In 1954, Leela Naidu from Maharashtra was crowned Miss India. That same year, she was featured in Vogue magazine's list of the world's ten most beautiful women.[12]
There was no Miss India pageant between 1955 and 1958. In 1959, Eve's Weekly organized its first Miss India contest, with Fleur Ezekiel winning the title. She went on to represent India at Miss World 1959 in London.[13]
The first Femina Miss India pageant was held in 1964. Meher Castelino Mistri of Maharashtra was crowned the winner and represented India at Miss Universe 1964 in the United States and Miss Nations 1964 in Spain.[14]
Reita Faria became the first Miss India to win an international pageant, being crowned Miss World 1966 in London.[15] She was the winner of the Eve's Weekly Miss India contest. That same year, Yasmin Daji, the Femina Miss India winner, represented India at Miss Universe 1966 and placed third runner-up.[16]
Zeenat Aman was the first Femina Miss India winner to claim an international title when she won Miss Asia Pacific 1970 in the Philippines.[17]
In 1981, Meenakshi Seshadri became the youngest Miss India at age 17. She later became a well-known Bollywood actress.[18]
In 1994, Sushmita Sen became the first Indian to win Miss Universe, while Aishwarya Rai, the first runner-up, went on to win Miss World the same year.[19]
In 2000, all three winners from the Femina Miss India pageant—Lara Dutta, Priyanka Chopra and Dia Mirza—won Miss Universe, Miss World, and Miss Asia Pacific International, respectively.[20]
In 2002, the third winner of the Femina Miss India contest began representing India at Miss Earth instead of Miss Asia Pacific.[21]
In 2008, international choreographer Sandip Soparrkar joined as the official dance and grooming expert for the contestants, alongside experts like Dr. Sandesh Mayekar for smile design, Dr. Jamuna Pai for skin and hair care, and Sabira Merchant for etiquette.[22]
In 2010, Tantra Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. (TEPL) partnered with Sushmita Sen to launch a new pageant, I Am She – Miss Universe India, acquiring the rights to send India's representatives to Miss Universe.[23] Winners of this pageant represented India at Miss Universe from 2010 to 2012. From 2010, Femina Miss India began crowning three winners: Femina Miss India World, Femina Miss India Earth, and Femina Miss India International, with the latter representing India at Miss International.[23]
Competition irregularities
In 1989, Kalpana Pandit, who was initially declared the winner, was disqualified after it was found that she had misrepresented her nationality by holding a U.S. passport. Dolly Minhas was then crowned the winner.[24]
In 2004, Lakshmi Pandit, Kalpana Pandit's sister, was named the winner but later gave up the title due to her marriage. Sayali Bhagat was subsequently awarded the title.[25]
In 2008, a controversy occurred when Gladrags President Maureen Wadia sent a legal notice to Harshita Saxena, the newly crowned Femina Miss India Earth 2008, for violating an exclusive two-year contract she had signed in 2006. The contract required Saxena to seek written permission from Gladrags before participating in other beauty contests. As a result, Saxena surrendered her title, and Tanvi Vyas was crowned Miss India Earth. Vyas went on to represent India at Miss Earth 2008. Saxena later placed fourth in the Femina Miss India 2009 competition and represented India at Miss International 2009.[26]
Miss India has been sending representatives to the Miss Universe pageant since 1952, starting with Indrani Rehman, and to the Miss World pageant since 1959, with Fleur Ezekiel.[7]
In 1970, Zeenat Aman became the first Indian and South Asian woman to win the Miss Asia Pacific title.[27]
In 1991, Femina Miss India gained the rights to send Indian contestants to the Miss International pageant.[28]
In 1994, Sushmita Sen won Miss Universe, becoming the first Indian woman to hold the title.[29] That same year, Aishwarya Rai, the runner-up at Miss India, won Miss World.[30] Both Sen and Rai later pursued successful careers in Bollywood.[31][32][33]
Their success led to the rise of grooming institutions that prepared young women for pageants, significantly increasing participation. Diana Hayden, Miss India World 1997, won Miss World that same year. In 1999, Yukta Mookhey, Miss India World, also won Miss World.[34][35]
In 2000, all three Miss India winners: Lara Dutta (Miss Universe), Priyanka Chopra (Miss World), and Diya Mirza (Miss Asia Pacific) won their respective international titles. Australia is the only other country to have achieved this in 1972.[36]
In 2002, the third title in Femina Miss India was renamed Femina Miss India-Earth to send representatives to the newly launched Miss Earth pageant, focused on environmental advocacy. A finalist was then sent to Miss International.
From 2007 to 2009, three equal titleholders represented India at Miss Universe, Miss World, and Miss Earth.[37][38] In 2010, the rights to send contestants to Miss Universe were transferred to a new pageant, I Am She - Miss Universe India. By 2013, The Times Group reacquired the Miss Universe rights and launched the Miss Diva pageant.
In 2010, the third title at Femina Miss India was renamed Femina Miss India-International, with winners representing India at Miss International. That same year, Nicole Faria became the first Indian to win the Miss Earth title in Vietnam, leaving Miss International as the only major global pageant India has yet to win.[39]
In 2012, Himangini Singh Yadu became the first Indian and Asian to win the Miss Asia Pacific World title, sent by the I Am She - Miss Universe India pageant.[40] In 2013, Srishti Rana won the same title, marking a rare back-to-back victory for India and becoming the first Miss Diva winner to claim the Miss Asia Pacific World crown.[41]
In 2014, Asha Bhat won Miss Supranational, becoming the first Indian woman to win the title and the second Asian overall.[42] That same year, Ruhi Singh, the first Femina Miss India Universal Peace and Humanity, won the Miss Universal Peace and Humanity pageant in Lebanon.[43]
India also achieved a rare triple victory at the Miss Asia Pacific World pageant, with Swetha Raj winning in 2014 after the previous winner was dethroned.[44] She was sent by the Miss India Australia organization.[45]
International winners
Reita Faria from India won Miss World in 1966, becoming the first Asian woman to achieve this honor and marking India's first major international pageant victory.[46] In 1994, Sushmita Sen became the first Indian to win Miss Universe.[47] That same year, Aishwarya Rai was crowned Miss World, making India the last country in the 20th century to win both Miss Universe and Miss World in the same year.[48]
Diana Hayden won Miss World in 1997, followed by Yukta Mookhey in 1999.[49][50] In 2000, Lara Dutta and Priyanka Chopra repeated India's earlier success, with Dutta winning Miss Universe and Chopra winning Miss World. This remains the most recent time (as of 2024) that a country has won both titles in the same year and the only time it has happened in the 21st century.[51][52]
In 2010, Nicole Faria from Bangalore became the first Indian woman to win Miss Earth. Manushi Chhillar won Miss World 2017,[53][54] and in 2021, Harnaaz Sandhu became the third Indian woman to win Miss Universe, the latest Big Four titleholder from India as of 2024.[55]
Here is a list of Indian winners in the Big Four international beauty pageants:
Established in 2013, Miss Diva is a separate pageant organization from Femina Miss India, though both are owned by the Times Group. Its primary objective is to select India's representative for the Miss Universe competition through an annual national pageant.
However, in 2024, the Miss Diva organization withdrew its license to participate in Miss Universe. They have hinted at a possible return in the future. Currently, Miss Diva sends representatives only to the Miss Supranational pageant. The most recent delegate they sent competed in the 2024 edition.
The Femina Miss India did not send delegates in 1959–1970, 1972, 1975. Femina got the franchise in 1976. Femina also sent delegates to Miss World in 1971 and 1974.
^Note 1 : For Miss World 1976, India withdrew in protest against the presence of two South African entries - one white and one black - in conformity with the apartheid policy of racial separation.
^Note 2 : For Miss World 1977, India withdrew in protest against the presence of a white Miss South African representative.
^Note 3 : The candidate was disqualified from participating because she was married.
^Note 5 : For the year 2022, Miss World 2021 was rescheduled to 16 March 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in Puerto Rico, no edition started in 2022.
^Note 6 : For the year 2024, Miss World 2023 was rescheduled to 9 March 2024, no edition started in 2023.
The Femina Miss India organization did not send a delegate to Miss Asia Pacific International in the years 1984, 1990, 1991, 2004, 2006–2015, 2019 and onward.
In 2014, May Myat Noe of Myanmar was initially crowned but was later dethroned. The organizers held a new pageant, where Swetha Raj of India emerged victorious, securing India a rare three-peat win in an international pageant.
↑ No national contest was held in the years 2018 and 2019–2023
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