The reigning Femina Miss India (Femina Miss India World) titleholder is Nikita Porwal of Madhya Pradesh who was crowned by the outgoing titleholder Nandini Gupta on 16 October 2024 in Mumbai.
The first Miss India was Esther Abraham, from Calcutta, who won in 1947.[4][5] The pageant was organised by the local press.
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 of the pageants.[6] Nutan was crowned as Miss Mussorie.[7] The pageant was held by the local press. Rehman was crowned at Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai in April 1952. Rehman later represented India at the inaugural edition of Miss Universe, Miss Universe 1952.[8]
In 1953, Peace Kanwal from Punjab was crowned Miss India 1953 at the Kardar-Kolynos pageant. The pageant was organised by Abdur Rashid Kardar.[9] Who later established herself as a Bollywood actress.[10]
In 1954, Leela Naidu from Maharashtra was crowned Miss India, and the same year was featured in Vogue magazine's list of the world's ten most beautiful women.[11]
There was no Miss India pageant from 1955 to 1958. In 1959, Eve's Weekly organised its very first Miss India contest called Eve's Weekly Miss India to send India's representatives to the Miss World pageant. Fleur Ezekiel was crowned the eventual winner. She represented India at Miss World 1959 held in London, United Kingdom.
The first Femina Miss India pageant was held in 1964, where Meher Castelino Mistri of Maharashtra was crowned as the first Femina Miss India. She represented India at Miss Universe 1964 held in the United States and Miss Nations 1964 held in Spain.[12]
Reita Faria was the first Miss India to win an international beauty pageant. She was crowned Miss World 1966 in London, United Kingdom.[13] She was the winner of Eve's Weekly Miss India contest. The same year Femina Miss India winner Yasmin Daji represented India at Miss Universe 1966 and was the third runner-up at the event. She was the first Femina Miss India Winner to be placed at an international beauty pageant.[14]
Zeenat Aman was the first Femina Miss India titleholder to win an international pageant. She was crowned Femina Miss India Asia Pacific and also won Miss Asia Pacific 1970 held in the Philippines.[15]
Meenakshi Seshadri, was the youngest contestant to win Miss India at the age of 17 in 1981. She became a Bollywood actress, appearing in the films 'Hero', 'Damini', 'Ghayal' and 'Ghatak'. She left her acting career when she married.[citation needed]
In 2002, the third winner of Femina Miss India contest represented India at Miss Earth instead of Miss Asia Pacific.[16]
In 2000, international dance choreographer Sandip Soparrkar joined the contestants as official dance and grooming expert. His association continued with the pageant along with experts from other fields such as Dr. Sandesh Mayekar for smile design, Dr. Jamuna Pai for skin and hair and Sabira Merchant for etiquette.[citation needed]
In 2010, Tantra Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. (TEPL), in partnership with Sushmita Sen, began a new pageant called I Am She – Miss Universe India and acquired the rights to send India's representatives to Miss Universe. The winner of this pageant participated in the Miss Universe pageant from 2010 to 2012.[17] Consequently, from 2010, Femina Miss India crowned three winners as Femina Miss India World, Femina Miss India Earth and Femina Miss India International, with the third winner representing India at the Miss International pageant.[17]
Competition irregularities
In 1989, the winner, Kalpana Pandit, was disqualified after it was discovered that she had misrepresented her nationality by holding a U.S. passport. Dolly Minhas was subsequently crowned the winner.[18]
In 2004, Lakshmi Pandit, Kalpana Pandit's sister, was initially declared the winner but relinquished the title due to her marriage. Sayali Bhagat was then named the winner.[19]
In 2008, a controversy arose when Gladrags President Maureen Wadia issued a legal notice to the newly crowned Femina Miss India Earth 2008, Harshita Saxena, for breaching an exclusive two-year contract signed in 2006. The contract stipulated that Saxena required written permission from Gladrags to participate in other beauty pageants. As a result, Saxena surrendered her title, and Tanvi Vyas was crowned the new Miss India Earth. Vyas represented India at the Miss Earth pageant in November 2008. Interestingly, Saxena later achieved fourth place in the Femina Miss India 2009 competition and represented India at Miss International 2009.[20]
Miss India has been participating in the Miss Universe pageant since 1952, starting with Indrani Rehman and in the Miss World pageant since 1959, starting with Fleur Ezekiel.[6]
In 1991, Femina Miss India also acquired the rights to send India's representatives to Miss International pageant.[21]
In 2002, the third title was changed to Femina Miss India-Earth, to designate India's representation at the newly launched Miss Earth pageant, focused on the cause of environmental advocacy and a finalist was sent to Miss International.
In 1970, Zeenat Aman won Miss Asia Pacific 1970. She became the first Indian and South Asian woman to win the title.[24]
In 1994, Sushmita Sen won the Miss Universe title after winning the Miss India crown and became the first Indian woman ever to win the Miss Universe crown.[25] The same year the runner-up of Miss India, Aishwarya Rai, won the Miss World title.[26] Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai established themselves in the Bollywood industry after winning their titles.[27][28][29]
The success of Sen and Rai spawned coaching institutions which were set up to groom young women in pageant participation skills. The number of participants in the preliminary rounds of the pageant has increased considerably. Miss India World 1997, Diana Hayden won the title of Miss World 1997. In 1999, the Miss India World Yukta Mookhey went on to win the Miss World that year.[30][31]
In 2000, three of the Miss India winners won their respective international pageants — Lara Dutta (Miss Universe), Priyanka Chopra (Miss World) and Diya Mirza Miss Asia Pacific. The other country to have won all three major titles in one year were Australia in 1972.[32]
In 2010, after the introduction of I Am She - Miss Universe India, the third title was changed to Femina Miss India-International and the winner represented India at Miss International pageant.[citation needed]
In 2010, Nicole Faria became the first Indian to win the Miss Earth title in Vietnam, which leaves Miss International as the only major international pageant that has not been won by an Indian contestant.[33]
After May Myat Noe, the winner of Miss Asia Pacific World 2014 pageant was dethroned,[38] the organisation organised another pageant named Miss Asia Pacific 2014 Supertalent of the World Season 5 under Miss Asia Pacific World title, Swetha Raj who represented India won the crown, giving India a rare back to back to back victory, India is the only country to win any international pageant three years in a row, however Swetha was sent by Miss India Australia organisation.[39]
International winners
Reita Faria of India won Miss World 1966, and became the first Asian to do so, with India winning its first Big Four title.[40]Sushmita Sen was crowned Miss Universe 1994, becoming the country's first Miss Universe winner.[41] Later that year, Aishwarya Rai added to India's winning streak by becoming Miss World 1994, making the country the last in the twentieth century to win both Miss Universe and Miss World in the same year.[42]
Diana Hayden won the Miss World title in 1997.[43] Actor and model Yukta Mookhey was later crowned Miss World 1999.[44] Six years after Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai's double wins, Lara Dutta and Priyanka Chopra repeated this in 2000, marking the most recent time (as of 2024) that any country has won back-to-back at Miss World and, to date, the only time that any country won Miss Universe and Miss World in the same year in the 21st century.[45][46] India's appearances at the Miss Universe semifinals from 1992 to 2002 made it the first country in the Eastern Hemisphere to place annually at the pageant for at least 10 consecutive years.[citation needed]
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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