Formation | 1990 |
---|---|
Founder | Dharmatma Saran [1] |
Founded at | New York City, United States |
Type | Beauty Pageant |
Headquarters | New York City |
Location |
|
Official language | English |
Chairman | Dharmatma Saran |
Key people | Monica Gill |
Parent organization | Dharmatma Saran, Worldwide Pageants [1] |
Website | Official Website |
Miss India Worldwide is a beauty pageant which draws contestants from India and from among members of the Indian diaspora residing in other countries. [2] It is conducted by India Festival Committee (IFC), first founded and headed by Dharmatma Saran in New York City, USA. [1]
The pageant started in 1990. Simi Chaddha (now Dr. Simi Chaddha Ranajee), from the United States, was crowned the first ever Miss India Worldwide in New York City. Simi was the winner of the 1990 Miss India USA pageant. The pageant was held in the United States until 1996. In 1997, the pageant was hosted in India. Poonam Chibber of Canada became the first Miss India Worldwide winner to be crowned outside the United States. It was the first time that the pageant moved out of its home turf and was held in the Asian continent. The next year in 1998 the pageant moved to the southeast region of Asia and was held in Singapore. Once again, Canada's representative Melissa Bhagat was crowned the Miss India Worldwide 1998 by outgoing titleholder Poonam Chibber, giving Canada a rare back to back victory at the pageant. Canada is one of three countries to have a back to back victory, the other two being the USA and the UK.
The pageant moved back to the United States in 2000 and was held in Florida. Rita Upadhyay of the United States was crowned Miss India Worldwide 2000 and became the fourth woman from the United States to win the crown. Since 2012 international choreographer Sandip Soparrkar is the official show director and grooming expert.
Past pageant participants include Bollywood actress Pallavi Sharda (Miss India Australia 2010), media personality and television host Amin Dhillon (Miss India Worldwide Canada 2010), and Indian television actress Uppekha Jain (Miss India Worldwide Canada 2008).
Year | Nation represented | Miss India Worldwide | National Title | City | Country | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1990 | United States | Simmi Chadha | Miss India USA | New York City | United States | |
1991 | United States | Bela Bajaria | Miss India USA | Bajaria would go on to become an executive at Universal Television. [3] | ||
1992 | United States | Icha Singh | Miss India USA | |||
1994 | India | Karminder Kaur Virk | Miss India Worldwide India | The first of five wins for a Miss India Worldwide India titleholder. This was the first year in which Hong Kong sent a delegate to the worldwide pageant, Puja Venkataraman who was Miss India Hong Kong winner, which was held in New York City; local businessman Hari Harilela was one of the judges. | ||
1995 | Hong Kong | Nirupama Anand | Miss India Hong Kong | First winner from Hong Kong. [4] [5] | ||
1996 | India | Sandhya Chib | Miss India Worldwide India | Also became a semi-finalist in Miss Universe 1996 [6] | ||
1997 | Canada | Poonam Chibber | Miss India Canada | Mumbai | India | The first win by a Miss India Worldwide Canada titleholder. Chibber would go on to become a Bollywood actress. [7] [8] |
1998 | Canada | Melissa Bhagat | Miss India Canada | Singapore | Singapore | Bhagat went on to work for the Department of Citizenship and Immigration Canada under Minister Jason Kenney. [9] [10] |
1999 | India | Aarti Chabria | Miss India Worldwide India | Rahway | United States | Third winner from India [11] |
2000 | United States | Rita Upadhyay | Miss India USA | Tampa | Held in November 2000. Upadhyay was age 23 and a New York-based staff writer for Time magazine then. [12] | |
2001 | South Africa | Sarika Sukhdeo | Miss India South Africa | San Jose | Originally scheduled to be held in Durban, South Africa, it was later delayed until March 2002 and moved to San Jose, California. Nevertheless, Sarika Sukhdeo of Durban garnered the first win for a Miss India Worldwide South Africa titleholder after ten years of South African delegates to the worldwide pageant. [13] [14] [15] | |
2002 | United Arab Emirates | Santripti Vellody | Miss India UAE | Durban | South Africa | First winner from UAE. Held in November 2002 [16] [17] |
2003 | India | Purva Merchant | Miss India Worldwide India | San Francisco | United States | Held in September 2003 [18] [19] |
2005 | United Kingdom | Amrita Hunjan | Miss India UK | Mumbai | India | Held in February 2005; the fourteenth edition of the Miss India Worldwide pageant. [20] [21] |
2006 | United States | Trina Chakravarty | Miss India USA | [22] | ||
2007 | Suriname | Fareisa Joemmanbaks | Miss India Suriname | Fords | United States | Held in April 2007. Joemmanbaks would later go on to a career in Mollywood. [23] [24] |
2008 | India | Shagun Sarabhai | Miss India South Africa | Johannesburg | South Africa | Held in February 2008. Prizes included $5,000 in cash, jewellery, clothing, and a notebook computer. [25] |
2009 | United States | Nikkitasha Marwaha | Miss India USA | Durban | Held in February 2009. Marwaha was age 20 and a drama student at the time. She went on to star in the Indian television series 24 . [26] [27] | |
2010 | South Africa | Kajal Lutchminarian | Miss India South Africa | Held in March 2010. Lutchminarian was age 21 and a medical student at the time. [28] | ||
2011 | Australia | Ankita Ghazan | Miss India Australia | Abu Dhabi | United Arab Emirates | Held in May 2011; the twentieth edition of the pageant. Ghazan was age 19 and a university student at the time. [29] [30] |
2012 | Guyana | Alana Seebarran | Miss India Guyana | Paramaribo | Suriname | Held in February 2012. Following her crowning, Seebarran had various conflicts with the organisers, and was not invited to the following year's pageant in Malaysia to crown the new winner. [31] [32] |
2013 | United Kingdom | Nehal Bhogaita | Miss India UK | Kuala Lumpur | Malaysia | Held in May 2013. Bhogaita was the first deaf contestant in the pageant's history. [33] |
2014 | United States | Monica Gill | Miss India USA | Dubai | United Arab Emirates | Held in June 2014. Prizes included $8,000 in cash, as well as photo assignments and modelling sessions. [34] [35] |
2015 | Oman | Stephanie Lohale | Miss India Oman | Mumbai | India | First winner from Oman. Pageant held in September 2015. [36] [37] |
2016 | United States | Karina Kohli | Miss India USA | New Jersey | United States | |
2017 | United States | Madhu Valli | Miss India USA | Pageant held in October, 2017. Winner is a student of criminal law and a hip hop artist from USA. [38] | ||
2018 | United States | Shree Saini | Miss India USA | Washington | Pageant held in December, 2018. Shree is a pacemaker patient and a graduate from University of Washington, who studied at Harvard, Yale and Stanford. She won the "Best Titleholder" award from the pageant community for her endless service work with hundreds of charities. [39] | |
2019 | Oman | Tanishq Sharma | Miss India Oman | Mumbai | India | Pageant held in December, 2019. [40] |
2022 | United Kingdom | Khushi Patel | Miss India UK | New Jersey | United States | Pageant held in June, 2022. [41] |
2023 | Guyana | Aruna Sukhdeo | Miss India Guyana | Pune | India | Pageant held in June, 2023. [42] |
Miss India or Femina Miss India is a national beauty pageant in India that annually selects representatives to compete in Miss World, one of the Big Four international beauty pageants. It is organised by Femina, a women's magazine published by The Times Group.
Lara Dutta Bhupathi is an Indian actress and beauty pageant title holder who won the Miss Universe 2000 and Miss Intercontinental 1997, and has since predominantly worked in Hindi films and series. Dutta is a recipient of a Filmfare Award and established herself as a prominent leading actress in the 2000s.
Pooja Batra Shah is an Indian-American actress, model and beauty pageant titleholder. She primarily works in Hindi films. She won the runner-up title at the Femina Miss India contest in 1993 and was crowned Femina Miss India International 1993 and represented India at Miss International 1993.
Sonu Walia is an Indian former actress, model and beauty pageant titleholder who won the Femina Miss India Universe 1985. Her birth name is Sanjeet Kaur Walia. She is best known for her role in the film Khoon Bhari Maang (1988) for which she won a Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Sahila Chadha is an Indian former actress and beauty pageant titleholder.
Miss India USA is a beauty pageant for young women of Indian descent who are residents of the United States. The pageant was established in 1980 by the India Festival Committee headed by Dharmatma Saran. The winner of the Miss India USA pageant represents the United States at the Miss India Worldwide pageant.
Miss India Worldwide 2010 was the 19th edition of the international beauty pageant. The final was held in Durban, South Africa on March 27, 2010. About 24 countries were represented in the pageant. Kajal Lutchminarain of South Africa was crowned as the winner at the end of the event.
Miss India Worldwide 2008 was the 17th edition of the international beauty pageant. The final was held in Johannesburg, South Africa on February 23, 2008. About 20 countries were represented in the pageant. Shagun Sarabhai of India was crowned as the winner at the end of the event.
Miss India Worldwide 2006 was the 15th edition of the international beauty pageant. The final was held in Mumbai, India on January 28, 2006. About 21 countries were represented in the pageant. Trina Chakravarty of the United States was crowned as the winner at the end of the event.
Miss India Worldwide 2005 was the 14th edition of the international beauty pageant. The final was held in Mumbai, India on January 9, 2005. About 16 countries were represented in the pageant. Amrita Hunjan of the United Kingdom was crowned as the winner at the end of the event.
Miss India Worldwide 2003 was the 13th edition of the international beauty pageant. The final was held in San Francisco, California, United States on September 27, 2003. About 21 countries were represented in the pageant. Purva Merchant of India was crowned as the winner at the end of the event.
Miss India Worldwide 2001 was the 11th edition of the international beauty pageant. The final was held in Durban, South Africa on March 9, 2001. About 14 countries were represented in the pageant. Sarika Sukhdeo of South Africa crowned as the winner at the end of the event.
Miss India Worldwide 2000 was the tenth edition of the international beauty pageant. The final was held in Tampa, Florida, United States on November 25, 2000. About 16 countries were represented in the pageant. Ritu Upadhyay of the United States was crowned as the winner at the end of the event.
Miss India Worldwide 1990 was the first edition of the international female pageant. The total number of contestants is not known. Simi Chaddha of the United States was crowned as winner at the end of the event.
Miss India Worldwide 1997 was the seventh edition of the international beauty pageant. The final was held in Mumbai, India on November 7, 1997. About 15 countries were represented in the pageant. Poonam Chibber of Canada was crowned as winner at the end of the event.
Miss India Worldwide 2012 was the 21st edition of the international beauty pageant. The final was held in Paramaribo, Suriname on February 25, 2012. About 35 countries were represented in the pageant. Alana Seebarran of Guyana was crowned as the winner at the end of the event.
The Miss Diva is a part of Femina Miss India pageant that primarily selected India's representatives to Miss Supranational and previously Miss Universe until 2023, one of the Big Four major international beauty pageants.
Miss Earth India or Miss India Earth is a title given to the Indian woman who represents India at Miss Earth, an annual, international beauty pageant promoting environmental awareness. The current national pageant which chooses the Indian representative for Miss Earth is Miss Divine Beauty of India.
Miss India Worldwide 2015 was the 24th edition of the Miss India Worldwide pageant, held on 5 September 2015. The event was held at Lalit Hotel in Mumbai, India.
Miss India Worldwide 2016 was the 25th edition of the Miss India Worldwide pageant, held on 8 October 2017. The event was held at Royal Albert’s Palace in New Jersey, United States.