Miss India

Miss India are the winners of the Miss India beauty pageant held annually. Starting from 1964, the pageant has been held by the Femina magazine, and is referred to as Femina Miss India. Prior to 1964, Miss India was selected by Eve's weekly in 1959, 1960, 1961 and 1962. In 1947 and 1952, the winners were chosen by the Indian press.

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. After the Femina Miss India pageant was established, the practice was to send the winner to the Miss Universe pageant and the runner-up to the Miss World contest. Usually a second-runner up or an independent pageant winner would be sent to international pageants like Miss Asia, Miss International and Miss Asia-Pacific. Starting from 2002, the titles of the winners and runners-up were changed to indicate their representations to the different international pageants. The winner was called Miss India Universe. The runners-up Miss India World, Miss India Asia-Pacific. As of 2002, the third winner would no longer be sent to Miss Asia-Pacific, but to Miss Earth, for the reasoning that the latter is strongly becoming the third most important international pageant after Miss Universe and Miss World.

The awards for 1989 were given at the end of the year (December), hence there was no separate contest for 1990.

The year 1994 was a landmark year for the pageant industry in India when both the Miss Universe and Miss World contests were won by Miss Indias Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai respectively. Coaching institutions were set up to groom girls in pageant participation skills. The number of participants in the preliminary rounds of the pageant has increased considerably. Pageant winners are also groomed for months in preparation for the international contest.

In 2000 all the Miss India winners happened to win their respective international pageants - Lara Dutta (Miss Universe), Priyanka Chopra (Miss World) and Diya Mirza (Miss Asia-Pacific).

Miss India Scandal

What started out as a prestigious event felicitating Indian women in a global arena slowly turned into a national scandal in 2002 when the The Times of India organizers were accused of manipulating the results of the pagent for sexual favors from the contestants. The excessive media publicity that the Indian press awards the winners has made them household names in India and has boosted the beauty industry. There is alot at stake for the winning contestants including exorbitant prizes and a ticket to the Indian Film Industry.

Pradeep Guha, in 2002 was accused of manipulating the results of the final pageant and these accusations came to the fore when several contestants complained of sexual abuse. The owner of the Times of India, Vineet Jain, has also been accused of the same. This has resulted in the lowering of brand equity of one of the largest and most prestigious events in India.

While India was successful in a number of beauty pageants till 2000, it has failed to produce any winners since then. The failure to do so has been attributed to this faulty selection process by The Times of India, where it is no longer about being a woman of substance. Most of the contestants spend years preparing for the contest in the hope of making it to the training program, and almost 50% come from smaller towns and villages across India in the hope of breaking into the film and beauty industry. Most of the contestants face tremendous pressure to give in to the sexual advances that is almost necesasary to winning the title. Most critics say that the pageant is a platform to maintain Vineet Jains flamboyant lifestyle.

List of winners

Here is a list of women who have won the Miss India title. The names of those who have won the competition at the international level (Miss Universe, Miss World, etc.) are mentioned in bold.

2005 - 2004 - 2003 - 2002 - 2001 - 2000 - 1999 - 1998 - 1997 - 1996 - 1995 - 1994 - 1993 - 1992 - 1991 - 1990/89 - 1988 - 1987 - 1986 - 1985 - 1984 - 1983 - 1982 - 1981 - 1980 - 1979 - 1978 - 1977 - 1976 - 1975 - 1974 - 1973 - 1972 - 1971 - 1970 - 1969 - 1968 - 1967 - 1966 - 1965 - 1964 - 1962 - 1961 - 1960 - 1959 - 1953 - 1952 - 1947

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

2000

1999

1998

1997

1996

1995

1994

1993

1992

1991

1989-1990

1988

1987

1986

1985

1984

1983

1982

1981

1980

1979

1978

1977

1976

1975

1974

1973

1972

1971

1970

1969

1968

1967

1966

1965

Persis Khambatta

1964

Meher Mistry, later known as Meher Castelino

1962

Ferial Karim, later semi-finalist Miss World

1961

Veronica Torcato

1960

Iona Pinto

1959

Fleur Ezekiel, first Miss India to participate in Miss World

1953

Peace Kanwal

1952

1947

Pramila (or Esther Abraham)

Reference

See also

External links

See also: Miss India, 1964, 1994, 2000, Aishwarya Rai, Amrita Thappar, Apartheid, Celina Jaitley, Diya Mirza, Juhi Chawla