MUMBAI: Even before Miss India competed in the contest, actor Gauahar Khan was on the podium. The actor has said that while she was a college student, she disguised as a paparazzi for one of the Miss India rounds, the same year that actors Priyanka Chopra, Lara Dutta, and Dia Mirza competed. Gauahar said in an interview that managing Miss India's backstage was an incredible, unforgettable experience because she got to be a part of it in a special way.
She said, “It was nerve wrecking, crazy. I would think, ‘Did I really make it to the Miss India stage?’ In the year that Lara Dutta, Dia Mirza, Priyanka Chopra, all of them won, Waluscha De Sousa was also a contestant that year. If you watch that pageant, there was a swimsuit round in which paparazzi came out. Guess who was in that? I was one of them! Because it happened in Pune, where I lived. I was a college student then. I was the paparazzi on stage, clicking them! I didn’t know who was going to win, but it was that round and we had to click them like paps.”
While Priyanka Chopra won Miss World 2000, Lara Dutta won Miss Universe 2000. Femina Miss India Asia Pacific 2000 was won by Dia Mirza. Gauahar Khan claimed she appeared on the Miss India stage as a participant two years later without even trying out for the pageant.
She claimed, “When I had sent my pictures, I got a call from Femina. I had malaria when they called me, so I said, ‘I won’t be able to come.’ But they insisted I come because they had liked my pictures. I went in simple jeans and t-shirts, wearing a shawl, no make-up, nothing. I was shivering, they saw me and sent me home. I did no swimsuit rounds, no weight or height check. Next day I got a call that I was selected for the national rounds!”
After ultimately winning the Femina Miss India International 2002 crown, Gauahar Khan went on to represent India in Miss International 2002 in Tokyo, Japan. She made her acting debut in Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year with Ranbir Kapoor and has since appeared in such films as Ishaqzaade and Badrinath Ki Dulhaniya, among others.
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Credit- The Indian Express
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