Miss India East final turns focus on N-E

Turning the focus on the sylvan but lesser-known North-East, eight girls from the region were among the 13 crowned as 'Femina Miss India East 2017'.
At a glittering ceremony last night, Rinki Chakma (Tripura), Kahelil Chophy (Nagaland), Rody Vanlalhriatpun (Mizoram), Triveni Barman (Assam), Soibham Kanchan (Manipur), Licha Thosum (Arunachal Pradesh), Kiran Laishram (Meghalaya), Roshni Ghinrey (Sikkim) were crowned joint winners along with five others from other eastern states.
One of the judges on the show, inconic footballer Bhaichung Bhutia said, "It is a matter of joy that eight North-East states are finally emerging winners from the East."
Referring to the victory of Miss India World 2016 Priyadarshini Chatterjee, who is from Guwahati, the nimble-footed former India skipper said, "North-East girls are doing well in Femina Miss India already."

About his definition of beauty, Bhaichung said, "Brains with beauty, that is important."
The five other Miss India East winner girls are: Priyanka Kumari (Bihar), Vamika Nidhi (Jharkhand), Shivankita Dixit (West Bengal), Christeena Biju (Odisha) and Vinali Bhatnagar (Chattisgarh).

"Kahaani" actor Parambrata Chatterjee, one of the judges, said, "This time the contest is formated in a different way. There are girls from the states of North-East, called 'Seven Sisters', as well as a girl from Sikkim."
"We had mainly gave thrust on how these girls present themselves," Parambrata, a popular name in Bengali film industry, said.
Indian pop icon Usha Uthup, who crooned the chartbuster 'Kolkata Kolkata Don't Worry Kolkata', said, "The contest is another way to celebrate empowerment of women."

"All these girls are so beautiful and confident!" she said.
In the Modern India Round of the show, the girls were draped in fabrics stitched by designer Shravan Kummar, which was inspired by the 500-year old Handloom history of Shantipur and Fulia in Nadia district.
Miss India finalist, super model and "Ladies vs Ricky Bahl" actor Dipannita Sharma said all the 13 winners had the potential to clinch the crown in the final round of FBB Femina Miss India 2017 in Mumbai.