Miss World is back in India after 28 years, but the world has since changed

In the interim, the world has changed, as has the concept of beauty

Not a single contestant set foot on stage. Not one of them sashayed around in an evening gown, nor posed for a swimsuit round. There were no video cameras to capture their graceful moves or their bedazzling smiles.

“The first Femina Miss India contest was not a public event; it was a photographic competition,” recalls Meher Castelino.

This was in 1964, and Castelino, who had just graduated from Lawrence School, Lovedale, Tamil Nadu, was among 500 women who had sent their photographs to Femina.

Ten were shortlisted for a 30-minute interview with the Femina editor, during which they were assessed on general knowledge, awareness, hobbies, and how well they spoke. Castelino won the crown and was sent off to represent India at the 1964 Miss Universe contest at Miami Beach, Florida, and the Miss United Nations pageant in Majorca, Spain.

Now, the winner of the Femina Miss India contest competes in the Miss World pageant, the 71st edition of which is currently underway in India. It is nothing like the pageant Castelino won 60 years ago.

“I went as I was, thinking on my feet, thrown into the deep end of the pool,” she says. There was no prize money, and no gifts. “Getting a free ticket to travel to the contests was my gift,” she laughs. When she returned, she went back to doing what she did before she was crowned Miss India: Modelling.

It is not even like the last time India hosted the Miss World competition, 28 years ago.

Higher stakes

The concept of beauty has changed, and so have pageants, metamorphosing into high-stakes, meticulously organised extravaganzas that unfold over days. India, as a market, has changed as well, and the world wants a share of it.

The Miss World pageant kicked off in New Delhi on February 20, from the government-owned five-star hotel, The Ashok. A lot will happen before the coveted $100,000 blue crown is placed on the winner’s head at the grand finale at the glitzy Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai on March 9. 

The 100-plus aspirants, who started their journey with a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Raj Ghat, are already competing for multiple smaller titles, such as Miss World Talent and Miss World Sports, across venues, including the Bharat Mandapam in Delhi. 

Miss World is a big-league pageant, one of the Big Four. The others are Miss Universe, Miss International, and Miss Earth. It is planned to the tee and executed with clockwork precision. Well, almost.

Eye of the beholder

Bengaluru-based stylist Prasad Bidapa was on the jury for the evening gown competition when the now defunct Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Ltd (ABCL) had brought the Miss World pageant to India in 1996. 

“Amitabh Bachchan himself was overseeing the arrangements (at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru),” he says. People, he adds, had not seen such a huge and elaborate set before. “It was massive, large enough to hold the many beautiful women from over 80 countries who were competing.”

During the show, Bachchan watched over the guests, asking if they had everything they needed. “[It was] an amazing experience to have someone like him fussing over you!” says Bidapa.

All was not well, though. Political and social activists were taking out rallies against what they said was not India’s culture. Women’s organisations debated the pros and cons of the pageant. Politician Vatal Nagaraj held a rakshasi (Hindi for female demon) show, with women dressed as demons to challenge the idea of beauty. ABCL’s office in Bengaluru was vandalised.

“Inside the venue, we all were alert,” says Castelino. Bengaluru had not yet become an information technology hub. India, though, was making an impression at global beauty pageants.

Two years before the ABCL-organised pageant, Aishwarya Rai had been crowned Miss World and Sushmita Sen, Miss Universe. These wins had come nearly three decades after Reita Faria, a doctor, had become the first Indian to win the Miss World title in 1966.

Now the country was poised for a gold rush. In 1997, Diana Hayden became Miss World and in 1999, Yukta Mookhey. And 2000 brought a repeat of 1994, with both Miss World (Priyanka Chopra) and Miss Universe (Lara Dutta) from India.

Ramping up

These consistent victories were not the result of a fairy godmother conjuring up Cinderellas. They were the outcome of carefully crafted strategies.

In the initial years, Eve’s Weekly ran the Miss India pageant and then the franchise came to Femina. 

“I started getting involved with it in the mid-1980s,” says Sathya Saran, who edited Femina for 12 years. “It was hardly professional back then.”

She remembers bringing the contestants to the venue in a ramshackle bus. Many would come to compete from outside Mumbai – “Madhu Sapre (Miss India 1992) was one of them.” 

The winner would get Rs 7,000 to buy a saree and an evening gown from KalaNiketan, Mumbai, to wear at the global contests, Saran says. “We realised we needed to build it into a brand.”

Choreographers, designers, stage-planners, camerapersons, and lighting experts were roped in. Meetings were set up with models.

Madhu Sapre was a swimmer and a runner — athletic and confident. “We realised that body shape and confidence were important,” says Saran. Training programmes were instituted to tap and hone the contestants’ potential. Earlier, a contestant could be just five-foot-five, says Castelino, but now she needed to stand taller. 

The organisers studied what global beauty contests looked for in the winner. The Miss Universe Organisation wanted someone who could speak at conferences and seminars, and was cerebral. Miss World looked for one who could engage in humanitarian activities — a beauty who exuded compassion, empathy and warmth. 

“We started training the girls accordingly, and would tell the judges to pick the ones who would have a good chance of winning the Miss Universe and Miss World titles,” says Saran. The winner would contest for Miss Universe and the runner-up for Miss World.

"We stopped seeing them as winner and runner-up as each would go to an international contest," says Saran. “That’s how we had a rush of wins in both these pageants.”

The contestants from South America were very beautiful, but not as articulate, she adds. 

It helped that India had just opened its economy to the world, and global firms across industries were looking to tap into its vast market. The beauty and cosmetics industry was no exception. 

Today, India ranks fourth globally in revenue generated from the beauty and personal care market. The cosmetics market alone was estimated to be worth $1.35 billion in 2023, and is projected to touch $2.27 billion by 2028, according to market advisory Mordor Intelligence.

The relevance and influence of pageants such as Miss World are now, however, a matter of debate.

Million-dollar looks

“There was a time when a winner like Aishwarya Rai could launch a million products and generate an entire industry around the beauty, fitness and fashion industry, but that no longer holds true,” says Bidapa. 

Bollywood stars today are the reigning influencer. Even a B-town starlet, with a few forgettable films in her kitty, can make an entire career of endorsements, appearances, and live performances. The general view is that beauty pageants are well past their sell-by date.
 

“Most can barely remember who the current Miss India is. In today’s inclusive world, these are an anachronism,” says Bidapa.

With beauty as a physical trait looked upon as frivolous, the pageants now go to great lengths to emphasise that they are not just about appearance. The Miss World tagline reads, “Beauty with a purpose”, and Miss Universe advocates for a future forged by women with its tagline, “Beautifully confident.”

What the Miss World earns, apart from the endorsements she might later land, is ambiguous. An email to Miss World Organisation did not elicit a response. Endemol Shine India (now merged with Banijay), the production company behind shows such as Bigg Boss and Khatron Ke Khiladi, which is producing the current Miss World event, did not respond to an email either.

The contestants, says Castelino, are now “produced” in an assembly line, beautifully sculpted and trained. They all pretty much look the same, she adds. 

Nevertheless, on March 9, Castelino will be glued to the screen to watch the finale, making her own judgement about the candidates. Beauty pageants might be passé, “but I love watching them”.

Meher Castelino, the first Femina Miss India, at the Miss Universe pageant in 1964

 

Miss World from India

Reita Faria (1966): First Indian to win an international beauty pageant. Also the first doctor to be crowned Miss World. She went back to practising medicine after winning the title and now lives in Dublin with her husband, David Powell

Aishwarya Rai (1994): Crafted a career in films after winning the title. Her debut movie was Mani Ratnam’s Iruvar. She was awarded a Padma Shri in 2012 and the French government honoured her with L’ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Order of Arts and Letters)

Diana Hayden (1997): The only Miss World to have won three sub-titles during the pageant

Yukta Mookhey (1999): Studied zoology and Hindustani classical music; has a diploma in computer sciences.

Priyanka Chopra (2000): Received a Padma Shri in 2016 and featured in Time’s 100 most influential people in the world. Forbes described her as 100 most powerful women and she was named in the BBC 100 Women list. She also starred in the ABC thriller series, Quantico, becoming the first South Asian to headline an American network drama series

Manushi Chhillar (2017): Kuchipudi dancer, trained under Raja and Radha Reddy. She was studying medicine, but dropped out. She has also starred in a few films

 

Miss Universe from India

Sushmita Sen (1994): Made history by becoming the first Miss Universe from India at the age of 18. She is known for her social activities and charitable works, alongside her acting career

Lara Dutta (2000): Made her acting debut with Andaaz and has her own line of beauty care products

Harnaaz Kaur Sandhu (2021): Besides films, she works for women empowerment and mental health awareness