Best Miss India World Winners Since 2001
Miss India World winners have always done well at the Miss World pageant. India has won 5 Miss World crowns, the last being the one on the head of the Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra in the Miss World 2000 pageant. Miss World pageant seems to prefer well-educated and smart girls, from good family backgrounds, who are “not just a pretty face” but have a well-rounded package to offer, in terms of being a beauty queen. India had a golden period at Miss World in 1990s. However, since 2001 there has been some struggle. Although number of girls have placed and some have done exceptionally well, India still awaits the 6th Miss World crown. Still, that doesn’t really rob away the fact that Miss India World winners since 2001 have been a good batch. It’s just that since 2000s, many countries have become much more serious about pageants and number of girls come well prepared for the contests. Also, the expectations from the pageants are changing in the recent years. While Miss Universe is becoming more focused on physical beauty and stage confidence, Miss World is giving importance to other facets like social work, talent, sports skills, etc. Let us see how long does it take for India to get the 6th crown!
7th Rank – Miss India World 2005 – Sindhura Gadde
Sindhura Gadde is one unconventional beauty queen. She worked as a model and TV host in New Zealand before coming back to home country to compete in the most coveted beauty contest. She was confident in front of camera and gave good answers in Miss India finals. She expressed her desire to invent a cure for cancer in the last round of Miss India. In Miss World, her “Vote For Me” video was one of the most best ones. She came across as a very confident, bright, exuberant and well-spoken girls. In the final show, she made it to the semi-finalists level along with Miss Philippines Carlene Aguilar and Miss Korea Eun-Young. Miss Korea Eun-Young, the winner of the first ever ‘Beauty With A Purpose‘ award, was chosen as Miss World Asia-Pacific 2005. Sindhura later tried her luck in films before finally settling down with her boyfriend.
6th Rank – Miss India World 2009 – Pooja Chopra
Pooja Chopra won Miss India East 2009 and made it to the Top 10 of Femina Miss India 2009. Her dramatic answers did bring chuckles too few faces, but her confidence was noted and hence she won one of the two main titles in the finals. The story of Pooja and her mother became highly popular on the internet. Pooja Chopra did well in the sports section (Top 6) and ended up winning the first ever ‘Beauty With A Purpose’ award for India. She had a minor accident and hence appeared with a strap on her feet in finals. Due to the award, she was in the Top 16. She could not progress further.
5th Rank – Miss India World 2006 – Natasha Suri
Natasha Suri had a fabulous body and a very calm presence. Her answers in Miss India finals were impressive. She finished third in the ‘Beach Beauty‘ fast-track at Miss World and cracked the Top 10 in Talent round with her dancing. She was 2nd runner-up in Dress Designer’s Award too. In the finals, she tied with Miss Australia Sabrina Houssami for a spot in Top 17 from Asia-Pacific region. Later, Sabrina placed over Natasha from Asia-Pacific and went on to finish third in the pageant won by Miss Czech Republic Tatana Kucharova.
4th Rank – Miss India World 2003 – Ami Vashi
Ami Vashi from Los Angeles represented India at Miss World 2003 and surprisingly finished as a Top 5 finalist. She even placed in the Top 21 of Talent round. She is a dancer.
3rd Rank – Miss India World 2014 – Koyal Rana
Koyal Rana finished as a Top 10 finalist in Miss World 2014 and yet we place her above Ami Vashi because Koyal did exceptionally well in the pre-pageant activities. She placed in all events except talent. She was Top 32 in Sports & Fitness. She was Top 5 in Beach Fashion. She was Top 5 in Multimedia. She was Top 20 in Top Model. She was Top 5 (winner) in Beauty With A Purpose. She topped the leader-board in the finals and won the continental queen title for Asia.
2nd Rank – Miss India World 2012 – Vanya Mishra
Alright, we admit that choosing between Vanya Mishra & Koyal Rana was difficult. However, we decided to place Vanya higher simply because Vanya speaks well, much better than Koyal. Although Koyal placed in most of the fast-tracks, Vanya comes as a over-all package compared to Koyal. For a good beauty queen, it is important for a girl to be good in personality and communication skills. Vanya had that one down for herself! She won Beauty With A Purpose & Multimedia awards too. She was in Top 16 of Interviews. She was in Top 40 of Beach Fashion and Top 46 of Top Model. She even performed in Dances Of The World. She was impressive in the finals, in terms of looks as well as presence. Her final answer was also nice. She finished a Top 7 finalist. Miss World 2012 title went to Yu Wenxia of China.
1st Rank – Miss India World 2008 – Parvathy Omanakuttan
Parvathy Omanakuttan transformed herself from Miss India South 2008 to Miss India 2008 and then from Miss India 2008 to Miss World 2008. Her immense focus is visible in the transformation. She was always a very confident speaker. In Miss World, she finished as 2nd runner-up in Top Model and Top 10 in Beach Beauty. In a beautiful white gown, she presented herself to the world with a ‘Namaste’ and gave a very confident answer in the last round. She finished as the first runner-up to Miss Russia Ksenia Sukhinova.
Thus, gorgeous Miss India World winners like Parvathy, Vanya, Koyal and others have beautifully represented India at Miss World pageant in recent years. Let us see when does the Miss World powerhouse get it’s 6th crown! Can Aditi Arya do it this year itself? Time will only tell.
Image Credits: Facebook Pages of the girls & Femina Miss India