Don’t MISS this one

Manpriya Singh 

Quiz an average Joe walking down the road about beauty pageants and chances are he’ll say they are all about swimwear rounds, speeches on saving the world, and talents like singing, dancing and hula hoops. Quiz a former beauty queen and she’ll tell you it’s about poise, restraint and dignity. It depends on whom you are asking. Irrespective of the title and opinion of the beauty pageants, isn’t Bollywood the ultimate destination for all beauty queens? 

Miss India World 2013, Navneet Kaur Dhillon, minces no words when she says, “It’s a title and that in itself is a great honour, but what people don’t realise is that it’s not a career.” Which is why one needs to explore and find alternatives. “Vanya Mishra is doing something of her own and so are several other beauty queens. With a title you get the platform and you get introduced to so many people in such a short span of time. And films are always an attractive option. In fact, it would be nice to see Manushi Chillar in films too though we don’t know yet what she plans to do. But I always wanted to be a part of cinema,” she shares, during a short visit to her parents in Panchkula. 

Industry has enough work 

While the pageant happened in 2013, she hasn’t been either regular or prolific with films, having only been seen in Love Shhuda or more popularly the Punjabi film Ambarsariya, apart from a few more regional stints. “Films take up a lot of time, so I have been busy with them. Apart from that there are commercials and music videos; the industry has enough work and always keeps you busy,” she shares, soon to be seen in a horror film Amavas. 

“Well, it’s a horror genre and you’ll see me along with other cast members Nargis Fakhri and Sachin Joshi. I play the character of a happy-go-lucky girl, which is tough to pull off when it’s placed against a horror genre set-up.” 

An Army brat 

Ask her about the city she grew up in and she takes a moment before summing it up, “I grew up in India. Being an Army kid, my dad was posted all around the country. So I did my 9th and 10th from Ambala, my 11th, 12th from Patiala and even higher education.”

Chandigarh, I love you 

“I just have to visit Elante Mall when I come to the city now. I like the vibe of the place. Sector 17 and a softy used to figure on my list of must-dos in the city during childhood. But, unfortunately, I don’t see that happen anymore. It’s a deserted place. Howsoever hot, I also enjoyed going to the Rock Garden. Wonder if kids today do that!” 

No swimwear round for Miss America 

The Miss America Pageant on Tuesday announced that swimsuits will no longer be a part of the event, thereby making the contest a competition and not a pageant anymore. “We will no longer judge our candidates on their outward physical appearance. That’s huge,” said Gretchen Carlson, the chairperson of the Miss America board of directors. Well, that’s a huge step taken in the same direction and perhaps with the same intention as Miss World organisers did by cancelling its bikini round in 2014, after 63 long years of its existence. 

What does Navneet think of the development? “Already there is no pressure or mandate, which says that one has to participate in swimwear round; that’s great. It should be a personal choice.  Nobody’s holding a gun to your head to be a part of the industry anyway,” she shares while recalling one of the Miss World contestants who did not choose to participate or even do the shoot in a swimsuit and still walked away with a title!

manpriya@tribunemail.com