At the NDTV Yuva Conclave session titled "The Beauty of Business," actor, model, and businesswoman Manushi Chhillar shared insights about what "beauty" truly means and how it varies from person to person. The actress, who won the Miss World 2017 pageant, spoke about the key requirements when competing in such pageants. She also addressed pertinent themes regarding "beauty standards" in the society and her own experience of facing body shaming.
Manushi Chhillar On Dealing With Body Shaming
Manushi Chhillar addressed the ongoing conversations around body shaming and unrealistic beauty standards for women, which often cause stress.
Responding to whether any such "physical" beauty standards are also present when it comes to winning pageants, she said, "Absolutely not."
She added, "When Harnaaz (Kaur Sandhu) and I couldn't escape these body-shaming comments, then what can you say? It is just present in our society. But it has nothing to do with beauty pageants."
"Sometimes it is good to shut out the outside noise. Because if you start listening to others' opinions, you will never be happy. You will move forward in life when you listen to your mentor and follow their advice. Sometimes you have to consciously ignore the rest. It does not matter what the whole world thinks about you, but what you think about yourself, and the self-love and self-care you have towards yourself, should always be protected. I have always practised that. I didn't bother much when I was a medical student, but the scale heightened when I became Miss World. Mostly, criticism from strangers is a projection of their insecurity; it has nothing to do with you. If you understand that, you can filter out what to listen to and what you do not need."
"Confidence Is The Most Important Quality"
Manushi Chhillar brought the Miss World crown back to India 17 years after Priyanka Chopra's win in 2000. She had previously been crowned Femina Miss India World 2017, which gave her the right to represent India at the international competition. The Maalik actress shared some wisdom on the most important quality to have when competing in such beauty pageants.
Manushi Chhillar said, "Confidence is the most important quality that you have to have when you go there."
Manushi Chhillar On Mental Health
Manushi Chhillar shared that her journey has been different because she had varied exposure while growing up. She revealed that, since childhood, she was trained to have immense self-confidence.
"Even in the school where we studied, we were encouraged to work on ourselves. We were asked what we wanted to be when we grew up. No matter how silly your answer was, it was always celebrated and encouraged. So, I am very grateful that I grew up in an environment where my ambitions were nurtured."
Work
This year, Manushi Chhillar had two releases - Maalik (July 2025) and Tehran (August 2025). Her debut film was Samrat Prithviraj in 2022 alongside Akshay Kumar.
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