In 1994, Indian pageantry witnessed a landmark year when Sushmita Sen was crowned Miss Universe and Aishwarya Rai went on to win Miss World. While the triumph of two Indian women on the global stage was celebrated, speculations of a rivalry between them have lingered for decades. Now, filmmaker Prahlad Kakkar, who worked closely with Aishwarya and was also her neighbour, has shed light on what really happened during the Miss India contest that year.
What's Happening
- Speaking to Vickey Lalwani in a recent interview, Prahlad Kakkar dismissed rumours of animosity but acknowledged that language skills played a decisive role in the outcome. "There was no rivalry as such. The reality was that Aishwarya had just started her career, she was still raw, whereas Sushmita Sen was much more polished because she came from a convent school. That was not the case with Aishwarya Rai. So, when there is a performance in English, people who are not good at that language are at a disadvantage. This is why Sushmita won in the question-answer round," Kakkar said.
- He also recalled an emotional backstage moment with Sushmita, who felt the contest was unfairly tilted towards Aishwarya. "I remember I gatecrashed the changing room and Sushmita was weeping in a corner. I asked her: 'What's the problem?' She said, 'It is all fixed. I will never win.' I was like, 'Are you stupid? Look at the jury. You think they are going to be fixed by anybody? Don't be idiotic. Don't fall for what people are saying. If you deserve it, you will get it because the jury is so powerful. You can't buy them off.' I asked her to go out and do her best. And she won. She remembered it and called me later for reassuring her."
- Meanwhile, Aishwarya was reportedly shaken by her loss. "Aishwarya was very upset that she had lost. Aishwarya believed it was nepotism that made Sushmita win. But the reality is that she lost because of the Q & A round. She also stumbled when she wore high heels. She was not used to it. Sushmita was very fluent and confident compared to Aishwarya," Kakkar revealed.
Background
The filmmaker explained that Sushmita, a newcomer at the time, doubted her chances because of Aishwarya's established status as a model. "Sushmita couldn't believe that she would win because she thought the competition was fixed for Aishwarya. It was mostly because Aishwarya was a top level model and Sushmita was a nobody. Pepsi had launched her. She was the Lakme girl. So Sushmita thought there was too much attention being paid to Aish and she would not be in the running even though she might have done better," he added.
Kakkar also pointed out that Aishwarya's limited comfort with English played a role in how she was perceived early in her career. "In the beginning of her career, she didn't have the confidence to carry herself in English. She would interview in Tulu, Konkani and even Hindi but not English. So people thought she was stand-offish, but that was not the case. In reality, she was afraid," he shared.
Despite the insecurities and assumptions at the time, both women went on to etch their names in history, Sushmita as India's first Miss Universe and Aishwarya as one of the most celebrated Miss World winners.
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