The current Femina Miss India World is Nikita Porwal from Madhya Pradesh. She was crowned by the previous titleholder, Nandini Gupta, on 16 October 2024 in Mumbai.[4]
The first Miss India was Esther Abraham, from Calcutta, who won the title in 1947. The pageant was organized by the local press.[5][6]
Indrani Rehman after being crowned Miss India 1952Miss India 1952, Indrani Rehman with former Indian Congress leader S.K. Patil, and two of the sponsors of the Miss India contest of 1952Miss India 1952 Contestants posing for the photographers at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai. Miss India 1952 winner, Indrani Rahman (third from left) and the Runner-up Suryakumari (sixth from left)
In 1952, two Miss India pageants were held. Indrani Rehman and Nutan were the winners.[7] Nutan was crowned Miss Mussorie, while Rahman was crowned at Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai.[8] Rahman later represented India at the first Miss Universe pageant in 1952.[9]
In 1953, Peace Kanwal from Punjab was crowned Miss India at the Kardar-Kolynos pageant, organized by filmmaker Abdur Rashid Kardar. She later became a Bollywood actress.[10][11]
In 1954, Leela Naidu from Maharashtra was crowned Miss India. That same year, she was featured in Vogue magazine’s list of the world’s ten most beautiful women.[12]
There was no Miss India pageant between 1955 and 1958. In 1959, Eve’s Weekly organized its first Miss India contest, with Fleur Ezekiel winning the title. She went on to represent India at Miss World 1959 in London.[13]
The first Femina Miss India pageant was held in 1964. Meher Castelino Mistri of Maharashtra was crowned the winner and represented India at Miss Universe 1964 in the United States and Miss Nations 1964 in Spain.[14]
Reita Faria became the first Miss India to win an international pageant, being crowned Miss World 1966 in London.[15] She was the winner of the Eve's Weekly Miss India contest. That same year, Yasmin Daji, the Femina Miss India winner, represented India at Miss Universe 1966 and placed third runner-up.[16]
Zeenat Aman was the first Femina Miss India winner to claim an international title when she won Miss Asia Pacific 1970 in the Philippines.[17]
In 1981, Meenakshi Seshadri became the youngest Miss India at age 17. She later became a well-known Bollywood actress.[18]
In 1994, Sushmita Sen became the first Indian to win Miss Universe, while Aishwarya Rai, the first runner-up, went on to win Miss World the same year.[19]
In 2000, all three winners from the Femina Miss India pageant—Lara Dutta, Priyanka Chopra and Dia Mirza—won Miss Universe, Miss World, and Miss Asia Pacific International, respectively.[20]
In 2002, the third winner of the Femina Miss India contest began representing India at Miss Earth instead of Miss Asia Pacific.[21]
In 2008, international choreographer Sandip Soparrkar joined as the official dance and grooming expert for the contestants, alongside experts like Dr. Sandesh Mayekar for smile design, Dr. Jamuna Pai for skin and hair care, and Sabira Merchant for etiquette.[22]
In 2010, Tantra Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. (TEPL) partnered with Sushmita Sen to launch a new pageant, I Am She – Miss Universe India, acquiring the rights to send India's representatives to Miss Universe.[23] Winners of this pageant represented India at Miss Universe from 2010 to 2012. From 2010, Femina Miss India began crowning three winners: Femina Miss India World, Femina Miss India Earth, and Femina Miss India International, with the latter representing India at Miss International.[23]
Competition irregularities
In 1989, Kalpana Pandit, who was initially declared the winner, was disqualified after it was found that she had misrepresented her nationality by holding a U.S. passport. Dolly Minhas was then crowned the winner.[24]
In 2004, Lakshmi Pandit, Kalpana Pandit’s sister, was named the winner but later gave up the title due to her marriage. Sayali Bhagat was subsequently awarded the title.[25]
In 2008, a controversy occurred when Gladrags President Maureen Wadia sent a legal notice to Harshita Saxena, the newly crowned Femina Miss India Earth 2008, for violating an exclusive two-year contract she had signed in 2006. The contract required Saxena to seek written permission from Gladrags before participating in other beauty contests. As a result, Saxena surrendered her title, and Tanvi Vyas was crowned Miss India Earth. Vyas went on to represent India at Miss Earth 2008. Saxena later placed fourth in the Femina Miss India 2009 competition and represented India at Miss International 2009.[26]
Miss India has been participating in the Miss Universe pageant since 1952, starting with Indrani Rehman and in the Miss World pageant since 1959, starting with Fleur Ezekiel.[7]
In 1991, Femina Miss India also acquired the rights to send India's representatives to Miss International pageant.[27]
In 2002, the third title was changed to Femina Miss India-Earth, to designate India's representation at the newly launched Miss Earth pageant, focused on the cause of environmental advocacy and a finalist was sent to Miss International.
In 1970, Zeenat Aman won Miss Asia Pacific 1970. She became the first Indian and South Asian woman to win the title.[30]
In 1994, Sushmita Sen won the Miss Universe title after winning the Miss India crown and became the first Indian woman ever to win the Miss Universe crown.[31] The same year the runner-up of Miss India, Aishwarya Rai, won the Miss World title.[32] Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai established themselves in the Bollywood industry after winning their titles.[33][34][35]
The success of Sen and Rai spawned coaching institutions which were set up to groom young women in pageant participation skills. The number of participants in the preliminary rounds of the pageant has increased considerably. Miss India World 1997, Diana Hayden won the title of Miss World 1997. In 1999, the Miss India World Yukta Mookhey went on to win the Miss World that year.[36][37]
In 2000, three of the Miss India winners won their respective international pageants — Lara Dutta (Miss Universe), Priyanka Chopra (Miss World) and Diya Mirza Miss Asia Pacific. The other country to have won all three major titles in one year were Australia in 1972.[38]
In 2010, after the introduction of I Am She - Miss Universe India, the third title was changed to Femina Miss India-International and the winner represented India at Miss International pageant.[citation needed]
In 2010, Nicole Faria became the first Indian to win the Miss Earth title in Vietnam, which leaves Miss International as the only major international pageant that has not been won by an Indian contestant.[39]
After May Myat Noe, the winner of Miss Asia Pacific World 2014 pageant was dethroned,[44] the organisation organised another pageant named Miss Asia Pacific 2014 Supertalent of the World Season 5 under Miss Asia Pacific World title, Swetha Raj who represented India won the crown, giving India a rare back to back to back victory, India is the only country to win any international pageant three years in a row, however Swetha was sent by Miss India Australia organisation.[45]
International winners
Reita Faria of India won Miss World 1966, and became the first Asian to do so, with India winning its first Big Four title.[46]Sushmita Sen was crowned Miss Universe 1994, becoming the country's first Miss Universe winner.[47] Later that year, Aishwarya Rai added to India's winning streak by becoming Miss World 1994, making the country the last in the twentieth century to win both Miss Universe and Miss World in the same year.[48]
Diana Hayden won the Miss World title in 1997.[49] Actor and model Yukta Mookhey was later crowned Miss World 1999.[50] Six years after Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai's double wins, Lara Dutta and Priyanka Chopra repeated this in 2000, marking the most recent time (as of 2024) that any country has won back-to-back at Miss World and, to date, the only time that any country won Miss Universe and Miss World in the same year in the 21st century.[51][52] India's appearances at the Miss Universe semifinals from 1992 to 2002 made it the first country in the Eastern Hemisphere to place annually at the pageant for at least 10 consecutive years.[citation needed]
Established in 2013, Miss Diva is a separate pageant organization from Femina Miss India, though both are owned by the Times Group. Its primary objective is to select India's representative for the Miss Universe competition through an annual national pageant.
However, in 2024, the Miss Diva organization withdrew its license to participate in Miss Universe. They have hinted at a possible return in the future. Currently, Miss Diva sends representatives only to the Miss Supranational pageant. The most recent delegate they sent competed in the 2024 edition.
The Femina Miss India did not send delegates in 1959–1970, 1972, 1975. Femina got the franchise in 1976. Femina also sent delegates to Miss World in 1971 and 1974.
^Note 1 : For Miss World 1976, India withdrew in protest against the presence of two South African entries - one white and one black - in conformity with the apartheid policy of racial separation.
^Note 2 : For Miss World 1977, India withdrew in protest against the presence of a white Miss South African representative.
^Note 3 : The candidate was disqualified from participating because she was married.
^Note 5 : For the year 2022, Miss World 2021 was rescheduled to 16 March 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in Puerto Rico, no edition started in 2022.
^Note 6 : For the year 2024, Miss World 2023 was rescheduled to 9 March 2024, no edition started in 2023.
The Femina Miss India organization did not send a delegate to Miss Asia Pacific International in the years 1984, 1990, 1991, 2004, 2006–2015, 2019 and onward.
In 2014, May Myat Noe of Myanmar was initially crowned but was later dethroned. The organizers held a new pageant, where Swetha Raj of India emerged victorious, securing India a rare three-peat win in an international pageant.
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