Miss India or Femina Miss India is a national beauty pageant in India that annually selects representatives to compete in Miss World, one of the Big Four major international beauty pageants.^[1] It is organised by Femina, a women's magazine published by The Times Group.^[2][3]

The reigning Femina Miss India (Femina Miss India World) titleholder is Nandini Gupta of Rajasthan who was crowned by the outgoing titleholder Sini Sadanand Shetty on 15 April 2023 at Imphal, Manipur.

History

The first Miss India was Pramila (Esther Victoria Abraham), from Calcutta, who won in 1947.^[4][5] It was organised by the local press.

In 1952, two Miss India pageants were held, Indrani Rehman and Nutan were the winners of the pageant.^[6] Nutan was crowned as Miss Mussorie.^[7] The pageant was held by the local press. Indrani Rehman was crowned at Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai in the month of April 1952. Indrani later represented India at Miss Universe 1952, the inaugural edition of Miss Universe pageant.^[8]

In 1953, Peace Kanwal from Punjab was crowned Miss India 1953 at KARDAR-KOLYNOS Pageant. The pageant was organised by Abdur Rashid Kardar.^[9] She later established herself as a Bollywood actress.^[10]

In 1954, Leela Naidu from Maharashtra was declared Miss India, and the same year was featured in Vogue magazine's list of the world's ten most beautiful women.^[11]

There was no Miss India pageant from 1955 to 1958. In 1959, Eve's Weekly organised its very first Miss India contest called Eve's Weekly Miss India to send India's representatives to the Miss World pageant. Fleur Ezekiel was crowned the eventual winner. She represented India at Miss World 1959 held in London, United Kingdom.

The first Femina Miss India pageant was held in year 1964. Meher Castelino Mistri of Maharashtra was crowned the first Femina Miss India. She was chosen to represent India at Miss Universe 1964 held in the United States and Miss Nations 1964 held in Spain.^[12]

Reita Faria was the first Miss India ever to win any international beauty pageant. She was crowned Miss World 1966 in London, United Kingdom.^[13] She was the winner of Eve's Weekly Miss India contest. The same year Femina Miss India winner Yasmin Daji represented India at Miss Universe 1966 and was crowned 3rd Runner-up at the event. She was the first Femina Miss India Winner to get placed at any international beauty pageant.^[14]

Zeenat Aman was the first Femina Miss India titleholder to win an international pageant. She was crowned Femina Miss India Asia Pacific and went on to win Miss Asia Pacific 1970 held in Philippines.^[15]

Meenakshi Seshadri the youngest contestant who won the title, She won the Miss India contest at the age of 17 in the year 1981 and was known for phenomenal acting in 'Hero' 'Damini', 'Ghayal' and 'Ghatak'. She quit the industry very early and got married.

In 1993 Miss Femina India, Vaishali Sood, daughter of Cdr Sudhir Sood, who was the winner of the 1991 Navy May Queen Ball, stood second runner up. She went on to act in a Bollywood Movie, Mr Bond, starring Akshay Kumar.^{[citation needed]}

In 2002, the third winner was designated to Miss Earth instead of Miss Asia Pacific.^[16]

In 2000 internationally renowned dance choreographer Sandip Soparrkar joint them as official dance and grooming expert and his association continues with the pageant along with experts from other fields like Dr. Sandesh Mayekar for smile design, Dr. Jamuna Pai for skin and hair and Sabira Merchant for etiquette.

In 2010, after the I Am She - Miss Universe India acquired the rights to send India's representatives to Miss Universe, Femina Miss India crowned three winners as Femina Miss India World, Femina Miss India Earth and Femina Miss India International, the third winner represented India in Miss International pageant.^[17]

In 2010, Tantra Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. (TEPL), in partnership with Sushmita Sen, started a new pageant called I Am She – Miss Universe India. The winner of this pageant participated in the Miss Universe pageant from 2010 to 2012.^[17]

Competition irregularities

In 2008, Gladrags President Maureen Wadia provided legal notice to newly crowned Femina Miss India Earth 2008, Harshita Saxena for violating an exclusive two-year contract with Gladrags that had been signed by Harshita in 2006. To participate in any other beauty pageant, Harshita would need a written letter of no objection from Gladrags. Harshita surrendered the title and the crown went to Tanvi Vyas, who represented India at the Miss Earth 2008 pageant held in November 2008. Later, Harshita was ranked fourth at Femina Miss India 2009 and represented India at Miss International 2009.^[18] Harshita was later placed fourth in Miss India 2009 and represented India in Miss International 2009.

In 2004, Lakshmi Pandit (Kalpana Pandit's sister) was initially declared the winner, but had to return the title as she was married (to Siddarth Mishra); Sayali Bhagat was finally declared the winner.^[19]

In 1989, the winner Kalpana Pandit was found to have misrepresented her nationality (she had a US passport); she was stripped of her title and Dolly Minhas was declared the winner.^[20]

India in international pageants

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.^[6]

In the 1970s, Femina acquired the rights to send a representative to Miss World as well, and started to send the winner to Miss Universe and the runner-up to the Miss World contest.^{[citation needed]} Later in 1991, Femina Miss India also acquired the rights to send India's representatives to Miss International pageant.^[21]

In 1994, following India's historic dual wins at both Miss Universe and Miss World, the custom of crowning a single winner was discontinued. Instead, the top three placers were designated winners with equal visibility, equal prizes and responsibilities, and were crowned as Femina Miss India-Universe, Femina Miss India-World, and Femina Miss India-Asia Pacific and a finalist was sent to Miss International.^{[citation needed]} 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.

From 2007 to 2009, three equal winners were selected going to Miss Universe, Miss World, and Miss Earth.^[22][23] In 2010, I Am She - Miss Universe India acquired the rights to send India's representatives to Miss Universe. Later, in 2013 The Times Group again acquired the rights to send India's representatives to Miss Universe and launched a new pageant for Miss Universe named Miss Diva.

In 1970, Zeenat Aman won Miss Asia Pacific 1970. She became the first Indian and South Asian woman to win the title.^[24]

The awards for 1989 were given at the end of the year (December); hence there was no separate contest for 1990.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[25] The same year the runner-up of Miss India, Aishwarya Rai, won the Miss World title.^[26] Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai established themselves in the Bollywood industry after winning their titles.^[27][28][29]

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.^[30][31]

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.^[32]

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.

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.^[33]

In 2012, Himangini Singh Yadu won Miss Asia Pacific World 2012 and became first Indian and Asian to win the pageant. She was sent by I Am She - Miss Universe India pageant.^[34]

In 2013, Srishti Rana won Miss Asia Pacific World 2013 giving India a rare back to back victory. She is the second Indian and first Miss Diva Winner to win Miss Asia Pacific World Crown. She is also the first Indian delegate to win an international pageant that has been sent by Femina Miss India's sister pageant, Miss Diva.^[35]

In 2014, Asha Bhat, Miss Diva Supranational 2014 won Miss Supranational 2014 and became the first Indian woman to win the crown.^[36] Asha is the second Asian to win the crown. The same year Ruhi Singh who was crowned the first Femina Miss India Universal Peace and Humanity won the first Miss Universal Peace and Humanity pageant held in Lebanon.^[37]

After May Myat Noe, the winner of Miss Asia Pacific World 2014 pageant was dethroned,^[38] 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.^[39]

International victories

When Reita Faria of India won Miss World 1966, she became the first Asian to do so, and India won its first Big Four title.^[40] Sushmita Sen was crowned Miss Universe 1994, becoming the country's first Miss Universe winner.^[41] 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.^[42]

Diana Hayden then won the Miss World title in 1997.^[43] Actor and model Yukta Mookhey was later crowned Miss World 1999.^[44] Six years after Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai's double wins, Lara Dutta and Priyanka Chopra replicated the feat 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.^[45][46] 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.

In 2010, Nicole Faria from Bangalore became the first Indian woman to win the Miss Earth pageant. Manushi Chhillar won the Miss World 2017 title.^[47][48] In 2021, Harnaaz Sandhu became the third Indian woman to win Miss Universe title, becoming the most recent Big 4 pageant titleholder from India as of 2024

The following is the list of Indian winners in the Big Four international beauty pageants:

The following is the list of Indian winners in various other international pageants:

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