One of the most significant Indian beauty pageants in history will always be the Miss India 1994 competition. In addition to bringing two Indian beauties to the world by winning the titles of Miss Universe and Miss World, Miss India 1994 provided Indian cinema two of its most famous divas, Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai. Filmmaker Prahlad Kakkar disclosed that, despite the fact that both of them represented India with pride on the international front, Sushmita was certain that Aishwarya would win the title before she won Miss India and competed for Miss Universe.
According to Prahlad Kakkar, Sushmita Sen thought the Miss India pageant was rigged to benefit Aishwarya Rai.
Prahlad Kakkar, who had introduced Aishwarya Rai in Pepsi advertisements, stated in an interview with Vickey Lalwani that Sushmita Sen was discouraged by the perception that the Miss India competition was rigged in favour of the former. “The newcomer felt that a lot of attention was being paid to her because Sushmita was a ‘nobody’ and Aishwarya was the ‘Lakme girl’ and a top model,” Prahlad remarked. The director claimed to have witnessed Sushmita sobbing about this in the changing room and attempted to allay her fears. Shared by Prahlad Kakkar:
“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.”
According to Prahlad Kakkar, Aishwarya Rai’s poor English proficiency cost her the title of Miss India.
According to Prahlad Kakkar, there was no rivalry between Aishwarya Rai and Sushmita Sen, despite what the majority of stories at the time indicated. But after Sushmita defeated her to win the Miss India title, the Devdas actor was furious. The director claimed that Sushmita’s superior poise and self-assurance over Aishwarya were the reasons she won Miss India. Prahlad added that Sushmita’s convent education helped her perform better in the Q&A round, whereas Aishwarya’s English speaking abilities were less proficient. Prahlad Kakkar was cited in the interview as saying:
“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.”
Prahlad Kakkar went on to talk about his neighbour Aishwarya’s early proficiency in English. He disclosed that she gave interviews in numerous other Indian languages but never in English since she felt uneasy speaking the language. The director stated:
“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.”
What do you think of Aishwarya Rai’s alleged lack of fluency in English, which prevented her from winning Miss India?
