From Sushmita Sen To Harnaaz Sandhu: Retracing India's Miss Universe Journey

Miss Universe Winners: It is not every year that we see an Indian being crowned at a pageant where 80 delegates participated. The last time we rejoiced was when Manushi Chhillar was named Miss World in 2017. On December 13, India's Harnaaz Sandhu brought joy to the nation as she was crowned Miss Universe 2021.

In the 70th Miss Universe Pageant, which was held at Eilat in Israel, Harnaaz Sandhu was crowned by the former winner of the pageant Andrea Meza. She became the third Indian to win the title of the event that was live broadcasted in 160 countries and territories across the globe.

Sandhu's win was celebrated by people from all quarters. The former Miss Universe title winners from India, Lara Dutta, Sushmita Sen and Priyanka Chopra took to their social media handles and congratulated Sandhu. Sen wrote, "Thank for representing India so beautifully!! May you reign supreme." Chopra posted her picture on her Instagram stories and praised for bringing back the crown to India after more than two decades.

She took to her social media handle on Monday much later after she was announced as the Miss Universe 2021 and expressed gratitude towards everyone who helped in her journey in separate posts. In a post, she wrote a lengthy message about how her win is dedicated to her motherland India and wrote, "India, this one is for you." As per reports, Sandhu will be moving to New York to carry out her work as a spokesperson of several causes including the Miss Universe pageant's. She will advocate for menstrual equality.

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Her win has taken most of us back to the years when Indian beauty queens brought pride to the country on international platforms. However, it might come across as a surprise to many that while we have many Miss World titles to our name, this is only the third time an Indian has been crowned Miss Universe.

Here's reliving India's Miss Universe journey, from where it all began in 1994, to our latest triumph in 2021:

Sushmita Sen 

In the year 1994, two Indians competed against each other for the title of Miss India. It was Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. While one won the pageant and went on to win the title of Miss Universe in the same year (Sushmita Sen), the runner-up of the event went on to win the Miss World crown(Aishwarya Rai Bachchan). India had double the reason to celebrate. Sushmita Sen won the title Miss Universe title on May 21, 1994, in the Philippines, all at the age of 19.

She followed up her modelling career with a stint in Bollywood- with films like Dastak, Sirf Tum, Main Hoon Na and Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya? Sen revived her career with the OTT series Aarya whose second season was released just last week. Sen is also mom to two adopted daughters- Renee and Alisah.

Lara Dutta Bhupathi

Model and actor, Lara Dutta Bhupathi is the second Indian to win the Miss Universe title. Not only that, she created history in 2000 with her outstanding performance and her score of 9.99 out of ten at the pageant, securing the highest marks in the swimsuit round and final interview.

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The year she was crowned, protests took place in Cyprus on the pageant disrespecting women. She was asked a question on it and how would she convince them wrong. To this, Dutta had replied, "I think pageants like the Miss Universe Pageant gives us young women a platform to foray into the fields that we want to and forge ahead, be it entrepreneurship, be it armed force, be it politics. It gives us a platform to voice our choices and opinions and makes us strong, independent that we are today."

Since then the model and actor from Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh has been acting in movies. She has been part of Hindi films like Andaaz, Masti, No Entry and recently she played the role of Indira Gandhi in Akshay Kumar starrer Bell Bottom.

Harnaaz Sandhu 

The 21-year-old became the third Indian to win the Miss Universe title, after a hiatus of 21 years. Hailing from Punjab, the actor and model, whose name means 'god's pride' won the title on December 13, today.

Suggested Reading: Who Is Harnaaz Sandhu? Winner Of Miss Universe 2021

She is currently pursuing her Master's degree in public administration. Earlier this year, she was also crowned as the LIVA Miss Diva Universe. The Chandigarh-base model, Harnaaz Sandhu has also worked in Punjabi films like Yaara Diyan Poo Baran and Bai Ji Kuttange.

Earlier in the interview, she had disclosed that she was body-shamed for being 'very skinny' but that experience just made her stronger. Read more.