Manasa Varanasi to represent India at Miss World: A lookback at previous winners

23-year-old Manasa Varanasi from Telangana was on Wednesday crowned as Miss India World 2020. The financial information exchange analyst was among the top five contestants that included Miss India Haryana Manika Sheokand, Miss India Uttar Pradesh Manya Singh, Miss India Gujarat Khusi Misra and Miss India Karnataka Rati Hulji. Hosted by actor Aparshakti Khurana, this year the Femina Miss India beauty pageant was held digitally due to COVID-19 pandemic.

Like every year, Manasa will now represent India in Miss World pageant. India had first won the Miss World pageant in 1966 and last won it in 2017. This time too all hopes would be on Manasa to bring the title back to India after a wait of four years. Lets take a look at the past Miss World winners from India:

Reita Faria (1966)

The first Indian woman to win the Miss World beauty pageant, Reita Faria was also honoured with the titles ‘Best in Swimsuit’ and ‘Best in Eveningwear’ along with the main title. Despite being offered a number of films, Faria focused on continuing with her medical studies and moved to London to study in King’s College Hospital after completing her MBBS in Mumbai. 

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (1994)

28 years after India’s first win at the beauty pageant, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was crowned Miss World in 1994. Following her victory, Aishwarya entered the film industry and made her debut with Mani Ratnam’s 1997 Tamil film ‘Iruva’.

Diana Hayden (1997)

Diana Hayden from Hyderabad won the Miss World title in 1997. Following the contest, she appeared in a couple of commercials as well as Bollywood films. She was also seen in the reality show ‘Bigg Boss’ in 2008. 

Yukta Mookhey (1999)

Yukta Mookhey from Bangalore won the pageant in 1999. Along with a diploma degree in computer sciences, Yukta also studied Zoology as well as Hindustani classical music for three years.

Priyanka Chopra (2000)

Priyanka Chopra was crowned Miss World in 2000 and made her Bollywood debut three years later in the film, ‘The Hero: Love Story of a Spy’. She has since then worked in a number of award winning films in Bollywood and is also an active Hollywood personality.

Manushi Chhillar (2017)

It took 17 years for the next Indian to win the Miss World pageant when Manushi Chhillar won it in 2017. Following her victory, she appeared in television commercials and is soon expected to make her Bollywood debut.