Beauty pageants, held annually, celebrate the beauty and essence of womanhood by crowning a queen who has the potential of becoming an inspiration to thousands of women, leading in all the dimensions of beauty, intellect, and responsibility. India has always been proving its excellence in all the aspects of beauty pageants by producing most beautiful women in terms of appearance as well as intelligence.
All these descriptions have been validated by India's phenomenal victory in the year 2000 which labeled it to be the year of India's dominance in pageantry. The stunning beauties who lifted the Indian flag at the grand international stages of beauty pageants were Miss Universe 2000 Lara Dutta, Miss World 2000 Priyanka Chopra, Miss Asia Pacific International 2000 Dia Mirza.
Not only did these divas brought in the crown and the title but also made a remarkable victory in the history of pageantry by boasting their skills on the three different and equally prestigious stages in the same year.
All three of these beauty queens commenced their journey with vying for the crown of Femina Miss India 2000. The event finale revealed Lara Dutta to be crowned as the winner while Priyanka Chopra and Dia Mirza bagged the titles of first and second runners up respectively. Fulfilling their duties as the winners of Miss India 2020 contest, these divas went on to represent India in Miss Universe 2000, Miss World 2000, and Miss Asia Pacific International 2000.
Priyanka, who is a global star today, was only 18-years-old when she flaunted her skills and took over the hearts of the pageant fanatics. With her wit and elegance, she, in no time became one of the favorite contestants of the audience and it was because of her intellect and beauty that she won the crown of Miss World 2000 surpassing 95 other talented candidates of different countries. Undoubtedly, she is one of the most successful Miss World winners from India.
Lara Dutta marked her victory in every competition ever since she took her first steps into pageantry at a young age of 17 years when she won Gladrags Megamodel India competition in 1995 which gained her the right to vie for the crown of Miss Intercontinental Pageant 1997. Dutta was crowned as the winner of Miss Intercontinental 1997 thereby earning the title of Femina Miss India 2000. With her stunning figure, Dutta scored the highest in the swimsuit competition and marked the history in Miss Universe contest by securing the highest individual score in any category. At the final gala, she was crowned as Miss Universe 2000 and became the second Miss Universe from India after Miss Universe 1994, Sushmita Sen. After serving for a lot of humanitarian causes, the beauty recently launched her own line of beauty care products named Arias which is a vegetarian range of beauty products.
Dia Mirza at 19-years of age, not only became the second runner up in Miss India 2000 contest but also won the titles of Miss Beautiful Smile, Miss Avon, and Miss Close-Up Smile in the competition. Her victory marked the second time when India won the Miss Asia-Pacific crown since Tara Anne Fonseca after a long break of 27 years. Just like her Miss India 2000 compatriots, Lara Dutta and Priyanka Chopra, Mirza also made her debut in the country’s entertainment industry, Bollywood and in no time gained a huge appreciation for her adorable looks, beautiful smile, and excellent performances.
Earlier in 1994, Sushmita Sen became the first Indian to win the crown of Miss Universe whereas Aishwarya Rai, after 28 years bagged the title of Miss World 1994, becoming the second Miss World winner from India. The country has two Miss Universe crowns, six Miss World crowns and one Miss Earth crown.