Taapsee Pannu, who shot to fame for her roles in female-oriented movies, recently spoke to the press about her experience as a Miss India contestant in 2008. While she couldn’t reveal everything that happened, she did share some details.
Despite not being a professional model, Taapsee was surprised to be selected and made it to the top 28 women. However, during the grooming period, she realized it wasn’t something she could do. The expert teacher, Hemant Trivedi, humiliated her by saying that she wouldn’t have been in the top 28 if it were up to him.
She recollected “I realized during the ‘grooming period’ that this wasn’t something I could do. They’d make us walk, they taught us how to smile. Hemant Trivedi used to be the expert teacher at the time, and he humiliated me.” She added “He said, ‘If it was in my hand, you would have never been in the top 28.’”
Taapsee shared “I knew that I was walking on thin ice because there was a lot of favoritism happening there. They were making people sign contracts that strictly stipulated that contestants would have to give 30% of all their earnings for three years to the pageant. When it was over, we went for an after-party, the national director was there, and he wished me good luck for the future very courteously. I don’t know what took over me, but I told him, ‘Sir, take it from me in writing, you’re not getting the crown back’.”It had been almost a decade since an Indian had won a global pageant, and Taapsee told the national director that India stood no chance. “I don’t know why I said that. But I got a gut feeling, and I did it,” she said.
The actress also noticed favoritism and contract stipulations that required contestants to give 30% of their earnings for three years to the pageant. After the event, she went to an after-party where she told the national director that India had no chance of winning a global pageant. Taapsee said she didn’t know why she said it, but she had a gut feeling. She even told him he wouldn’t be getting the crown back.