Miss India contest ropes in Bollywood heavyweights to groom winner
By ANIWednesday, January 20, 2010
MUMBAI - For aspiring actresses hoping to strike gold in Bollywood, winning a Miss India title is probably their best bet as the beauty pageant is now making it easier for contestants to achieve their dreams.
At a press conference here on Tuesday, organisers of the Femina Miss India pageant announced they have tied up with some of the biggest names in the Indian film industry to train the pageant winner for her big break in Bollywood.
The group of coaches include filmmakers Madhur Bhandarkar and Vipul Shah, choreographer Shiamak Dawar, along with veteran actor Anupam Kher, who has run an acting school for the last five years.
“For the last ten or twelve years, the girl who has won Miss India, Miss World or Miss Universe, her next destination has been the film industry,” said Kher.
Both Shah and Bhandarkar announced that the winner would be cast in their next films, for which Kher and Dawar would train her in acting and dance.
Bhandarkar said the initiative will bring a focused element to the training process but it may not just be about the winner taking all.
“It depends on their talent. It’s not necessarily the winner who is the most talented. If a contestant who hasn’t won has the potential, then we’ll still take her under our wings and prepare her,” said Bhandarkar.
In the past several years, many beauty pageant winners joined the Indian film industry, with some of them achieving notable success. (ANI)
