Mumbai, October 21 – In a glittering ceremony attended by Bollywood personalities Akshay Kumar and Esha Gupta, Bangalore girl Noyonita Lodh was crowned Yamaha Fascino Miss Diva Universe 2014 here last evening.
The 21-year-old winner, who saw off competition from 14 contestants, will now represent India at the Miss Universe pageant to be held in Miami, US. 22-year-old Alankrita Sahaia, a student from Delhi and another Bangalore girl Asha Bhat, an engineering student, were declared the first and second runner-up respectively at the pageant’s finale.
Lodh, a student of St Joseph’s College of Commerce, also won the sub-contest title of Miss Rampwalk at the pageant. At the age of 18 she was the second runner-up at the Miss Bangalore beauty contest. Lodh, a firm believer of women empowerment, wants to make significant contribution towards it.
The grand finale was judged by a galaxy of eminent personalities from different walks of life, including, former Miss India and actress Esha and Bollywood star Akshay, who also performed at the event.
The divas were dressed by ace designer duo Shantanu and Nikhil. The collection represented ‘Rani Sultanat’, a story of a queen who is couture herself and where no one ever talks about her demise. Their hair and make-up were done by Dessange Paris.
The event was hosted by actress and former Miss Universe Lara Dutta, who has mentored the contestants right from the beginning. This year’s auditions that took place across the length and breadth of the country aimed at finding contestants with the finest combination of utmost beauty and smartness.
The selection process, which was aired on Zee Cafe in the form of a TV series, saw the weakest link eliminated at the end of every episode where the tasks were judged by experts from fashion and Hindi film industry like Sonam Kapoor, Randeep Hooda, Kunal Kapoor, Rana Daggubati, Falguni and Shane Peacock among others. So far, India has won the Miss Universe title twice- actress Sushmita Sen in 1994 and Lara in 2000.
-INDIA TODAY
