Stardom has greeted all the Miss Indias :TOI

Success stories from down South

Stardom has greeted all the Miss Indias who've tried their luck in the South film industry

If most beauty queens prefer to debut down South before trying their luck in Bollywood, the reason's not too hard to guess. The South film industry has always welcomed talent, especially those from the institution of the Miss India pageant, which completes 50 years in 2013. Since decades, beauty queens have reigned the South entertainment industry, thanks to the plethora of opportunities available to them.
Be it Miss World 1994 Aishwarya Rai Bachchan or Miss Universe 1994 Sushmita Sen, the cinema of the South has always given incredible debut opportunities to the ladies. Both Sushmita and Aishwarya forayed into the industry in 1997 with Tamil movies. While Sush debuted with Ratchagan, Ash's first film was Iruvar (later dubbed in Telegu as Iddaru). Miss India Universe 1984 Juhi Chawla soared high at the box office with hits like the Kannada film Premloka and the Tamil film Paruva Ragam. Miss Asia Pacific 1993 first runner-up Namrata Shirodkar essayed unforgettable characters in Ezhupunna Tharakan, Vamsi and Anji. Her other films like Kindari Jog, Vicky Dada, Shanti Kranti and Nattukku Oru Nallavan gave her career a massive boost.
Subsequent years have opened the gates further for Miss India winners to enter the South industry. Examples include the debut of beauty-queens-turned-actresses like Miss Universe 2000 Lara Dutta, Miss India Universe 2001 Celina Jaitly and Miss India Universe 2002 Neha Dhupia. Even the newer Miss Indias, including Miss India Universe 2004 Tanushree Dutta, Miss India World 2004 Sayali Bhagat and Miss World 2008 first runner-up Parvathy Omanakuttan have created a niche for themselves in the South. In fact, Parvathy's role in 2012's Billa 2 was highly appreciated.

Miss Asia Pacific 1993 first runner-up Namrata Shirodkar

Miss Universe 2000 Lara Dutta

Miss World 2008 first runnerup Parvathy Omanakuttan

Miss India World 2004 Sayali Bhagat

Miss India Universe 2001 Celina Jaitly

Miss India Universe 2004 Tanushree Dutta

Miss World 1994 Aishwarya Rai Bachchan