India is chanting ‘bring the crown back’, as Nandini Gupta is all set to take the stage as one of the 18 contestants who have ‘fast tracked’ their way into the Top 40 category at the 72nd Miss World contest on Saturday evening at Hitex Exhibition Centre in Hyderabad.
If Gupta wins the pageant, she will be the seventh one from India to take the crown – Manushi Chillar was the last one to win in 2017. Gupta booked her spot at Top 40 by winning the sub event Miss World Top Model on May 24.
In an interview to PTI Videos, Gupta had said she came to know about the pageant after she watched ‘Devdas’ and started digging about Aishwaraya Rai. “My mother was watching ‘Devdas’ on DVD, I was mesmerised looking at Aishwarya’s beauty, and I asked my mother, ‘Who is she?’ She said, ‘She is Miss World’. I was like ‘How do you become that?’,” Gupta had told PTI, right after she won the Miss India crown.
ut it is not going to be easy for this beauty queen from Rajasthan. For instance, Thailand’s Suchata Chuangsri is a seasoned pageantry participant, too. She has already represented her country in Miss Universe 2024, finishing third runner-up.
With an ease, Chuangsri flipped her narrative a couple of days ago on her Instagram page, winning herself a spot at Top 40. “This wasn’t just about representing Thailand. It’s about the many women who haven’t been heard — and using my voice to stand for something that really matters,” she wrote, making it clear that she might have an edge at the crucial question-answer round that often make or break a candidate.