Miss India or Femina Miss India is a national beauty pageant in India that annually selects representatives to compete in Miss World, one of the Big Four major international beauty pageants. It is organised by Femina, a women's magazine published by The Times Group. Since 2013 to 2022, Femina also organised Miss Diva as a separate competition, with representatives competing at Miss Universe.
The reigning Femina Miss India (Femina Miss India World) titleholder is Nandini Gupta of Rajasthan who was crowned by the outgoing titleholder Sini Sadanand Shetty on 15 April 2023 at Imphal, Manipur.
History
The first Miss India was Pramila (Esther Victoria Abraham), from Calcutta, who won in 1947. It was organised by the local press.
In 1952, two Miss India pageants were held, Indrani Rehman and Nutan were the winners of the pageant. Nutan was crowned as Miss Mussorie. The pageant was held by the local press. Indrani Rehman was crowned at Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai in the month of April 1952. Indrani later represented India at Miss Universe 1952, the inaugural edition of Miss Universe pageant.
In 1953, Peace Kanwal from Punjab was crowned Miss India 1953 at KARDAR-KOLYNOS Pageant. The pageant was organised by Abdur Rashid Kardar. She later established herself as a Bollywood actress.
In 1954, Leela Naidu from Maharashtra was declared Miss India, and the same year was featured in Vogue magazine's list of the world's ten most beautiful women.
There was no Miss India pageant from 1955 to 1958. In 1959, Eve's Weekly organised its very first Miss India contest called Eve's Weekly Miss India to send India's representatives to the Miss World pageant. Fleur Ezekiel was crowned the eventual winner. She represented India at Miss World 1959 held in London, United Kingdom.
The first Femina Miss India pageant was held in year 1964. Meher Castelino Mistri of Maharashtra was crowned the first Femina Miss India. She was chosen to represent India at Miss Universe 1964 held in the United States and Miss Nations 1964 held in Spain.
Reita Faria was the first Miss India ever to win any international beauty pageant. She was crowned Miss World 1966 in London, United Kingdom. She was the winner of Eve's Weekly Miss India contest. The same year Femina Miss India winner Yasmin Daji represented India at Miss Universe 1966 and was crowned 3rd Runner-up at the event. She was the first Femina Miss India Winner to get placed at any international beauty pageant.
Zeenat Aman was the first Femina Miss India titleholder to win an international pageant. She was crowned Femina Miss India Asia Pacific and went on to win Miss Asia Pacific 1970 held in Philippines.
Meenakshi Seshadri the youngest contestant who won the title, She won the Miss India contest at the age of 17 in the year 1981 and was known for phenomenal acting in 'Hero' 'Damini', 'Ghayal' and 'Ghatak'. She quit the industry very early and got married.
In 1993 Miss Femina India, Vaishali Sood, daughter of Cdr Sudhir Sood, who was the winner of the 1991 Navy May Queen Ball, stood second runner up. She went on to act in a Bollywood Movie, Mr Bond, starring Akshay Kumar.
In 2002, the third winner was designated to Miss Earth instead of Miss Asia Pacific.
In 2010, after the I Am She - Miss Universe India acquired the rights to send India's representatives to Miss Universe, Femina Miss India crowned three winners as Femina Miss India World, Femina Miss India Earth and Femina Miss India International, the third winner represented India in Miss International pageant.
In 2010, Tantra Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. (TEPL), in partnership with Sushmita Sen, started a new pageant called I Am She – Miss Universe India. The winner of this pageant participated in the Miss Universe pageant from 2010 to 2012.
Competition irregularities
In 2008, Gladrags President Maureen Wadia provided legal notice to newly crowned Femina Miss India Earth 2008, Harshita Saxena for violating an exclusive two-year contract with Gladrags that had been signed by Harshita in 2006. To participate in any other beauty pageant, Harshita would need a written letter of no objection from Gladrags. Harshita surrendered the title and the crown went to Tanvi Vyas, who represented India at the Miss Earth 2008 pageant held in November 2008. Later, Harshita was ranked fourth at Femina Miss India 2009 and represented India at Miss International 2009. Harshita was later placed fourth in Miss India 2009 and represented India in Miss International 2009.