Sunday, June 18, 2000		Article

...and then a winner was made!

By Anjana Sarin

THERE is more in common than sharing Bengali surnames and an armed forces background between the two Miss Universe title holders India has produced — Sushmita Sen, and Lara Dutta. Both have come up the hard way, having subjected themselves to a rigorous regimen that has been almost patented by India.

In fact, a joke going around Bombay’s elite fashion circles is that the "secret recipe of the beauty potion made by the Gauls has been appropriated by Indian copycats"! How else would you explain conventional bharatiya naris breaking the monopoly of beauty superpowers like Venezuela, Columbia and Spain?

The truth is that the sub-continent has its own pageant production unit with a team of never-say-never, indefatigable beauty druids who have perfected the art of creating Miss Worlds and Miss Universes out of ordinary, middle-class girls.

As media personality Sabira Merchant points out: "We have mastered the art of winning. We always had beautiful contestants, but now our team of experts has done away with all the ‘buts’ in the business. Nothing is left to chance."

As one who takes care of the Miss India contestants’ diction, Merchant points out that out of a perfect score of 100, grooming accounts for 50 marks at international pageants and the rest of the credit goes for individual excellence and merit.

"This year’s contest had ravishing girls," she explains. "But when some of them opened their mouths, they fell flat. In comparison, Lara had a good command over English and good modulation. It was just that she was a bit shy. But she is a great learner.

Makeovers, workouts, meditation, haute couture... all go into the making of a winner. Bombay-based cosmetic dentist Sandesh Mayekar is in charge of producing the perfect smile while Bharat and Doris Godambe take care of the hip hairdos and make-up magic.

Fitness gurus Mickey Mehta and Rama Bans get the contestant’s body basics right, while dietician Anjali Mukherjee prescribes the right mix of carbohydrates and juices and dermatologist Jamuna Pai takes care of that very important part of beauty, that is skin deep.

"Lara had good skin to start with, so I did not have to work very hard. But I had to take care of the patchiness that develops because of extreme exposure to heat. She had to come every seven to ten days for skin toning, hydration, moisturising and lightening."

Fashion designer Ritu Kumar, who co-designed Lara’s wardrobe with Hemant Trivedi, feels Lara had it in her all the way: "I designed even her everyday dresses. Indian textiles and garments lend themselves to such variety that it’s exciting to design a whole range.

"Besides, Lara has a fabulous figure and she’s comfortable both in sarees and trousers. The lehnga-choli we designed got her the runner-up prize in the national costume round. The best part is that she manages to carry off whatever she wears with confidence."

It is her "supreme confidence" that the Duttas are also talking about these days. As the youngest of three daughters of an air force pilot, Lara was not only conscious of her looks but had decided to be a beauty queen before she has turned seven.

Once out of school, she lapped up all things newsworthy, polished her speech and shed four kilos to weigh a cool 53 kg on a 5’8" frame. It is also said that she gave up all modelling assignments for two months prior to the event so that she could stay focused on winning the Miss Universe title.

Before leaving for Cyprus, she is quoted by her father as having told her friends that she would return with the title. "I know there are going to be 90 contestants from all over the world. It is going to be overwhelming, but I will not be intimidated," she said.

The most beautiful woman in the universe describes herself as an outdoor person, fond of adventure sports like rock climbing, para-gliding and bungee jumping. "You’ve got to be a little crazy," she says. "I believe in living life completely."

Lara is also fond of her pets, having grown up with three dogs in her house at Bangalore. And then comes her good friend from Bhutan, the chinky-eyed model, Kelly Dorji — although not necessarily in that order!

— Maharaja Features