Sushmita Sen felt Miss India 1994 was rigged in favour of Aishwarya Rai before result was declared, recalls Prahlad Kakkar: ‘She was weeping…’

Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai after winning Miss Universe and Miss World in 1994

Famous commercial filmmaker Prahlad Kakkar, who is behind some of India’s most iconic ad campaigns, recently shared interesting information about the 1994 Miss India contest, highlighting the intense rivalry between Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.

In a conversation with ANI, Kakkar shed light on Sushmita Sen’s belief that the contest was “rigged” by recalling the moments she witnessed during the contest. He said: “I had accompanied Aishwarya to Goa with her mother. I met Sushmita there. Much to the dismay of the organiser, I was able to get into the dressing room. She tried to stop me and questioned my identity. I told them, ‘You can’t stop me’.”

Kakkar recounted a touching moment during the competition when he found Sushmita Sen crying in a corner of the dressing room. “One day, halfway through the competition, Sushmita was crying in a corner of the dressing room. I went up to her. Even though I was supposed to be from the rival camp, I walked up to her and asked. She said, ‘No, everything is fine. Everything is rigged. We don’t know what we are doing here.’ When I asked her, she explained that Aishwarya was a bigger model and she would be chosen as the winner,” Prahlad added.

The filmmaker also shared how he advised Sushmita about the role of judge Simone Tata and encouraged her to trust the fairness of the judging process. “He is a judge. He will judge honestly and fairly. And that’s exactly what happened,” he said.

Kakkar also revealed the circumstances that led to Sushmita Sen being crowned the winner over Aishwarya. “It was a tough competition. Both were amazing. But Aishwarya fell. At the end there was a Q&A round, an extra round because they couldn’t make up their minds. Sushmita’s answer was much more confident and calm than Aishwarya’s and she won the last round. It was touch and go. But what a time it was,” she shared.

Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai won the Miss Universe and Miss World awards later the same year.

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