Prahlad Kakkar said Sushmita Sen believed Miss India was rigged in Aishwarya Rai's favour

Prahlad Kakkar, renowned ad-film director revealed how Sushmita Sen had felt during the 1994 Miss India pageant. He said that Sushmita Sen was weeping and believed that the pageant had been rigged in Aishwarya Rai's favour.

Both Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai had participated in the Miss India pageant in 1994. Later, Sushmita went on to win Miss Universe while Aishwarya was crowned the Miss World winner.

Sushmita Sen cried during the Miss India pageant

Prahlad Kakkar said that he found Sushmita Sen crying "halfway through the competition". "Sushmita was weeping copiously in one corner of the changing room. I walked up to her. Even though I was supposed to be from a rival camp, I walked up to her and asked her", said the ad director.

Sushmita Sen had replied, "No, it's all fixed. It's all rigged. We don't know what we are doing here", referencing to Aishwarya Rai who was the "bigger model" and would become the winner.

Prahlad Kakkar had consoled Sushmita Sen following her breakdown and asked her to keep faith in judge Simone Tata and trust the process. Eventually, it was Sushmita Sen who won the Miss India crown in 1994 and Aishwarya Rai became the first runner up.

Talking about the two legendary actors and how Sushmita Sen prevailed, Prahlad Kakkar shared, "It was a tough competition. Both of them were stunning. But Aishwarya fell. Finally, there was a question-and-answer round, which was an extra round because they couldn't make up their minds. Sushmita's answer was far more confident and composed than Aishwarya's, and she won the last round. It was touch and go. But that was like, what an era it was".

Following her win in Miss India, Sushmita Sen was crowned Miss Universe in the same year, in 1994. Her acting debut came in 1996, with the film Dastak. Sushmita appeared in several films including Biwi No.1 (1999), Sirf Tum (1999), Filhaal (2002), Aankhen (2002), Main Hoon Na (2004), and Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya (2005), among others.

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