Runway Beauty Queens To Bollywood

Runway Beauty Queens To  Bollywood:

Zeenat Aman:
Remembered by most of us as a golden star of the yesteryears, Zeenat Aman begun her career as a model too. She won the Miss Asia Pacific in 1970 after being the first runner up in the Miss India contest. She made her film debut in O. P. Ralhan’s Hulchul in 1971. Her father was a script writer of films like ‘Mughal-e-Azam’ and ‘Pakeezah’ and she was always oriented towards the fiel

Juhi Chawla:
For those who don’t know, this chirpy actress who saw her prime in the 90s was also a Miss India in 1984. While she didn’t bag the Miss Universe title, she did earn the Best Costume Award at the contest. Having been a trained Kathak dancer, she was always interested in many arts. Films happened in 1986 film ‘Sultanat’ where she acted along with stars like Dharmendra, Sunny Deol and Sridevi. But she did strike gold only in her second film ‘Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak’ with Aamir Khan which earned her two Filmfare awards- Best Actress and Lux New Face while the film earned 10 Filmfare Awards in all.

Namrata Shirodkar:
This 1993 Miss India winner came 5th in the Miss Universe pageant and instantly made it into VH1’s ‘The Greatest 40 Dumbest Celebrity Quotes Ever’ for her answer to a question asked at the Miss Universe contest. Her answer was, “I would not want to live forever because I don’t believe that one can live forever. And so, I don’t think I would want to live forever!” But a career in acting has little to do with intellect and she made her debut in the Salman Khan musical love story, ‘Jab Pyaar Kisise Hota Hai’ in 1998

Gul Panag:
Today her dimples are make ripples in Bollywood but this bright-eyes beauty first graced the ramp and won the Miss India in 1999 and even made it to the top ten at the Miss Universe contest. She was first seen in the 2003 film ‘Dhoop’ which didn’t particularly lend her the star status she wanted. Her first recognizable hit would be the 2006 film ‘Dor’ which earned her the Best Actress in a Supporting Role at the Screen Awards

Neha Dhupia:
This lovely lady had earned the title of Femina Miss India 2002 and made her Bollywood debut in ‘Qayamat: City Under Threat’ in 2003 which performed averagely at the box office. She rose to public attention for the controversy that surrounded her next release ‘Julie’ where she played a physically abused woman

Celina Jaitely:
This light-eyed beauty was crowned the Femina Miss India Universe in 2001 and even finished as the 4th runner up at the Miss Universe contest. She was first seen in a film in Feroz Khan’s ‘Janasheen’ which didn’t give her the career boost she was looking for. But subsequently, with movies like ‘No Entry’, ‘Apna Sapna Money Money’ she found her niche as an actress who is well-suited to comic films

Nafisa Ali:
This silver-haired woman of substance known to all as an actress and a social activist was also a beauty queen once. She began as a national swimming champion and then won the Miss India title in the year 1976 and was the runner up at the Miss International contest in 1977. Her entry to Bollywood was with ‘Junoon’ in 1979 and for most of us, her notable presence in ‘Major Saab’ opposite Amitabh Bachchan was most memorable.

Sangeeta Bijlani:
Most of us known Sangeeta Bijlani as a popular actress and ex-captain of the Indian cricket team, Mohd Azharuddin’s wife. But even Sangeeta began as a model and won the Miss India title in 1980. She was later discovered by J P Dutta in ‘Hathiyar’ where she stole the role that was initially offered to Dimple Kapadia. Her performance was lauded and there was no looking back and she went on to be nominated for the Best Supporting Actress at the Filmfare Awards for Mahesh Bhatt’s ‘Jurm’