For
the
first
time
in
its
history,
Femina
Miss
India
accepts
the
Bollywood
allure
and
officially
associates
with
filmy
big
wigs.
The
country"s
most
sought
after
beauty
contest
recently
announced
a
strategic
collaboration
with
two
of
India"s
ace
directors
Madhur
Bhandarkar
and
Vipul
Shah
at
the
Marriott,
Mumbai.
They
will
mentor
and
launch
two
Miss.
India
finale
contestants
in
their
respective
upcoming
film
projects.
And
that"s
not
all-
industry
stalwarts
Anupam
Kher
and
Shiamak
Davar
will
also
be
supporting
the
association
by
way
of
training
and
mentoring
the
contestants
in
acting
and
dance
respectively.
This
is
the
first
time
in
the
history
of
Femina
Miss
India
that
an
association
of
such
scale
is
being
worked
upon.
It
has
been
widely
considered
that
winning
the
beauty
pageant
is
a
ticket
to
the
fast
lane
that
leads
to
Bollywood.
Sushmita
Sen,
Aishwarya
Rai,
Lara
Dutta,
Priyanka
Chopra,
Dia
Mirza
are
few
of
the
current
beauties
that
have
conveniently
got
into
the
Hindi
film
industry
after
having
a
smooth
sail
in
the
contest.
The
association
with
the
four
respected
men
of
Bollywood
is
cited
as
an
official
confirmation
to
the
situation.
In
fact,
director
Madhur
Bhandarkar
went
on
to
candidly
agree
to
this
and
reasoned,
“It
is
a
well
known
fact
that
girls
enter
the
contest
to
shoot
to
fame
and
then
leverage
it
to
get
into
films.
There
is
nothing
wrong
with
that
and
there
is
no
stopping
them.
With
industry
professionals
mentoring
them
right
from
the
word
'go",
the
hit
and
miss
cases
will
reduce.
The
good
will
be
filtered
from
the
not-so-good
and
talent
will
be
honed
professionally
from
the
very
start."
Ironically,
though
a
pageant
for
women,
there
were
none
who
shared
the
dais
with
the
four
male
mentors.
Veteran
actor
Anupam
Kher
intervened
and
tried
hard
to
justify,
“My
school
'Actor
Prepares" has
more
aspiring
actresses
than
actors,
so
I
guess
I
qualify
for
this
ownership",
he
said
jestingly.
Interestingly,
the
only
female
present
at
the
do
was
Miss
India
2009
finalist,
Miss
Ishita
Sarkar,
who
looked
quite
a
hottie
in
a
crystallized
purple
number.
The
credibility
of
this
pageant
lies
in
its
experienced
and
noteworthy
panel
of
experts,
who
this
year
will
include
the
likes
of
Marc
Robinson,
the
official
Contestant
Director
and
Fashion
Director,
Mickey
Mehta,
Dr.
Jamuna
Pai,
Dr.
Purnima
Mhatre,
Alesia
Raut,
Seema
Hingrany,
Sabina
Merchant,
Dr.
Sandesh
Mayekar
and
Prasad
Bidappa.
Before
signing
off,
Marc
Robinson
stated,
“We
will
endeavour
to
focus
on
potential
talent
who
showcase
an
innate
aptitude
and
strive
to
create
a
niche
for
themselves,
not
only
by
their
outstanding
looks
and
a
perfect
body,
but
also
their
aspirations,
talent
and
intellect."