Nandini Gupta, 19 from the state of Rajasthan has been crowned Femina Miss India World 2023. Nineteen-year-old Nandini hails from Kota, one of biggest coaching hubs in the country for engineering and medical aspirants. The beauty with brains holds a degree in Business Management, Nandini is dedicated to taking up challenges and succeeding. Nandini dreamt of competing in the Miss India pageant since she was 10 years old.
The 59th edition of India’s most prestigious pageant pulled off another season’s grand finale in a historic ceremony at the Indoor Stadium, Khuman Lampak, Imphal, Manipur — the beautiful city which played the perfect host to the mesmerizing event. Along with her, Delhi’s Shreya Poonja became the first runner-up, while Manipur’s Thounaojam Strela Luwang was crowned the 2nd runner-up.
The star-studded extravaganza celebrated the ethos of beauty in diversity and featured memorable performances by India’s heartthrobs, the ever-so-dashing Kartik Aaryan, and the very pretty Ananya Panday. Another performance that became the highlight of the evening was one put together by the former winners, Sini Shetty, Rubal Shekhawat, Shinata Chauhan, Manasa Varanasi, Manika Sheokand, Manya Singh, Suman Rao and Shivani Jadhav, who took the stage in exquisite and finely crafted lehengas from Mohey. The emcees for the evening were none other than the very witty Maniesh Paul and the very vivacious Bhumi Pednaker, who kept the engaged with impromptu antics.
The grand event featured the best in fashion in the form of multiple rounds dedicated to fashion, featuring the beautiful and intelligent winners from 30 states, showcasing stunning collections by fashion greats, Namrata Joshipura for Trends, Rocky Star and Robert Naorem, with whose help the beauties showcased impressive traditional costumes.
The state winners were judged by a panel of judges consisting of Femina Miss India Universe 2002 and Mentor Neha Dhupia, Indian boxing icon Laishram Sarita Devi, ace choreographer Terence Lewis, filmmaker and writer Harshavardhan Kulkarni and ace designers Rocky Star and Namrata Joshipura. The state winners had insightful interactions with the jury panel and answered all their questions with great determination.
Pageant aspirants from various parts of the country battled for the national title to win a platform to put their aspirations across. A nationwide hunt was organized to select representatives from 29 states (including Delhi) and a collective representative for all Union Territories (including J&K), adding up to 30 participants.
