Sushmita Sen is a humble queen.
The actress who has often spoken about her humbling journey to international stardom and her crowning of Miss Universe, has never shied away from discussing not only her background but also her state of mind, back when she was young and budding up for the competitions.
Now in an interview dating back nearly 20 years, the actress and motivational speaker was also seen talking about her view on being in the same competition as Aishwarya Rai, back in the day.
For those who don’t know – both Aishwarya and Sushmita participated at the Miss India competition the same year in 1994. While Sushmita took the top crown and eventually won the Miss Universe title, Aishwarya was a runner-up in the competition, going ahead to her own crowning glory at the Miss World event, the following year.
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Looking back at their initial sting at Miss India, Sush disclosed that she was conscious about competing with Aishwarya, for her obvious beauty and extraordinary face, and it almost convinced her to back out of the initial competition.
This was disclosed by Sushmita previously on her stint on the popular Z TV talk-show Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai and the interview is going viral yet again.
Here’s what she was quoted telling:
“She is not a conventional Indian gorgeous, she is an international gorgeous. So you are looking at her at 17 and a half and you are saying,’ She is entering the pageant, okay next year bye-bye! I am not participating.'”
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She further continued:
“Oh my god! what a shouting I got from my mother that day. I came back home to, ‘You are not my daughter. I cannot believe that you are that afraid to try. Then she said it’s ok fine let her win. If you think that she’s the world’s most beautiful then lose from her. What’s the point of losing from someone else? Go give it your best shot.”
And as it turned out, Sush managed to get the top title at the ceremony and became one of the most iconic and admired pageant winners in India.