One thing that struck my mind on seeing 20-year-old Navneet Kaur Dhillon being crowned Femina Miss India 2013 was whether she would join Bollywood like her predecessors. It was not a wild imagination because many have used Femina Miss India contest as a springboard to film industry.
Navneet Kaur Dhillon from Chandigarh won the Femina Miss India title, Sobhita Dhulipala of Vishakapatnam was adjudged the first runner-up and Mumbai's Zoya Afroz was the second runner-up at the glittering event held on Sunday night.
The presence of film personalities like Karan Johar, John Abraham, Asin Thottumka, and Chitrangada Singh in the judging panel gave Bollywood feel to the event. And it wouldn't come as a surprise if filmmakers Karan or John cast some of the contestants in their films.
Navneet Kaur Dhillon will now represent the country at the international beauty pageant and she will concentrate on bringing the crown back to India after more than a decade but she could be tempted to glam world there after.
The history of Femina Miss India winners joining the film industry dates back to 1970 when Zeenat Aman, who won the Miss Asia Pacific, became one of the boldest and notable actresses of her time.
Meenakshi Seshadri, winner of Miss India 1981, joined Bollywood through "Hero" opposite Jackie Shroff. Sonu Walia, who won the title in 1985, also entered the film industry.
Other Femina Miss India title winners, who jumped into films include - Juhi Chawla (1984), Namrata Shirodkar (1993), Pooja Batra (1993), Sushmita Sen (1994), Aishwarya Rai (1994), Gul Panag (1999), Yukta Mookhey (1999), Dia Mirza (2000), Priyanka Chopra (2000), Lara Dutta (2000), Neha Dhupia (2002), Nikita Anand (2003), Tanushree Dutta (2004), Sayali Bhagat (2004), Sarah-Jane Dias (2007), Puja Gupta (2007), Esha Gupta (2007) and Simran Kaur Mundi (2008).
It's yet to be seen if Femina Miss India 2013 winners - Navneet Kaur Dhillon, Sobhita Dhulipala and Zoya Afroz - enters Bollywood but it won't come as a surprise if they are seen on the big screens a few months from now.
