A throwback of Aishwarya and Sushmita. (courtesy: earthlykisssed)
Sushmita Sen's Aarya Season 3 - Antim Vaar (part 2) was released today. The actress has been busy with the promotion campaigns. In a recent interview with Mashable India, Sushmita Sen opened up about a major throwback moment featuring herself alongside actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. The image dates back to 1994 when Sushmita Sen returned to India after winning the Miss Universe title and Aishwarya was crowned Miss World. Reflecting on the picture, Sushmita remarked, “Aishwarya has been not just the pin-up poster of beauty. At a time in the 90s, when I entered the modelling scene, she was ‘it.' Like, she was Sanju of the commercial in Pepsi. And she was this face was that was so…She is Indian like most people would go…And then they tell me that she is competing in the same competition and I thought – ‘Agle saal chalenge ya to uske baad chalenge. Is saal to chance hi nahi hai. [Let's go next year or maybe after that. There is no chance of winning this year.] Because my idea of what was ethereal was this beautiful woman.”
“And then life brought us together and took us to two different competitions. This picture is taken after we both won for India and came back for the homecoming. This is me as the reigning Miss Universe and the reigning Miss World is Aishwarya. And what a big year for India. It was such a huge feeling that any International definition of beauty had India's name on it,” Sushmita Sen added while looking at the photo. FYI: While Sushmita won the Miss India pageant in 1994, Aishwarya was the first runner-up.
Years ago, Sushmita Sen revealed how she had her Miss India winning gown stitched by a local tailor because she couldn't afford four different designer outfits for the finale. The actress said, "Itne paise nahi the ki hum designer kapde pehen ke stage par jaye. Char costumes chahiye the. Hum middle class ke log hai aur humko humari restrictions maloom thi [We didn't have enough money to afford designer outfits. We needed four costumes. We were middle-class people and we knew our restrictions.]"
Sushmita Sen continued: "Mummy ne kaha, 'So what? Kapde dekhne thodi arhe hai log, tumhe dekhne arhe hai. Toh chalo, shuru ho gye, kapde khareed ke laaye gaye Sarojini Nagar market [a flea market in New Delhi] se. Humare neeche, garage mein, ek petticoat silne wala aadmi tha, unko jaakar thama dia aur kaha, 'Dekho bhaiya, TV pe aane wala hai, accha banana.' Unhone uss fabric ke sath mera winning gown tyaar kia, mummy ne bache hue fabric ko mod k ek rose bnaya aur fir kala socks, brand new khareed ke kaat ke, usmein elastic daal ke gloves pehne the maine [My mother said, 'So what? They are not going to look at your clothes, they are going to look at you.' So we bought a piece of fabric from Sarojini Nagar market. Downstairs, in the garage, there was a local tailor who made petticoats. We gave him the material and said, 'This will come on TV, make a good dress.' He made my winning gown out of that fabric and my mother made a rose out of the remaining fabric. We bought brand new black socks, cut it, put elastic in it and then I wore them as gloves]."
Sushmita Sen's web series, Aarya Season 3, is streaming on OTT platform Disney Plus Hotstar.