Priyanka Chopra, Aishwarya Rai and other leading Bollywood actresses who started out as beauty queens
Whatever you may think of them, beauty pageants have opened doors for aspiring Indian actresses like Sushmita Sen, Dia Mirza and Lara Dutta and set them on the path to fame
Love them or hate them, beauty pageants have opened doors to Bollywood in the past. These five Bollywood actresses may be household names now, but do you remember when they once sashayed for the sashes?
1. Aishwarya Rai
After winning Miss World in 1994, 21-year-old Rai kicked off her acting career. Despite early struggles to be taken seriously, Rai wowed the critics in films like Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999), Devdas (2002) and Bride & Prejudice (2004) and cemented herself as a top-tier actress.
After her marriage to actor Abhishek Bachchan in 2007, she continued starring in a variety of films and serving as a UNAids ambassador.
2. Sushmita Sen
The long-legged model shot to stardom after appearing in comedy classic Biwi No. 1 (1999) and controversial drama Filhaal (2002) and will soon appear in the new Disney+Hotstar web series, Aarya.
Sen also broke the stigma in real life when she became a single parent to two adopted daughters. She won Miss Universe at the age of 18 becoming the first Indian woman to win the title.