CHENNAI: With her plucky attitude and effervescent charisma, 16-year-old Kalyani P won the Miss India Popular crown in the first week of September, with 19.43 lakh public votes. The Coimbatore girl will receive her crown this month at a Miss and Mrs India ceremony organised by Mission Dreams Company in Kolkata.
Kalyani emerged victorious after being pitted against 3,500 participants. Of this number, 40 will be selected to take part in the Miss India competition that is to be held on October 12 at Kolkata. As the only representative from Coimbatore, she hopes to make her city proud.
Upon chancing on her social media accounts, Mission Dreams, the organiser of Miss India and Mrs India 2019, contacted her three months ago, asking her to participate in the pageant. “I was initially very hesitant, as I didn’t know if I would be a good model in people’s eyes. I will be one of the youngest participants for the Miss India pageant. I’ve decided to keep all my fears at bay and focus on practising my walk, fixing costumes and completing choreography,” she said.
Modelling is not about the clothes you wear, rather about your confidence, said Kalyani. The Coimbatore girl is a video jockey who has anchored over 500 shows. She was spotted at VJ Hunt in 2015, a talent-hunt show for young video jockeys. A person who loves to talk, Kalyani auditioned for the show and won the title of ‘Junior VJ of Coimbatore’.
“Once I got into anchoring, I developed a deep passion for it. I used to read books and listen to radio programmes to improve my oration and my knowledge so that I could perform better,” she said. With a keen interest in dance, music, writing and art, she believes that beauty is more that what meets the eye.
“Miss India is a culture-based talent contest, meaning contestants are given tasks that represent their culture or the state they belong to. We are judged based on how we carry ourself, our potential, how we approach people, spontaneity and talent. Based on this, we will be shortlisted for the finals,” she said.
If she wins the title of Miss India, Kalyani hopes to use the platform to raise awareness on disability and mental health.
AWARDS
nNominated for Balashree Award in 2018
nWon state-level awards, Government of Tamil Nadu, Art and Literary Award in 2017 and 2018
nWon Yuva Kala Bharathi award in 2017
nReceived Sensational Voice of Trichy in 2019
nRunner-up, Miss Coimbatore, 2019
nWon titles like ‘Fashion Icon’, ‘Miss attitude face’ etc in Miss Coimbatore 2019