Mumbai: Renowned filmmaker and advertising guru Prahlad Kakkar, who has been behind some of India’s most iconic advertising campaigns, recently shared interesting information about the 1994 Miss India pageant, highlighting the intense competition between Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.
In an exclusive conversation with ANI, Kakkar recalled the moments he witnessed during the competition, and highlighted Sushmita Sen’s belief that the competition was “rigged”. He said, “I had taken Aishwarya with her mother to Goa. There I met Sushmita. I could only reach the changing room, which disappointed the organisers. They tried to stop me and questioned my identity. I told them, ‘You can’t stop me.’
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Kakkar recalled the touching moment when he found Sushmita Sen crying in a corner of the changing room during the competition. “One day, in the middle of the competition, Sushmita was sitting in a corner of the changing room and crying. I went to her. Even though I was supposed to be from the rival camp, I went to her and asked her. She said, ‘No, it’s all fixed. It’s all rigged. We don’t know what we are doing here.’ When I asked him, he told me how Aishwarya was a big model and she would be declared the winner,” Kakkar said.
The filmmaker also shared how he advised Sushmita about the role of Judge Simon Tata and encouraged her to trust the fairness of the judging process. He said, “She is a judge. She will judge honestly and fairly. And that’s exactly what happened.”
Kakkar also revealed the circumstances that led to Sushmita Sen being crowned the winner over Aishwarya.
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He shared, “It was a tough competition. Both of them were amazing. But Aishwarya lost. In the end, there was the question-and-answer round, which was an extra round because they couldn’t make up their mind. Sushmita’s answer was far more confident and composed than Aishwarya’s, and she won the last round. It was touch and go. But what an era that was,” he shared.
Kakkar also dismissed the alleged rivalry between Sushmita Sen and Lara Dutta. He said that both of them found their own paths and proudly represented India on global platforms.
Reflecting on his experience of working with Sushmita Sen, Kakkar revealed that he had become somewhat disillusioned with the film industry over time.
“Sushmita became disillusioned with the industry and started finding it really difficult to reach them. So she put on a lot of layers to herself as well. I don’t think she trusted them. To some extent, she was Westernized. Also, she had a distrust of the industry because she believed it was all exploitative. At the end of the day, if you’re a single woman and you look good and your life is in danger because your career is your life, you can be taken Is. Benefit of,” he shared.
Prahlad Kakkar, a leading creative force in Indian advertising, is known for his storytelling in advertisements for major brands such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Maggi and Nestle.