Latest public photo of Miss Universe 200 Lara Dutta of India when she attended the grand finale of LIVA Miss Diva 2020 on February 22, 2020 in Mumbai, India (Photo by Prodip Guha/Getty Images)
Miss Universe 2000 Lara Dutta with her husband Mahesh Bhupati during wedding reception of Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma at St Regis Hotel, Lower Parel on December 26, 2017 in Mumbai, India. (Photo by Prodip Guha/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)
There was something special about Miss Universe 2000 held in Nicosia, Cyprus. The country takes pride in one of its most popular tourist attractions- Petra tou Romiou – the birthplace of Aphrodite, Goddess of Beauty. And it could not have been a more appropriate host for the turn-of-the-millennium edition of the pageant. With 79 modern Aphrodites competing for the crown, it was certainly a memorable event that saw the victorious Lara Dutta gifting India with its second Miss Universe title. And boy, did she do it with style, gift of gab and lots of intelligence (smarts if you will).
2000 was extra significant for India because it was the year when the country won 3-of-3 international titles of Femina Miss India courtesy of Lara Dutta, Priyanka Chopra and Diya Mirza (left photo). It was one of those national pageant editions when the placements were perfect.
Before becoming Miss Universe 2000, Lara was crowned Miss Intercontinental 1997 first. And this makes her just one of a small handful who won two international beauty competitions. After her reign, she has been a UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador. As for her Bollywood career, it wasn’t the easiest climb at first. But last 2005, she starred in “No Entry” – the biggest box-office hit then. From there, everything went on an upswing.
Photo by Milind Shelte/The India Today Group via Getty Images
Personally, Lara is one beauty queen who could have been just as wonderful as Miss World. Instead, she got the Universe and made full use of all the opportunities to become a powerful spokesperson, a successful Bollywood actress and an inspiring influencer in her home country.
(Photo by Manoj Verma/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)
Not a bad time for Miss World and Miss International, for sure. But For Miss Universe, it certainly was. Never was there a decade in the entire MU history that the Philippines neither placed nor grabbed a runner-up position. Name the decade, we have cited representatives – the 50s, the 60s, the 70s, the 80s and the 90s. For the uninitiated, Blesilda Ocampo was the first Miss Philippines who advanced to the semifinals when she made the Top 16 during the 1954 edition.
Looking back, it was the second time that India successfully won in both Miss Universe and Miss World on the same year – a feat that is difficult to achieve twice, let alone once.
And then there’s Lara Dutta.
What baffled me then was the non-inclusion of our bet Nina Alagao who was clearly deserving of making it to the first cut at the very least. Even co-hosts Ali Landry/Julie Moran were surprised that she did not make it that far.
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