IIFA 2014 Bollywood awards was held in Tampa, and now Tampa’s Indian community hope to build on the success of the Bollywood awards in Tampa by bringing an international Indian beauty pageant here. Miss India Worldwide, one of the most prestigious pageants (held annually since 1990) that provides a platform for Indian women from all around the world to showcase their beauty, intelligence, and talents, is coming to Florida. The local show that will be held in Tampa will be part of the Miss India Worldwide pageant.
Ensuring Tampa is Not Forgotten
The Miss India Florida & Entertainment Show will be held in Nov. 14 at Busch Gardens, seven months after the International Indian Film Academy Weekend and Awards came to Tampa in April.
The status that Tampa earned with the Bollywood IIFA awards helped it beat out three other Florida cities for the Miss India Florida Show.
The organisers of this pageant wanted to make sure that Tampa was not forgotten about in India and that the Indian culture was not forgotten in Tampa. “Events like the pageant are the type we hoped would transpire here after hosting IIFA to keep that momentum going,” said president and CEO of tourism promoter Visit Tampa Bay.
“This time last year when we were in India we were busy giving geography lessons about Tampa — explaining we were a city on the west coast of Florida in the United States,” he said. “This year, we were the popular kid in town. People in India know Tampa now, and they want to come here after seeing so many photos of their big Bollywood stars having a good time in Tampa.”
Opportunity to be Miss India Worldwide
Like the Indian film awards, Miss India International is a traveling show that picks a new destination each year. This is an opportunity for contestants to make a huge impact and also get noticed by the film industry in Mumbai.
The winner of Miss India Florida will travel to New York City in December to vie for Miss India USA against women from 40 other states. The national winner will compete in a pageant in Goa, India, in 2015 to become Miss India Worldwide 2015.
Those interested in entering can download the application at miss indiaflorida.us. Contestants must be 17 to 27 years old, of Indian ancestry and Florida residents for at least six months. The competition follows traditional pageant rules with an Indian twist. Evening gowns and the talent portion, for instance, must be derived from the South Asian nation.
Ticket to Bollywood
More people are aware of the entertainment value of the Indian culture so this event is expected to attract high-profile guests.
In the past, contestants and winners of this beauty pageant have went on to make a successful career in the acting and modelling industries in India. Pooja Kumar (crowned Miss India USA in 1995), Aarti Chabria (Miss India Worldwide 2000 winner), Vimala Raman (Australia’s 2004 Miss India) have done some commendable work in Bollywood.
