1-2-3: Mumbai Takes It All

Twenty-nine taut, toned and treadmilled finalists played out their trump cards of glamour and poise at the Pond’s Femina Miss India 2004 contest in Mumbai on Saturday.
It was a clean sweep for Mumbai in the Perfect Ten sweepstakes. The crown went to Tanushree Dutta, a 20-yearold aspiring classical singer from the city. Lakshmi Pandit, a 22-year-old amateur sketch artist was adjudged Miss-India World, and Sayali Bhagat, a 20-year-old adventure sports lover, also from Mumbai, won theMiss India-Earth title.
Jyoti Brahmin from Kolkata and Simran Chandok from Chennai were also in the Final Five.This was the third time in the 40-year history of the contest that the final round ended in a tie, and a tie-breaker question was asked. The two earlier tie-breakers had resulted in Sushmita Sen and Lara Dutta being crowned winners. The question “If you had the choice of going back or forward in time, what would you choose and why?’’ elicited tied responses from the contestants.
Professionals from various walks of life pooled their expertise to come up with the final verdict in a contest which received a staggering 6,000 applications and included weeks of training and grooming. The panel of judges comprised actors Madhavan, Sunjay Dutt, Saif Ali Khan, Fardeen Khan, Bipasha Basu, singer Sonu Nigam, designers Ritu Beri and Hemant Trevedi and choreographer Farah Khan.