“I would like to advise all our young aspirants to do a comprehensive research and study on pageants and understand what the craft stands for.”
India’s crown jewel ‘Kohinoor’ may be sitting pretty in the foreign land but back home, Natasha Grover of Miss India organization, is ensuring that prestigious jewels of the beauty pageant world are brought back to the homeland. Natasha’s mentoring has been fundamental in bagging victorious titles at Miss World 2017, Miss Supranational 2014, Miss Supranational 2016 and Mister World 2016. Her métier lies in putting individual efforts and customizing the game plan for every participant representing India. This high-flying yet- grounded lady has been transforming the beauty pageant realm since a while now and we can only take a bow to her perseverance and dedicated efforts to make it all happen.
1) HOW DID YOU VENTURE INTO THE WORLD OF BEAUTY PAGEANTS?
“My winning formula comprises of being an effective leader, understanding business nuances according work priorities and accepting new challenges. A role of National Director compliments the above, making it not just exciting but equally challenging. Behind all the glitz and glamor, there are several duties one needs to perform round the clock to ensure a successful show. Besides, I’ve always been a people’s person, so it was such a perfect fit that I got an opportunity to make a larger and positive influence in people’s life. It is what keeps me going into the world of beauty pageants.”
2) YOU HAVE MANAGED TO BRING BACK COVETED TITLES TO INDIA, TELL US MORE ABOUT THAT?
“There is a stringent selection process, research and analysis that goes behind a pageant. Miss India Organization firmly believes it to be a combination of natural beauty, confidence on stage, introducing yourself, walk to the judges, a personality that shines through, but the filtration process is just as finding a diamond in a mine or a needle in a haystack. It requires indepth understanding of our candidates, copious amount of time on each of them and have a foresight of which ones will go further. Besides, the qualities that we look for while selecting a girl doesn’t only consider the physical appearance, but also emphasises on personality traits, intelligence and talent as well. Over the last few years, we have worked hard on our talent scouting operations, initiated innovative ways and strategies to absorb talent right from the grass root level. What is key here is that we have put together extensive training modules with the best names in the industry, as these stalwarts equip the candidates with compelling skill sets. The quality of our talent pool has scaled up and hence we have been able to send strong & competitive candidates to international pageants which has been achieved successfully with the recent win of Manushi Chhillar who brought back the coveted crown of Miss World after 17 long years.”
3) WHAT IS THE MOST CHALLENGING PART OF YOUR JOB?
“Just like Federer or Djokovic want to win the Wimbledon every year, in the same manner we strive and work towards creating the best to win. It is a challenge to maintain to winning formula year on year as far as execution of our pageants are concerned or sending delegates of at par quality to international pageants. Be it any of our national pageants, we have always attempted to put together unique creative showcases and concepts. We have always aimed to raise the bar and provide a distinctive experience to our audiences and stakeholders year on year. As mentioned earlier, massive efforts are taken in the selection process, equipping the candidates with the best training and most important showing them why they’re selected. They need to have that self-belief that they can win that’s where all the challenge lies.”
4) HOW ACCORDING TO YOU HAVE BEAUTY PAGEANTS EVOLVED OVER THE YEARS?
“Beauty pageants over the last few years have become a formidable force in shaping up young individuals towards reaching their aspirations and orchestrating a positive influence in social communities and show business. The reach has increased with the social media aiding our journey. Today, The Femina Miss India Beauty Pageant event is at par with other popular events like Filmfare or even Oscars. The format maybe different but the essence to have perfection with a mix of entertainment and prestige, remain. From where I see it, pageants are more of a selfexploratory and transformational journey, embarked to bring about a change within and translate the same into our environment. Importantly, it has also contributed tremendously towards the fashion and entertainment business by placing new talents across the creative and artistic fields.”
5) WHAT IS YOUR ADVICE FOR THE GIRLS TRYING TO MAKE IT INTO THE PAGEANT?
“I would like to advise all our young aspirants to do a comprehensive research and study on pageants and understand what the craft stands for. To realise the shortcomings and work towards them. Once you are through with your preparations only then step into auditions after having adequate knowledge on the know how’s. Back yourself up and apply the basics in complete confidence. To me, any kind of responsibility merely requires accurate application of mind with common sense and discipline, that itself is a half job done. But most importantly the girls must come with confidence, they should have the high ambitions because it is that energy that takes them to the top even if they lose or win.”