Former beauty queen Lara Dutta, who is best known for films like Andaaz, Partner, Housefull and more, was crowned the Miss Universe in 2000. She competed with Priyanka Chopra at the Femina Miss India beauty pageant back then and the latter won the title of Miss World the same year. Do you know that Lara taught make-up to her competitor Priyanka at the 2000 Femina Miss India Contest?
Let’s take a quick look back at those times. During her appearance on the Rendezvous with Simi Garewal, Lara Dutta was asked to comment on how she was “not competitive” enough at the beauty pageant.
Simi Garewal, the show host, reminisced how it was “unusual” and “generous” for Lara to teach make-up to PeeCee. To which, the Bell Bottom actress smiled and stated that her focus was mainly on winning the titles. However, she chose humanity while keeping the competition in a positive spirit.
“With me, I guess you keep your focus when you wanted it to be. For me, it was winning Miss India and winning Miss Universe,” Lara said.
“The entire focus is there but at the same time, you don’t forget that you are human. Achievements or failures without trying to sound morbid but once you are gone aren’t really going to matter,” she added.
Lara further expressed that she grabbed the opportunity to make a positive impact on someone else’s life that people doesn’t get quite often. Such moments define life for her, the actress added. The former Miss Universe continued that if the actress can’t be there for others, then she is not truly living and doesn’t want any of it.
Meanwhile, Priyanka Chopra, who once graced Simi Garewal’s show, revealed that she used to call Lara Dutta “mom” as The Bluff actress looked up to her. Recalling how she learnt make-up from Lara at the pageant, PeeCee shared that her Andaaz co-star took her to the bathroom and showed her the “right make-up” to use for her skin.
Lara Dutta won the Femina Miss India Universe title and later represented India at Miss Universe 2000 in Cyprus. Priyanka Chopra was the second runner-up and later won the Miss World in England. They competed with Dia Mirza, who was the third runner-up and later was crowned Miss Asia Pacific International in Phillippines.
