Priyanka Chopra Fansite

Her paycheck has climbed from Rs 75 Lakhs to Rs 1.5 crores in just one year. She has recently signed a three-film contract worth Rs.4 to 5 crores, with UTV. Is Priyanka set to dislodge Aishwarya Rai as the most successful Miss India – Miss World.

Priyanka Chopra is the second most successful Miss India-Miss World in Bollywood

Just as the news comes that Priyanka Chopra has signed a three-film contract worth Rs.4 to 5 crores, with UTV, it seems a good opportunity to look back with pride at all the Miss India, Miss World, Miss Universe and Miss Asia title winners and their careers in Bollywood.

The earliest beauty queen to make a superb mark in Bollywood was Zeenat Aman who won the title of Miss Asia in 1971.

Zeenat, fresh as a dewdrop, came back with the crown to India and was immediately snapped up by the debonair Dev Anand for his epoch making film Hare Rama Hare Krishna.

With the success of the film, Zeenat went from one high to the next till she retired after marriage to Mazhar Khan and motherhood.

The next to make a huge mark in Bollywood was Tina Munim, winner of the Teen Princess title. She too was made a star by Dev Anand, who introduced her in his film Des Pardes. Tina went on to make several successful films before marrying industrialist Anil Ambani.

Next was Juhi Chawla, Miss India 1984, who started her career with Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak with Aamir Khan and achieved a hit with the very first film. She too became a top star of the big screen over the years doing commercial and art house films and winning kudos for both.

An extremely talented singer and respected star, she took a sabbatical when she married millionaire Jai Mehta and had two children. She takes assignments now and then and continues to win praise for her acting prowess. She will soon be seen in Swami, a simple story directed by choreographer Ganesh Acharya.

In 1994, Aishwarya Rai won the Miss World title while her colleague Sushmita Sen won the Miss Universe title.

Ash began her journey to stardom soon and so did Sush. But over the years, Sush was left behind, doing some films and endorsements, while Ash marched on to get international recognition as ‘the most beautiful woman in the world’ and made scores of films with the leading production houses of Bollywood.

And then came Priyanka Chopra, yet another Miss World, who built a fabulous film career within five years of her arrival in Bollywood.

Priyanka has been the heroine of several hit movies including the recent Krrish with Hrithik Roshan. Her co-stars have included Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Shah Rukh Khan and perhaps all the top heroes of Bollywood.

With her bagging a three-movie contract with UTV, she has become the second most successful beauty queen in Bollywood after Aishwarya Rai. She has more recently signed one more movie Love Story 2050 which is the launch vehicle for her reported boyfriend Harman Baweja, after Kareena Kapoor opted out of the movie.

Lara Dutta (Miss Universe 2000), who features in the forthcoming movie Jhoom Barabar Jhoom from Yashraj Films, is yet another moderately successful beauty queen. Then of course, there is the sexy Bipasha Basu (Ford Supermodel of the World 1996), celebrated beauty queen who has made her mark in many movies and is surely among the top five female stars of Bollywood currently.

Other beauty queens who tried their luck in Bollywood were Sangeeta Bijlani (Miss India 1980), Swaroop Sampat (Miss India 1979), Naveeda Mehdi (Miss India World 1990), Dolly Minhas(Miss India Universe 1988) and others. Younger beauty queens who continue to work in films are Celina Jaitley (Miss India Universe 2001), Dia Mirza (Miss India Asia Pacific 2000), Tanushree Dutta (Miss India Universe 2004) and Yukta Mookhey (Miss India World 1999)

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