Revision as of 21:49, 19 December 2014

For the while this page is an extension of the Indpaedia article Miss India winners: 1994 and concentrates on Sushmita Sen the Miss India and the Miss Universe. Her career in the films will be uploaded later.

The oh-my-gosh expression that made history. Sushmita knew that she had made it to the Top 3. But when the judges announced the name of the 1st Runner Up, and it wasn’t Sushmita, suddenly Sushmita (and a whole nation glued to their TVs) realised that that there was only one position left for Sushmita to occupy. This photograph captures the moment when the name of the 1st Runner Up was being announced—several seconds before Sushmita was formally anointed the Queen of the Universe.

How Sushmita got her costumes

How Sushmita arranged 4 costumes to beat Aishwarya Rai at Miss India

Daily Bhaskar.com | Aug 08, 2013

When Sushmita Sen filled the Miss India form in 1994, the Delhi girl made it big despite belonging from a middle class family.

While Sushmita was participating for Miss India, she couldn’t arrange for designer costumes as she knew her budget well. So her clothes were purchased from Delhi’s [inexpensive] Sarojini Nagar market. Sushmita’s mother gave the finishing touch to her winning gown by embellishing it with a beautiful bow.

Rajat Tara

Being Miss Universe’s boyfriend Rajat Tara became famous when his girlfriend, Sushmita Sen, became Miss Universe in 1994. Then their relationship ended shortly after.

by Humra Quraishi TheMetroGnome. (The following section has been adapted from Humra Quraishi's interview before the break-up.)

They went steady for a year before the universe opened its arms to her. Sushmita Sen was all of 18 and even then, unapologetic about her personal life. She had been seeing Rajat Tara, the son of a high-profile public relations man in a [foreign Government’s] embassy in Delhi, and she had never hidden her relationship status even on winning the Miss Universe crown.

Naturally, as the country sat up and took notice of India’s first Miss Universe in 1994, the spotlight was also turned on Rajat and the relationship. After Sushmita’s famous win, when she was on a world tour – he had been unable to accompany her “because of stupid MBA examinations

They didn’t break up for a while after Sushmita’s big win. When she returned to India after being crowned, Rajat was there with her on all her outings. The breakup happened after Sushmita’s one year as Miss Universe was up. And after that, she seemingly never looked back as she entered the world of films.

Rajat was a simple 24-year-old, cautious and to the point in his answers.

How long had he been dating Sushmita? For about a year.

Where did he first meet her?

At the Air Force Golden Jubilee celebrations. There was this fashion show where both of them took part.

After her becoming Miss India and now, Miss Universe, had there been any difference in his relationship with her? No, none at all. He was not really bothered. They remained very good friends. She would call him up daily. She called, or if she didn’t, he called her. Their chats last for about five minutes or so, in an age when long distance calls were prohibitively expensive and were often booked in chunks of three- and five-minutes.

Did he plan to marry her? Marriage was a long way off, for both of them. They still had a lot to do in life. So they had no marriage plans for at least three or four more years.

She asked him to come along with her to Manila, for the Miss Universe contest. But he had to ‘take these stupid MBA examinations…’

Would her parents have been okay about his going with her? Yes, her mother was very friendly. Her father, though, was a bit reserved.

To any questions put to him about Rajat, Sushmita’s father would reply with an “I don’t know”…