(Clockwise from top left) Dipanwita Panja, Riya Dutta, Suchismita Bar, Sourali Ghosh, Neelakshi Mukherjee, Aastha Tibrewal, Payel Bhaduri, Papia Ghoshal, Satabdi Dutta Banik and Ankita Saha — the 10 contestants of Max Sananda Tilottama 2015 powered by Colgate Visible White — slipped into colourful swimsuits from La Lingerie and walked the walk at the pageant’s swimwear round at Eastern Metropolitan Club on October 6. Smart sunnies from GKB Opticals upped the style quotient. Judging their every move were scenographer Swarup Dutta, contemporary dancer Paramita Saha and stylist Neha Panda. The common post-walk reaction? Phew! 

The swimwear round was preceded by a couple of sub-contests. Swarup, Paramita and Neha tasted dishes whipped up by some of the contestants in the talent round.

Think of all those people around you and you’ll see you are in much better shape! Walk with confidence. You gotta do what you gotta do — top tip from Tilottama mentor Nayanika Chatterjee

Prepping for the swimwear round:

♦ I wore a swimsuit for the first time. It needs a lot of confidence to wear a bikini. I gradually grew in confidence when I started walking. — Suchismita  
♦ I wore a swimsuit for the first time! I was worried before but as soon as I was in it, everything turned out fine. 
— Dipanwita 
♦ Credit goes to Nayanika ma’am. She helped boost our confidence. — Sourali
♦ Nayanika ma’am taught us how to overcome our inhibitions. She told us that confidence alone matters. I also rehearsed a lot. — Payel  
♦ I have worn a swimsuit before in Goa but it was the first time I wore one for the cameras. After make-up and hair, I was confident and walked the ramp with ease. — Neelakshi 
♦ I learnt to stay positive in every situation from Nayanika ma’am. That worked wonders. — Riya
♦ I was initially sceptical but then the mentors encouraged us. We were given swimwear according to body types.
— Satabdi 
♦ If I am going to be a professional model, I have to be prepared for the swimwear round because it is a part of the pageant. 
— Papia 
♦ In the beginning, it looked very difficult, but after Nayanika ma’am groomed us, we were confident! — Aastha
♦ It requires a lot of confidence and courage to carry a swimsuit in front of the crowd. It was not easy. Nayanika ma’am advised us to be confident in everything we do. — Ankita 

Text: Ratnalekha Mazumdar
Pictures: Rashbehari Das