Eighty colleges, thousands of contestants, six months, and the chance for one woman to become the new face of P.C. Chandra Goldlites. That was what P.C. Chandra Goldlites Diva, in association with t2, promised. And after the finals held at the P.C. Chandra Gardens on Valentine’s Day,22-year-old Koushani Mukherjee from Calcutta claimed the much sought-after crown. 

The competition began in September 2014 and stopped at various colleges across the state, winners from which got a chance to represent their campus in the semi-finals. A wild card round, open to women in the 18-27 age bracket, saw 26 more contestants enter the semi-finals held on February 2, taking the final number of semi-finalists up to 61. From them, 26 made it to the grand finale.

The February 14 evening started off with the 26 finalists walking the ramp once in western wear and once in eastern wear, both designed by Mandira Wirk. In the first round, the girls walked in short evening dresses and colourful flowing gowns before introducing themselves to the judges  — Tollywood  actress Gargi Roy Chowdhury, filmmaker Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury, fashion designer Mandira Wirk, and Udipto Chandra, Prosenjit Chandra and Amitava Chandra from P. C. Chandra Jewellers. In the next round, the girls wowed the judges in ethnic clothes.
Singer Rupankar took the stage while the judges worked on selecting the top 10 finalists and kept the audience entertained with songs like Priyotoma, Shetai satyi, Gobhire jao and E tumi kemon tumi. 

Soon it was time to declare the top 10 contestants who proceeded to the final question-answer round. Each of the 10 finalists had to answer a question asked by the judges, based on which the winners would be selected. But before the new diva was crowned, the winners of the seven sub-categories — Miss Photogenic, Miss Beautiful Eyes, Miss Beautiful Hair, Miss Beautiful Smile, Miss Confident, Miss Perfect Catwalk and Miss Congeniality — were declared, and each of them won a gift voucher worth Rs 10,000 from P.C. Chandra Jewellers. 

At the end, Gargi Roy Chowdhury, Mandira Wirk and guest of honour Jisshu Sengupta crowned the winner of the title, Koushani, who won a gift voucher worth Rs 1 lakh from P.C. Chandra Jewellers. She becomes the new face for Goldlites, a range of modern daily-wear jewellery from P.C. Chandra. Devleena Das of Shri Shikshayatan College was declared the first runner-up and won a gift voucher worth Rs 50,000 while Pranwesha Kundu, a software engineer, claimed the second runner-up spot and a gift voucher worth Rs 25,000.

WINNER SPEAK

“This has been very thrilling and exciting for me as P.C. Chandra is a huge platform. I feel like I’m on cloud nine... everyone is congratulating me! But whatever I have achieved today, I couldn’t have done it without Jessica (Gomes Surana) ma’am. She mentored each one of us individually and taught us everything. I wish my mother was on stage with me because she is a diva according to me,” said winner Koushani Mukherjee, who completed BCom from Heramba Chandra College in 2013. 

“My eyes and mouth were wide open! I hadn’t even expected to be in the Top 10, so being declared the first runner-up was quite a shock. It is great that ordinary faces like us can get this exposure and a taste of the glamour world because of this competition,” said first runner-up Devleena Das, a first-year student of BCom at Shri Shikshayatan College.

“The entire experience was extremely enriching. I learnt so much throughout the competition. How to walk, talk... every minute detail was taken care of. I feel much more confident and completely transformed,” said second runner-up Pranwesha Kundu, a 25-year-old software engineer working for Wipro, Bangalore.

JUDGE SPEAK

“All of them were looking stunning. It was difficult for us to select the winner. From my experience I can say you should be yourself and believe in yourself. Maintain yourself both physically and mentally. I believe that fashion is one’s own style. It’s not just what you wear, it’s the way you walk and talk that also reflects your personality,” said actress Gargi Roy Chowdhury.

“It was great to see confident, stunning girls with minds of their own from different parts of Bengal. The way they are balancing their studies with co-curricular activities is amazing. Since I am not a person from the world of fashion I looked at the confidence and attitude of the girls,” said filmmaker Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury.

“A true diva is confident and sophisticated and her attitude shows in the way she carries herself. All the girls today were beautiful and smart and divas in their own way. It’s hard to believe that they’re young girls very new to this profession,” said fashion designer Mandira Wirk.

“Judging the show was difficult. The contestants walked the ramp like professionals. The days of grooming have transformed the college students into confident young ladies and brought about an all-round development in their persona. This platform was more than a beauty pageant from where each one took home some learning,” said the deputy managing director of P.C. Chandra Jewellers, Amitava Chandra.

GUEST SPEAK

“I congratulate all 26 participants because making it to the finals from 8,000 participants makes them winners already. I feel honoured to be here among them,” said actor Jisshu Sengupta.

MENTOR SPEAK

“I feel like an extremely proud mother today. The girls and I shared a special bond and I’ve seen them grow through the competition,” said grooming expert Jessica Gomes Surana.

“What I loved the most was their spontaneous and honest answers. The way they transformed themselves was commendable,” said grooming expert Nicola Gomes. 

THE 10 FINALISTS

Shramana Majumder
Q: What is the best thing about being a young Indian woman?
Answer: The best thing about being a young Indian woman is her confidence, the way she carries herself and her looks. Indian attire and the skin colour of Indian women are lovely. 

Shramana, a resident of Behrampore, is a third-year BPharm student of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Institute of Pharmacy. 

Devleena Das
Q: What would you choose — a nice person or a successful person?
A: I would choose a nice person because at the end of the day when I am satisfied and contented, I will also be successful. If I am happy and good I will be successful right away.

Pranwesha Kundu
Q: Which colour reflects your personality and why?
A: I will choose red not because it is Valentine’s Day today but because when an Indian woman gets married she wears the colour red. It is her big day and that is the colour she is wearing to make her look beautiful, confident and loved from within. I would choose red because it makes me feel confident, beautiful and lovable.
Pranwesha, 25, won the Miss Photogenic and Miss Confident titles.

Anisha Mukherjee
Q: If you were Prime Minister for one day, what is the one thing you would change?
A: I would take an initiative to clean something, like the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. 
Anisha is a student of computer application at Techno India, Salt Lake. 

Shayaree Das
Q: What would you choose — born rich, beautiful or intelligent?
A: I will choose intelligence. Physical beauty will not last forever. With intelligence I can be an established woman. 
Shayaree is a second-year student of East Calcutta Girls College.

Ujjaini Mukherjee
Q: If you got up one morning and found that you are 20 years older, how would you deal with that?
A: I would first stare at the mirror because I would probably look a lot different. Then I would try to picture myself as a 20-year older person and try to put some maturity in me as my age would demand, and step out of the house with that maturity and confidence. 
Ujjaini, a second-year Masters student of zoology at Calcutta University, won the Miss Congeniality title.

Priyanka Jaiswal
Q: Where do you see yourself 20 years from now?
A: Twenty years from now I see myself as a more mature and composed human being, married with two kids, and still making a difference in society for womanhood. 
Priyanka graduated from Shri Shikshayatan College and is currently a fashion designer.

Rai Chowdhury
Q: Other than your mother, who in your opinion is the most beautiful woman in India and why?
A: I choose my grandmom. She is aged but beautiful. The wrinkles on her face will tell you about her life, her experiences and the troubles she has dealt with. 
Rai, a third-year BCom student at Sivanath Sastri College, won the Miss Beautiful Eyes title.

Koushani Mukherjee
Q: Define three qualities that a woman of the millennium should have. 
A: A woman of the millennium should be sophisticated, should have self-dignity, and should carry herself in the best possible way so that everyone present can look up to her as an idol.
Koushani won Miss Beautiful Smile and Miss Beautiful Hair titles. 

Tarannum Haque
Q: What is the one thing you would project to the world as an ambassador of India?
A: I would like to eradicate poverty. I would project the culture, education system and the environment too. 
Tarannum is a third-year student of English at Sikkim Manipal University.

Malancha Dasgupta and Deborima Ganguly
Pictures by B. Halder