Amrish Puri

Kohima, Sept. 6: In Bollywood, the bad man is invariably surrounded by his sidekicks and the moll. Come September 14, the baddest of Hindi filmdom’s bad men, Amrish Puri, will find himself surrounded by a bevy of beauties in Kohima.

Accompanied by a talent scout, Puri will visit the Nagaland capital to watch the North East Mega Model and Manhunt contest organised by Reflorescence Society.

Former Miss North East Akunuo Khezhie, who is a member of the society, is hoping one or more of the contestants will catch the thespian’s trained eye.

“There is no dearth of beauty and talent in the Northeast, and the thespian is likely to take home a few names,” she said.

The former beauty queen claimed Puri, who is known to fight shy of award ceremonies and parties, accepted the invitation to Kohima without a second thought. “Even Karishma Kapoor was eager to visit Kohima. But we could not arrange a chopper from Guwahati, as she had wished.”

Apart from Puri, the organisers have invited Miss Asia-Pacific Tina Chatwal and top model Muzamil Ebrahim.

Each of the northeastern states and Sikkim will field four participants — two men and two women — in the contest. Reflorescence Society vice-president Swelul Pucho said preliminary rounds were held in each of the states to select the contestants.

The contest will have traditional attire, dance and modelling rounds. These will be followed by an interview and final selection by a five judge-panel of three women and two men.

The state government is the major sponsor of the event. The organisers are searching for co-sponsors.

Pucho said chief minister Neiphiu Rio had consented to be a special guest.

Rio has been encouraging beauty pageants and shows. Brother Zhaleo Rio, who is the deputy commissioner of Kohima, happens to be the chief patron of Reflorescence Society.