Swagat Hota

Bhubaneswar, Aug. 24: Determination and youthful passion have helped Odia model Swagat Hota scale great heights.

Overcoming his humble beginnings, Swagat, 22, lived his dream when he walked the ramp at the ongoing Lakme Fashion Week in Mumbai.

Coming from the non-descript Banapur town in Khurda, Swagat has displayed outfits of some major designers at fashion events that eventually opened doors to many opportunities.

In Mumbai now, Swagat, after completing his Plus Two (science), was busy pursuing an animation course. However, he always wanted to become a model and kept the fire alive within him.

As he frequented Bhubaneswar for academic purposes, he found out about a few ad agencies one-and-a-half years ago and dropped his portfolio with some fashion event co-ordinators.

“Once I got a break to walk at small fashion events in Bhubaneswar, I started getting more offers,” said Swagat.

“I was guided and encouraged by designer Pritam Panda. He helped me build up my physique,” Swagat said.

Featuring regularly in major fashion shows in Bhubaneswar helped Swagat get offers from fashion choreographers and designers from Calcutta and Vizag. So far, he has already done more than 150 shows in Odisha and Calcutta.

He also took part in the Gladrags Manhunt in Mumbai and bagged some advertisements for major brands.

“Once you are focused, it is not difficult to reach your goal. I got a chance to do a lot of television commercials within a couple of months after landing in Mumbai,” Swagat said.

Last month, he auditioned for the Lakme Fashion Week and one of the top designers of the country, Arjun Khanna, chose Swagat to walk the ramp for his grand finale collection on Saturday.

Lined up for him are various events such as the Mysore Fashion Week and Bangalore Fashion Week.