(From top) A contestant on the ramp at the preliminary round of the Vatika Honey & Saffron Soap Sananda Tilottama 2006 at ITC Sonar Bangla on Friday; participants at the session; judges (from left) Sukalyan, Agnimitra, Noyonika, Churni and Vivek. Pictures by Pabitra Das

The biggest beauty pageant of eastern India ? Sananda Tilottama ? unveiled its 10th edition at the ITC Sonar Bangla Sheraton & Towers on Friday.

After a set of preliminary rounds at Guwahati, where five finalists were shortlisted on April 21, the Calcutta chapter on Friday saw an “overwhelming” participation. After a day-long preliminary session, 15 girls were handpicked from the 90 hopefuls.

The panel of judges who quizzed and marked the beauties comprised model and grooming expert Noyonika Chatterjee, designer Agnimitra Paul, photographer Vivek Das, dance choreographer Sukalyan Bhattacharya and actress Churni Ganguly.

The auditions looked quite like a fashion show, with the contestants trooping in, in their glamorous bests. Lots of saris, ranging all the way from Dhakais to leopard prints, chiffons to net, were on display, amidst the occasional flash of skin.

The most expected question ? the reason for entering the contest ? threw up some unexpected answers like “just like that”, “I would get to wear nice clothes” and “I want to be on TV”.

Noyonika’s question ? Why do so many Miss Indias promise to be like Mother Teresa and end up in Bollywood? ? tickled quite a few funny bones, as did the pat reply: “I don’t know? It’s their problem!”

The contestants were a mix of college students and aspiring airhostesses. The turnout, as Noyonika put it, was “rather impressive” in quantity and the quality, too, got better with every contestant.

“I think the judging criteria is fuss-free and comprehensive. After marking the girls separately on appearance, carriage, poise, communication skills and overall impression, there is no scope for settling for the second best,” smiled Agnimitra.

Noyonika will spearhead the grooming session for the 20 finalists from May 1 to 26, preparing the girls for the big night. “Apart from the usual combination of physical aspects, intelligence level and presence of mind, my aim is to develop the overall personality of each finalist. The idea is not to make them like me or for that matter clones of each other; instead I will focus on honing their individual potential and unique attributes,” she revealed.

The winner of last year’s contest Susweta Paul Choudhury said: “With the Tilottama crown on my head, I have never needed to walk in to someone’s office and introduce myself along with my vital stats.”

“Sananda Tilottama, like Sananda, has evolved over the years, but the basic objective still remains the empowerment of women,” explained Madhumita Chattopadhyay, editor of Sananda.

Evolution and growth there sure has been. Entries this year have rushed in from as far as Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Bhubaneswar. The number of new sponsors has also gone up by three, while the sponsorship kitty has increased by 25 per cent.

While the crown is sponsored by Vatika Honey & Saffron Soap, the associate sponsors are EverYuth and Seagram’s Blenders Pride Magical Nights. The co-sponsors are MP Jewellers, Happydent White and Mentos.

Vatika Honey & Saffron Soap Sananda Tilottama 2006 has Westside as the wardrobe partner, VLCC as the grooming sponsor and Aakaash Bangla as the official TV partner.

The grand finale at ITC Sonar Bangla on May 27 will feature a performance by Alisha Chinai. Sub-contests like Miss Beautiful Smile, Miss Beautiful Skin, Miss Congeniality promise loads of excitement.

The ones who made to the top 20 after the prelims were: Rochelle Zochuani Darkin, Zodiki Darkin, Priyanka Laurembaum, Delphine Marbariang and Bharati Hazarika from the Northeast; Lisa Nandy, Arpita Ganguly, Prachi Doshi, Madhabilata Mitra, Priscilla Pradhan, Akansha Rathi, Deepa Gupta, Nandini Ghosh, Moumi Banerjee, Shilpi Chakrabarty, Ananya Gupta, Gunjan Sinha, Rebecca Banerjee, Sana Singh and Gurvinder Singh Grewal.