Miss World Manushi Chhillar on Padmavati, Virat Kohli, Shashi Tharoor and her favourite politician

After she won laurels for the country at the 67th Miss World 2017 pageant in Beijing on November 18, Manushi Chhillar won hearts during the first session of Agenda Aaj Tak 2017, moderated by Rajdeep Sardesai, Consulting Editor for India Today Group.

In a freewheeling chat, Chhillar spoke on a range of topics — from her journey as a medical student to Miss World, to her views on the Padmavati controversy. She also fielded some tricky questions like a pro, showing us why she won the crown in the first place.

Much more than a beautiful face

Twenty-year-old Chhillar is a student of Bhagat Phool Singh Government Medical College for Women in Sonepat. According to reports, she had scored 96 per cent in her Class 12 CBSE board exams.

The beauty queen on Friday repeatedly made it clear that she wishes to continue with her studies, and wants to become a cardiac surgeon. While she would not say no to an offer to act opposite her favourite star Aamir Khan, her focus continues to be on her studies, Chillar said.

The Haryana girl debunks several myths here – that women who look after their appearance and make-up are somehow vacuous, and that students need to give up on their other dreams to be successful in studies.

Responding to a question on how beauty pageants are often criticised for reducing women to their looks, Chhillar said: “You can’t uplift one group of women by putting down the other.”

Beauty pageants have long been attacked for objectifying women, and those who compete over their appearance to win a sash and a tiara have been considered poor champions of women empowerment.

However, Chhillar makes a very important point – that a woman has the choice to deck herself up and look as glamorous as she wants, and this has nothing to do with her other abilities.

When we assume that every woman participating in a beauty pageant is nothing more than her looks, we are perpetrating the stereotype that activism cannot come clad in flattering gowns.

As Chhillar pointed out, all the women participating in the pageant had their own stories of struggle, and it was wrong to “judge the books by their beautiful covers”.

'Would you marry off your daughter at 21?'

Chhillar won the crown because of her answer that the vocation of a mother deserves to be the most highly-paid. At the Aaj Tak conclave, she expanded on the theme, reminding people of the immense contribution “housewives” make to the society, speaking proudly of her own mother’s successful handling of parenthood and career as a doctor.

The 20-year-old also spoke of her plans for her life, where she wants to balance her career as a doctor along with her altruistic goals.

Chhillar is working on a project where she is trying to empower young women by creating awareness on menstrual hygiene and making cheaper sanitary pads available to them. The venture won her the “Beauty with a Purpose” title at the Miss World pageant, and recently, the Haryana government announced it would provide free sanitary pads in state schools.

To a question on her plans for marriage, Chhillar shot back: “Would you marry your daughter off at 21?”

Padmavati

Chhillar performed at the Miss World pageant on Deepika Padukone’s song “Nagaada Sang Dhol”, which she also taught to other women there. When asked whether Padukone should have acted in Padmavati, the movie in the centre of a controversy for offending Rajput pride, Chhillar said art, to her, meant freedom, and Padukone’s duty as an actor should be to do justice to any role that she takes up.

Favourite politician

While the beauty queen happily rattled answers off — on her favourite food (Rajma Chawal her mom makes), favourite cricketer (Virat Kohli) and favourite actor (Priyanka Chopra) — she was brought up short when asked who was her favourite politician.

As Sardesai quipped that she had a tough choice between Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whom she recently met, and Rahul Gandhi, as Congress leader Sachin Pilot was present at the event, Chhillar gracefully rescued herself: “My favourite politician will always be the Prime Minister no matter who is occupying the post, because for me the country comes first.”

The beauty queen also spoke on Shashi Tharoor, with whom she had had a Twitter exchange after he tried to pun on her surname Chhillar and chillar, which means coins, or small change, in Hindi.  

On November 30, Tharoor had said he had had a "wonderful phone conversation” with her “to make up for the scheduling misfire on our on-air encounter”. Chhillar, on her part, Friday said she liked Tharoor and he was one of the most eloquent people she knew of. 

Confident and articulate, Chhillar is a worthy representative of India’s young, proving as she does from her journey — from just another medical student to Miss World — that the sky is the limit if one believes in oneself.

The Haryana girl is like many Indian women her age — intelligent, smart, career-driven — and as she takes on the world perfectly turned out in sky-high heels, more power to her.

Also read: How Miss Peru contestants used beauty pageant stage to empower women