Priyanka Chopra participated in the Miss India competition at the age of 17. A mentor from the competition revealed how a jury member was against crowning Priyanka 'Miss India' participated in the Miss India competition at the age of 17. She went on to become Miss World and is an inspiration for many today. She is a successful actor, singer and producer. In the book by Aseem Chhabra, Priyanka Chopra: The Incredible Story of a Global Bollywood Star, Pradeep Guha who was one of the mentors of the contestants in the year 2000 recalled how one jury member was uncertain about Priyanka due to her skin color. He said, “Not everybody in the jury was initially in favour of her. One person mentioned she's too dark,” further adding, “I said, 'Yaar come on -- look at South American girls. They keep winning and some of them are pretty dark as are all the girls from Africa. So I said what are you talking about? 'I was always very certain about her and as I said this woman never made a mistake twice.” The judges that year included actors , Juhi Chawla and Waheeda Rehman, Mohammed Azharuddin, film producer Pritish Nandy, painter Anjolie Ela Menon, Subhash Chandra, fashion designer Carolina Herrera and Marcus Swarovski. “She kind of always improved on herself day on day, day on day. I knew that she would give in 200 per cent if she gets in,” Guha added in the book by Aseem Chhabra. “I think she needed a little more confidence. I think she wasn't quite sure initially whether this was the thing she wanted to do. She came in a bit tentatively. By the time the contest started she seemed a lot more collected and definitely more confident of herself,” Guha added. Read More<doc-sep>Guha says he was impressed with Priyanka from the beginning but for some reason she did not come up as the “obvious choice”. Guha says he was impressed with Priyanka from the beginning but for some reason she did not come up as the “obvious choice”. Actor Priyanka Chopra was not the obvious choice for the Miss India title 18 years ago as one of the jury members felt her complexion was “too dark”, says a new book on the star who turned 36 on Wednesday. A 17-year-old Priyanka took part in the beauty contest from Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh and emerged as the runner-up – Femina Miss India World 2000. Lara Dutta was crowned Femina Miss India Universe, while the second runner-up Dia Mirza won the Femina Miss India Asia Pacific title. All three women went on to clinch the title in their respective categories – Miss Universe, Miss World and Miss Asia Pacific. In Priyanka Chopra: The Incredible Story of a Global Bollywood Star, Pradeep Guha, one of the mentors of the contestants for that year’s contest, remembers how one of the jury members was uncertain about Priyanka. “Not everybody in the jury was initially in favour of her. One person mentioned she’s too dark,” he recalls, without naming the jury member. “I said, ‘Yaar come on — look at South American girls. They keep winning and some of them are pretty dark as are all the girls from Africa. So I said what are you talking about?’ I was always very certain about her and as I said this woman never made a mistake twice,” Guha is quoted in the biography by Aseem Chhabra. The contestants faced a range of celebrity judges – actors Shah Rukh Khan, Juhi Chawla and Waheeda Rehman, cricketer Mohammed Azharuddin, media mogul and film producer Pritish Nandy, painter Anjolie Ela Menon, the then founder-chairman of Zee Media (and now Rajya Sabha MP) Subhash Chandra, fashion designer and perfume queen Carolina Herrera, and Marcus Swarovski, the great-great-grandnephew of the founder of the Austrian crystal company. “She kind of always improved on herself day on day. I knew that she would give in 200 per cent if she gets in,” Guha says in the Rupa Publications’ book. Guha says he was impressed with Priyanka from the beginning but for some reason she did not come up as the “obvious choice” although she grew through the contest. “I think she needed a little more confidence. I think she wasn’t quite sure initially whether this was the thing she wanted to do. She came in a bit tentatively. By the time the contest started, she seemed a lot more collected and definitely more confident of herself.” Part of the reason Priyanka felt unsure was because she was an outsider, as compared to some of the other contestants, including Lara who was already a professional model, Guha says. Another mentor Sathya Saran says she remembers Priyanka because they did not notice her in the beginning. “I noticed her at the talent contest because she sang beautifully. I told Pradeep she is going to win something,” Saran says. When the results were announced, there was a tie between the top contestants Priyanka and Lara. Guha and Saran had experienced a similar situation with Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai in 1994. “This time, they were better prepared and additional questions were posed to both Priyanka and Lara. The final results were no surprise to anyone. The suave, elegant well-spoken Lara Dutta won the Miss India title,” the book says. Both Lara and Priyanka worked together in one of their initial films Andaz alongside Akshay Kumar in 2003. Priyanka has managed to carve an international career and is now one of the most recognisable Indian faces working in Hollywood. The actor, in past interviews, has spoken about facing issues due to her complexion even within her “Punjabi family”.<doc-sep>MUMBAI: Bollywood's stylish actress Priyanka Chopra was not the clear choice for the Miss India title in 2000 as one of the jury members felt her complexion was “too dark”, says a new book on the star who turned 36 on July 18, 2018. Then 17, Priyanka participated in the beauty contest from Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh and emerged as the runner-up - Femina Miss India World 2000. Another Bollywood actor Lara Dutta was crowned Femina Miss India Universe, while the second runner-up Dia Mirza, who has also been part of Indian film industry, won the Femina Miss India Asia Pacific title. All three women went on to clinch the title in their respective categories. In Priyanka Chopra: The Incredible Story of a Global Bollywood Star, Pradeep Guha, one of the mentors of the contestants for that year’s contest, remembers how one of the jury members was uncertain about the Bollywood star. "Not everybody in the jury was initially in favour of her. One person mentioned she’s too dark," he recalls, without naming the jury member. Now she is known for setting style trends in Bollywood, the former Miss World tries to be unique whenever she attends any event. For her style is always a representation of what one wants to wear but doing it in a unique way and expressing oneself.<doc-sep>A pageant juror believed Priyanka was too dark to represent India (Picture: ANGELA WEISS/AFP/Getty Images) Priyanka Chopra first rose to fame after being crowned Miss World in the year 2000. But some people apparently argued she was ‘too dark’ to win the Miss India title that got her to that point. A new book about the Bollywood star has claimed that one jury member at the Feminina Miss India pageant thought Priyanka’s skin was ‘too dark’ for her to represent the nation. In the book Priyanka Chopra: The Incredible Story of a Global Bollywood Star, Pradeep Guha – one of the contestants’ mentors in the pageant – recalls one of the jury member’s opinions on the Bihar-born star. Priyanka was crowned Miss World at the age of 18 (Picture: GERRY PENNY/AFP/Getty Images) According to the Indian Express, Guha wrote: ‘Not everybody in the jury was initially in favour of her. One person mentioned she’s too dark. ‘I said, “Yaar come on — look at South American girls. They keep winning and some of them are pretty dark as are all the girls from Africa. So I said what are you talking about?” I was always very certain about her and as I said this woman never made a mistake twice.’ Priyanka was crowned runner-up in the contest after Miss India Universe Lara Dutta, and was named Feminina Miss India World. This allowed her to go on to the Miss World pageant which was held in London, and she was crowned the winner at the Millenium Dome (now the O2 Arena). Priyanka is dating Nick Jonas (Picture: Ricky Vigil M/GC Images) Priyanka – who is of Punjabi descent – has spoken out about struggling as a young woman due to her darker skin tone, and recently revealed she was turned down for a role because of her skin. Speaking to In Style, the 36-year-old said: ‘I was out for a movie, and somebody [from the studio] called one of my agents and said, “She’s the wrong”—what word did they used?—”physicality”. So in my defense as an actor, I’m like, “Do I need to be skinnier? Do I need to get in shape? Do I need to have abs?” Like, what does “wrong physicality” mean? ‘And then my agent broke it down for me. Like, “I think, Priy, they meant that they wanted someone who’s not brown.” It affected me.’ Priyanka is one of India’s biggest stars, starring in hits including Fashion, Aitraaz, Anfaaz and Don. She has also crossed over to the US, landing the lead role in the series Quantico and starring in the Baywatch big-screen reboot. Priyanka is currently dating Nick Jonas, and was seen enjoying a date night with the Jealous singer in London to mark her 36th birthday. Got a showbiz story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page - we'd love to hear from you. MORE : Gabrielle Union says ‘heads are being buried in the sand over colourism’ MORE : Priyanka Chopra dances on streets of New York as she misses DNCE gig with boyfriend Nick Jonas<doc-sep>
Bollywood actor Priyanka Chopra was not the obvious choice for the Miss India title 18 years ago as one of the jury members felt her complexion was “too dark”, says a new book on the star who turned 36 today. In Priyanka Chopra: The Incredible Story of a Global Bollywood Star, Pradeep Guha, one of the mentors of the contestants for that year’s contest, remembers how one of the jury members was uncertain about Chopra. “Not everybody in the jury was initially in favour of her. One person mentioned she’s too dark,” he recalls, without naming the jury member. “I said, ‘Yaar come on — look at South American girls. They keep winning and some of them are pretty dark as are all the girls from Africa. So I said what are you talking about? ‘I was always very certain about her and as I said this woman never made a mistake twice,” Guha is quoted in the biography by Aseem Chhabra. Then 17, the ‘Quantico’ star took part in the beauty contest from Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh and emerged as the runner-up — Femina Miss India World 2000. Lara Dutta was crowned Femina Miss India Universe, while the second runner-up Dia Mirza won the Femina Miss India Asia Pacific title. All three women went on to clinch the title in their respective categories — Miss Universe, Miss World and Miss Asia Pacific. The contestants faced a range of celebrity judges – actors Shah Rukh Khan, Juhi Chawla and Waheeda Rehman, cricketer Mohammed Azharuddin, media mogul and film producer Pritish Nandy, painter Anjolie Ela Menon, the then founder-chairman of Zee Media (and now Rajya Sabha MP) Subhash Chandra, fashion designer and perfume queen Carolina Herrera, and Marcus Swarovski, the great-great-grand nephew of the founder of the Austrian crystal company. “She kind of always improved on herself day on day, day on day. I knew that she would give in 200 per cent if she gets in,” Guha says about Chopra in the Rupa Publications’ book. Published in Daily Times, July 20th 2018.