Gamya Wijayadasa: Gamya won the prestigious Miss Sri Lanka title three years back in 2012. She makes her Bollywood debut in Manish Manikpuri's ‘Aalaap’ with an item song called ‘Chadhti Jawaani’
Jacqueline Fernandez: Prior the Gamya, Jacqueline had earned the title of Miss Srilanka in 2006 and then moved to Hindi films in 2009 and made her promising debut in a fantasy movie called ‘Aladin’ with Ritesh Deshmukh and Amitabh Bachchan
Priyanka Chopra: In 2003, Priyanka appeared in her first Bollywood film, opposite Sunny Deol and Preity Zinta in theAnil Sharma film The Hero: Love Story of a Spy. In December 2009, Chopra judged the Miss World 2009 competition held in Johannesburg, South Africa
Lara Dutta: Lara made her Hindi debut in 2003 with the film Andaaz which was a box office success and won her a Filmfare Best Female Debut Award. Lara had won the annual Gladrags modeling competition, thus winning the right to be the first Indian representative at the 1997 Miss Intercontinental, in which she took first place. Later, she was crowned Femina Miss India Universe
Dia Mirza: Dia arrived in Bollywood in the romantic comedy ‘Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein’ opposite R. Madhavan. She was the second runner up at Femina Miss India, 2000 and later even won the Miss Asia Pacific title
Sushmita Sen: In 1994, at the age of 18 this Bong babe managed to bag the title of Miss Universe. It took her only a couple of years to find her ground in Bollywood as she made her debut in the psycho-thriller ‘Dastak’ along with Mukul Dev and Sharad Kapoor. While the co-actors from her first film may have faded away in oblivion, Sushmita has clearly made her mark in Bollywood and is known for her iconic roles in blockbuster films
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan: In the same year as Sushmita (1994), Aishwarya won the Miss World crown and her Bollywood debut was a year after Sushmita’s arrival in 1997 in the ambitious come of age drama ‘Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya’ opposite Bobby Deol. Her debut may have been a blockbuster disaster but today, she is regarded as one of the top actresses in Hindi films and has even featured in Hollywood films like ‘The Last Legion’ and ‘The Pink Panther 2
Diana Hayden: Three years after Aishwarya, Diana bagged the prestigious Miss World crown in 1997. In attempting to follow on the steps of Ash and Sush, Diana jetted off to UK to study acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and then at the Drama Studio London. She finally made her Bollywood debut in 2004 in a B-grade film called ‘Ab..Bas’ which was forgotten as soon as it released and didn’t do much for her career. She did get her five
Tanushree Dutta: This dusky beauty may have just made it to the top 10 of the Miss Universe contest in 2004 but that didn’t stop her from plunging into filmdom. Her film happened to be the super hit love triangle Emraan Hashmi and Sonu Sood starrer ‘Aashiq Banaya Aapne’. While her filmography till date lists 15 films, she is yet to find her ground in Bollywood as her films including her performances haven’t created much of a stir
Zeenat Aman: Remembered by most of us as a golden star of the yesteryears, Zeenat Aman begun her career as a model too. She won the Miss Asia Pacific in 1970 after being the first runner up in the Miss India contest. She made her film debut in O. P. Ralhan's Hulchul in 1971. Her father was a script writer of films like ‘Mughal-e-Azam’ and ‘Pakeezah’ and she was always oriented towards the field
Juhi Chawla: For those who don’t know, this chirpy actress who saw her prime in the 90s was also a Miss India in 1984. While she didn’t bag the Miss Universe title, she did earn the Best Costume Award at the contest. Having been a trained Kathak dancer, she was always interested in many arts. Films happened in 1986 film ‘Sultanat’ where she acted along with stars like Dharmendra, Sunny Deol and Sridevi. But she did strike gold only in her second
Namrata Shirodkar: This 1993 Miss India winner came 5th in the Miss Universe pageant and instantly made it into VH1’s ‘The Greatest 40 Dumbest Celebrity Quotes Ever’ for her answer to a question asked at the Miss Universe contest. Her answer was, “I would not want to live forever because I don't believe that one can live forever. And so, I don't think I would want to live forever!” But a career in acting has little to do with intellect and she
Gul Panag: Today her dimples are make ripples in Bollywood but this bright-eyes beauty first graced the ramp and won the Miss India in 1999 and even made it to the top ten at the Miss Universe contest. She was first seen in the 2003 film ‘Dhoop’ which didn’t particularly lend her the star status she wanted. Her first recognizable hit would be the 2006 film ‘Dor’ which earned her the Best Actress in a Supporting Role at the Screen Awards
Neha Dhupia: This lovely lady had earned the title of Femina Miss India 2002 and made her Bollywood debut in ‘Qayamat: City Under Threat’ in 2003 which performed averagely at the box office. She rose to public attention for the controversy that surrounded her next release ‘Julie’ where she played a physically abused woman
Celina Jaitely: This light-eyed beauty was crowned the Femina Miss India Universe in 2001 and even finished as the 4th runner up at the Miss Universe contest. She was first seen in a film in Feroz Khan’s ‘Janasheen’ which didn’t give her the career boost she was looking for. But subsequently, with movies like ‘No Entry’, ‘Apna Sapna Money Money’ she found her niche as an actress who is well-suited to comic films
Nafisa Ali: This silver-haired woman of substance known to all as an actress and a social activist was also a beauty queen once. She began as a national swimming champion and then won the Miss India title in the year 1976 and was the runner up at the Miss International contest in 1977. Her entry to Bollywood was with ‘Junoon’ in 1979 and for most of us, her notable presence in ‘Major Saab’ opposite Amitabh Bachchan was most memorable
Sangeeta Bijlani: Most of us known Sangeeta Bijlani as a popular actress and ex-captain of the Indian cricket team, Mohd Azharuddin’s wife. But even Sangeeta began as a model and won the Miss India title in 1980. She was later discovered by J P Dutta in ‘Hathiyar’ where she stole the role that was initially offered to Dimple Kapadia. Her performance was lauded and there was no looking back and she went on to be nominated for the Best Supporting