Maninee De Talks About About Rivalry Rumours Between Aishwarya Rai and Sushmita Sen During Miss India 1994

Actress Maninee De, who was also a top 10 finalist in the Miss India contest of 1994, recently spoke about the much-talked-about rivalry between the two beauty queens. 

Actress Maninee De recently spoke about the much-talked-about rivalry between Aishwarya Rai and Sushmita Sen during Miss India 94. ( Image Source :Getty Images, Instagram/@asim_xananya )

1994 was a landmark year for India in terms of fashion and beauty pageants as Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai won Miss Universe and Miss World respectively that year after winning the Miss India pageant. Actress Maninee De, who was also a top 10 finalist in the Miss India contest of 1994, recently shared about her relationship with both Aishwarya Rai and Sushmita Sen and also spoke about the much-talked-about rivalry between the two beauty queens. 

Maninne De on how Sushmita Sen encouraged her
In an interview with Siddharth Kannan, Maninee De recounted how Sushmita Sen encouraged her to participate in the contest. She said, "Firstly, for a girl who was never told she is conventionally beautiful, going on India’s premiere contest was in itself a big deal. I must thank Sushmita Sen, she was working with my first ex-husband, and we met and became very good friends. She used to recite poetries to me at 2 am in the night and would say that I was one of those few people who would understand what she was writing. She dropped me at the Claridges Hotel and ordered me to apply, so the last form filled out for Miss India in 1994 was mine. If Sushmita hadn’t been at that time… the universe sent her to me as a catalyst. She told me I am very exotic and my USP is that I spoke very well. From there the journey began.” 

Maninne De on Aishwarya Rai Bachchan
Reflecting on her encounter with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Maninee shared an anecdote. "I had never gone to Goam so I was thrilled that I was going there.  We just left for Goa to have fun, and when we reached there, we saw Aishwarya Rai and told ourselves that we were mad to compete with her. But what a lovely girl she has been, she was so gracious; not only is she beautiful but also very good-natured. I won the Miss Congeniality contest that time and she walked up to me saying that she voted for me because I was genuinely the sweetest of the lot,” she told Siddharth. 

On Aishwarya Rai-Sushmita Sen rivalry rumours
Dispelling rumors of animosity between Aishwarya and Sushmita, Maninee dismissed them as 'media-created.' “There was nothing like that between them, this was very media-created. Both of them were so dignified, we were in our 20s. To my knowledge, there was no rivalry at all. This was media created because Sushmita was the underdog, when we went from Delhi we were told Aishwarya was a model for a popular soap brand so what would we even do there? But there was nothing like that, especially from what I have witnessed,” she said. 

On her relationship with Aishwarya Rai, Sushmita Sen
When asked about her relationship with the two actresses, Maninee said, “The people you meet and work with are your colleagues, there is a difference between colleagues and friends. We were co-contestants and in that capacity, they were very nice to me. Later when I met Aishwarya during the screening of Drona, I was leaving and she called out to me and it was so heartening. I felt shy, but she hugged me with so much love and met my daughter too.”