BELLFLOWER, CA: Priyadarshini Roy was crowned Miss India Southern California 2012, by Sunil Tolani, at the 1st Annual Miss India Southern California on Sunday November 18. The event hosted by Finesse Events & Films, Hollywood & Sahara TV, was held at the William and Jane Bristol Civic Auditorium, Bellflower, CA.
The pageant consisted of five segments; Indian Sari, Western gown, Modern Indian, Talent and a Question-Answer session. The organizing committee that put up this wonderful show for the first time in Southern California included Shekhar Rahate, Dilip Butani, Vijay Patil, Ramesh Ramnani, Mike Raja and Sunil Narkar.
The winners were: Miss India Southern California 2012 – Priyadarshini Roy; 1st runners up – Jill Shah; 2nd runners up – Zoya Khan Best Talent – Priyadarshini Roy; Miss Photogenic – Alisha Khatwani; Miss Congeniality – Priyanka Chopra; Best Catwalk – Zoya Khan; Best Smile – Paayal Bhakta; Best Hair – Parizad Panthaki.
The evening’s gala was covered by Sahara TV and featured professional dance performances by Noopur Dance Academy and a Desi Divas dance performed on Chann Ke Mohalla song from Action Replay, by Karishma Ramnani, Kareena Sakhrani, Prerna Chugani, Gehna Chugani, and Rika Mirpuri – all children from Sindhi Association of Southern California.
It also featured fashion show Couture by Maneka, Divine Ray and designer Shekhar Rahate. Indian outfits for the pageant were provided by Rohini Bedi. The Pageant was directed and choreographed by Shekhar Rahate.
The Judges for the pageant were Mayor Pro-Tem Harry Sidhu, former Miss India Ayushka Singh, former Miss California Jennipha-lauren Nielsen, film maker Vandana Tilak and real estate developer A J Dudhekar. The event was hosted by Miss India Northern California 2007, 2nd runner up Snigdha Mallik, Model-Actress Jessica Berry & Classical Dancer/host Meha Raja.
One of the attractions of the program was a fashion show by Divine Ray LLC. The company launched its 2013 collection that was showcased by eight models. The collection was inspired by the colors that are created where the earth meets the sky and was aptly called “Grounded Earth”. The Fashion Show was choreographed by Viral Gandhi, one of the co-founders of the company.
Divine Ray is a boutique apparel label dedicated to educating and promoting “Khadi” and its values. Divine Ray, defines “Khadi” as pure breathable cotton that is hand spun and hand woven by the best artisans in the industry.
It aspires to revive this rich historical fabric into timeless designs appealing to the men and women of today. It strives to reduce Carbon footprint by adopting minimal energy consumption and by using bio-degradable material for packaging. As part of its social responsibility, the company is committed to donating 10% of its profits to charities. Alkesh Kubadia and Vijay Patil are the other two co-founders of Divine Ray.
The Miss India Southern California Pageant is affiliated with the prestigious Miss India Worldwide Pageant. The winner of the Miss India Southern California 2012 Pageant will represent Southern California in the forthcoming Miss India USA 2012 pageant. Contestants from over 25 cities from all over the USA will participate in the annual event to be held in February 2013 in New Jersey. The winner will compete in the internationally established Miss India Worldwide Pageant to be held on April 27, 2013 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The Miss India Southern California was created to provide entertainment and enlightenment about Indian arts and culture to the audience; benefits and opportunities for the contestants; and an annual event for the participation of the Indian community in Southern California.
The goal is to promote the glorious Indian culture and performing arts development and enhance awareness of Indian arts, customs, performing arts, culture, philosophies and history through the Pageant. Contestants for the Miss India Southern California Pageant must be of Indian origin, between the ages of 16 and 27, never married, and are U.S. citizens or residents, or born in USA or at least have one parent of Indian decent.
The event was sponsored by: Sahara ONE TV, Sunil Tolani, AJ Dudheker, Vinod Dudheker, Globimax Travel, Sameera Salon, Gauri Collection, Marinello School of Beauty, Aveda Salon & Spa and Divine Ray.
Dilip Butani
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