- The title winners. Photo by Neelamegam Subramanian.
Atlanta, GA, October 11, 2018: Lights, camera, runway… Hilton Atlanta glowed with glitz and glamour as contestants of the Bharat GA 2018 franchise sashayed across the stage on September 30, 2018. Presented by Kamlesh Chugh of Dream Girl Entertainment and MyDream Entertainment, the evening gleamed with the beauty, talent, confidence and poise demonstrated by the participants.
Priyanka Sharma in the Miss Bharat category, Reetu Jain in the Mrs Bharat category, Darshleen Kaur in the Miss Bharat Teen category and Madhulika Kumar in the Grandmom Bharat categories walked away with the top titles. They were crowned by Bollywood star Sunny Leone. The winners will represent Georgia in the Miss Bharat USA 2018 Pageant to be held in December.
Bollywood actor and Graviera Mister India World 2000 winner Aryan Vaid was the other celebrity guest at the event. Shiva Turlapati of Shiv’s Institute of Dance served as the choreographer.
“After my win as Mrs Bharat Grandmom, NJ in 2107, I was motivated to start the Atlanta chapter of the beauty pageant. My main purpose is to inspire, motivate and lead the ladies of the Indian community to come out of their shell and give true meaning to the phrase, beauty with a purpose. I want them to be an inspiration to their kids and grandkids,” said Chugh, in her address.
Emcees Aishwarya Sridharan and Monty Kataria engaged the audience with their flair and humor. The night opened with dance performance by all the contestants, total of 31, choreographed by Turlapati. The judges, organizers and national organizers were recognized and awarded trophies. Voting lines were opened to the audience to text in their vote for their favorite contestants, followed by a song performance by Nehal Mehta. The evening also featured energetic dance performances by Georgia Bhangra Academy, a special performance by Tanuj on the drums, and Shyam Gupta’s song performances and a combined performance by Shyam Gupta and Anupama Krishnan.
Chugh also recognized her core team. Two special ladies of Atlanta- Shakuntala Ahuja aged 81 and Shushila Gupta, a nonagenarian, were also honored on the stage with crowns.
Following the Indian outfit round, Top 9 finalists were given 3 minutes to perform and compete against each other for the Best Talent, 1st Runner up, and 2nd Runner up awards. An evening gown round and Q&A round with the judges decided the final winners.
Neera Bahl, Dr. Vishal Sharma, Jaslin Chahal, Bhavana Vishal Anand, Veena Rao, Rashmi Bedi, Dr. Nazeera Dawood and Prabha Raghava were members of the judging panel.
Chugh said her event management company, Dream Girl Entertainment, was a lifetime dream come true. “This is a unique event, not only a beauty pageant but a pageant where Indian ladies and gentlemen will present our culture and diversity. It is symbolic of how Indian culture is represented here in the United States,” she added.
Recognizing Rashmi and Janak Bedi for launching the pageant in the US, Chugh went to thank Sunny Leone, Aryan Vaid, the sponsors, organizers, the contestants and the audience. She recognized her friends Shiva, Kratika, Hetal, Bandana, Neha, Minnie, Neetu, Shubra, Rashmi, Seema Saxena and others who helped with the event.
