Outgoing queen Monica Gill crowning Stephanie Lohale
Stephanie Lohale of Oman crowned at the Twenty Fourth Annual Miss India Worldwide 2015. The pageant was held at the Lalit Hotel in Mumbai, India. Stephanie, 19, is currently pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Fashion Design, at Heriot Watt University, Dubai and is an aspiring fashion publisher. Stephanie was crowned by outgoing Miss India Worldwide, Monica Gill. Apeksha Porwal of India and Shivani Govender of South Aftica were crowned first runner-up and second runner-up respectively. The other top 5 finalists were Nivetha Pethuraj of UAE and Jyotsna Arora of Qatar.
Contestants from 33 different countries took part in what has been acclaimed “the most glamorous Indian pageant in the world”. Some of the celebrities who attended the pageant included Shatrughan Sinha, Shekhar Suman, Shashi Tharoor, Hrishita Bhatt, Reecha Sharma, Ayesha Jhulka, Rohit Verma, Geeta Kapoor, Nikkitasha Marwaha and Niharica Raizada. Choreography was done by Ace Choreographer, Sandeep Soparkar and Alesia Raut. TV actor Karan Tacker was the emcee.
The sub-contest winners were Miss Bollwood Diva – Grace Walia of Indonesia, Miss Social Media – Dipti Bhudrani of Sint Martin, Miss Photogenic – Priyanka Sebastian of Sri Lanka, Miss Beautiful Face – Stephanie Lohale of Oman, Miss Beautiful Skin – Lieve Blanckaert of Guyana, Miss Talented – Jyotsna Arora of Qatar, Miss Beautiful Smile – Nandini Kochar of Botswana, Miss Catwalk – Apeksha Porwal of India, Miss Beautiful Eyes – Kareen Seepersaud of French Guiana, Miss Congeniality – Soesoe Mustafa of Netherlands and Miss Chairman’s Professional – Veena Gurbani of Jamaica.
Miss India Worldwide is organized by IFC, New York, headed by Chairman/Founder, Dharmatma Saran and managed by Emirates Vision of Dubai. Dharmatma Saran thanked all the supporters for making the pageant a grand success and looks forward to an even grander event next year when the pageant celebrates its silver anniversary.
Pictures courtesy of Raj Suri, Australia, Bhiku Bhula, New Zealand