"Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai owe their entire careers to PV Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh. Their 1994 Miss Universe and Miss World wins were because the cosmetics lobby had discovered a new market whose economy had recently been opened up by Rao and Singh. The lobby rigged a few more Indian wins before they completely dried up in the 21st century," wrote social media user Peeleraja recently.
This has been quite a well-known view among urbanites. India won a series of major titles in quick succession after Sushmita Sen (Miss Universe 1994) and Aishwarya Rai (Miss World 1994). Diana Hayden (Miss World 1997), Yukta Mookhey (Miss World 1999), Priyanka Chopra (Miss World 2000), and Lara Dutta (Miss Universe 2000) emerged in the pageant market. "Once the Indian beauty and grooming market was fully established, the streak slowed down significantly. Pageant organizers and cosmetics brands no longer needed to fete Indian models," a columnist once wrote.
This is not to say that Aishwarya Rai and Sushmita Sen are not talented. They have proven their versatility in Bollywood movies. Priyanka Chopra went on to become an international star.
