Sudeeksha Kiran is ‘Mrs Mangalore’ among 20 ‘Queens of their Homes’ Who Vied in this Beauty Pageant
Mangaluru: It was ONE of the Most Glittering, Well Choreographed, Extra Glamorous, Superb Showbiz, Professionally Compered “Beauty Pageant” that Mangaluru has seen in a long time- and Kudos to ‘Mrs.Popular’ at ‘Haute Monde Mrs.India Worldwide 2017’ winner Ms Soujanya Hegde for putting up a great show, which enthralled and received loud applaud from the packed audience at Hotel BMS banquet Hall during the weekend. Many people in the pageant world know that there are countless pageant systems out there for “Miss” contestants to compete in, but what about those married women who want to compete?
These days Pageants for married women in India are a good platform, and for that matter, Mangaluru too! The Mrs. “Mangalore Beauty Pageant” was for Married Women who were active and Involved, and this pageant was more than just a beauty pageant. The contestants were predominantly mixed- some of them still in their 30’s, some in their 40’s, while couple of them were in their past 50’s, one was a Grandma too, another one was a divorcee-but they all looked sizzling and gorgeous as if they were still in their teens?
Some were accompanied to the audition by their husbands {who didn’t wanted to expose themselves in front of the crowd, since they were shy since their sweethearts were much talented and bold than them}, some were escorted by their dads/moms/grandparents/In-Laws- but they were all full of enthusiasm, charisma, determination, and were ready to unleash their hidden talents on the audition ramp in the Final Round. They had to face the three judges, and their talents were judged on the basis of how they walked on the ramp, how they introduced themselves, how they performed in their Saree Round/Indo-Western Fusion Round/Visual Round/Cocktail Round and how they fair in the Q & A round?
The First time I saw nearly 50 contestants, and now narrowed down to 20 finalists from that First audition Round, I think these women have transformed themselves a lot, in their looks, their lifestyle, their talents, and what not. Seems like an EXTREME MAKEOVER? – and they all owed their Transformation for Good to Better to their Inspiration Ms Soujanya Hegde. “Pageants for married women provide strong platform to married women and give them an identity, but still many things need to be incorporated in an organised way to make women feel confident to showcase their personality and potential. A beauty pageant is a celebration of beauty. Beauty pageants give women an opportunity to showcase their personalities not only on a domestic platform but also globally. With that intention in mind, I had invited Married Indian Women from all walks of life who represent beauty, talent, confidence, intelligence and compassion to be a part of the Mrs Mangalore Beauty Pageant Contest” said Ms Soujanya, the mastermind behind this glamorous and sizzling extravaganza.
Who else can put up a better and superb show, other than Ms Soujanya? Because she is a multi-faceted talent person since her early years, and is more known to people by the smile on her face than her name, as she is popularly seen on screen and off screen hosting a number of shows and events in her unique style. She has won hundreds of prizes in various fields of cultural activities. And this Popular and Multi-Talented Woman is Ms Soujanya Hegde of ‘Namma Kudla’, is an Administrative Head of ‘Namma TV’, and currently the active and energetic President of Mangalore Jaycees Club-Lalbagh. With her infectious smile, versatility and creative presentation, Ms Soujanya has a hosted a lot of stage shows, open-air concerts, television shows, interviews and live programmes efficiently and in a magnificent style.
But the biggest achievement of all the laurels/awards was when this “Kudla Mom” Soujanya Hegde was Crowned as ‘Mrs.Popular’ at ‘Haute Monde Mrs.India Worldwide 2017’ held during the grand finale held in Delhi on 5 August, 2017. A promising product from St.Agnes School College-Mangaluru, a Law Graduate from SDM Law College Mangaluru and MBA diploma holder from ICFAI University, she is a person of many talents. Happily married to Sudhir Hegde , General Manager for Pepsi Co / 7-Up bottling Co Nigeria-Africa, she is blessed with 2 kids, Souravi and Souraag. Presently she is a freelance Anchor and a popular face on television. Presently working as the administrative head of Namma TV Channel and the Managing Director of ‘Lets Party’ – A Complete Party Store in Mangaluru. And now she hosted her FIRST Beauty Pageant for Married Women in Coastal Karnataka, wherein the Finals, 20 women all MARRIED, strut their Stuff in Bid for ‘Mrs Mangaluru’ Pageant Crown in the Finale.
The title of “Mrs Mangalore” is all about celebrating beauty in diversity because the organizers believe that every woman is beautiful and they should all feel the same about themselves irrespective of their height, weight, age or colour. So they invited all the Married women including divorced/widowed women who wish to earn a place of respect and admiration through their natural talents. This beauty pageant programme was not a typical pageant but was actually a women empowerment programme and gave married women an opportunity to stand up and advocate for what they are passionate about. The joy was in the journey of meeting other women along the way and being mentored by the ” Mrs.Popular’ at ‘Haute Monde Mrs.India Worldwide 2017″ which was a life-changing opportunity for all these married.
The twenty finalists were Angelita Lewis; Ruksana Hassan; Anuradha Rao; Fiona Costa; Shwetha Kamath; Shruthi Rai; Vinutha D’souza; Mamatha Bangera; Komal Rai; Rekha Kanemar; Prithvi Kamath; Mona Mendonca; Poornima Hegde; Hera Pinto; Shraddha Jawalkar; Soumya Lakshmi Shetty; Jyothi Shetty; Sudheeksha Kiran; Priya Poornima; and Ashwini Rao. The judges for the Final Round of the “Mrs Mangalore Beauty Pageant” were Venkat Charan Shetty, an entrepreneur; Ms Pallavi Gurukiran Shetty, an entrepreneur/Celebrity; and Anoop Sagar, a Tulu movie actor.
The final ceremony began with an inauguration done by the lighting of the lamp by Chief Guest J Sadanand Navada-the Past National EVP of JCI; Dr Arvind Rao Kedige, Jaycee Deerendra Jain, among others. The finalists’ contestants had to face the judges taking part in the Saree Round/Indo-Western Fusion Round/Cocktail Round-where they had to walk on the Ramp; also introduction Round; Q & A Round; and Visual Round. Out of the 20 finalists, 12 were selected in the First round- and finally, only seven were selected for the last round.
Apart from winning “Mrs Mangalore title”, there were also other sub-titles, namely – “Mrs Popular” won by Ms Fiona Costa; “Mrs Photogenic” (Ms Hera Pinto); “Mrs Beauty with Heart” (Soumya Shetty); “Mrs Ramp Walk”( Angelita Lewis); “Mrs Beautiful Smile ( Shwetha Kamath); “Mrs Social Media”( Sudheeksha Kiran); “Mrs Congeniality”( Jyothi Shetty); “Mrs Bolly Fit “( Shruthi Rai ); “Mrs Talented”( Mona Mendonca); and ” Mrs Inspiration ( Ruksana Hassan”.
Finally among the last seven, “Mrs Mangalore” was bagged by Ms Sudheeksha Kiran, First Runner-Up by Ms Hera Pinto, and Second Runner-Up by Ms Angelita Lewis. They all received cash prizes of Rs 75,000, Rs 50,000 and rs 25,000 respectively along with gift vouchers and hampers. But to all the 20 finalists, even though they didn’t the titles, they were still “Mrs Mangaloreans”? So to all these beautiful and sizzling Married women contestants of “Mrs Mangalore, who were healthy and beauty conscious, and who were brave and have in them to be the voice of change, and who signed up for the ride of their life and discovered a new in them, Team Mangalorean says , “To all You Sweethearts, You All Rocked”!
