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Zeenat Aman, the Marilyn Munroe
of the Indian cinema, crowned Neelam Verma, a management
graduate of Toronto, as Miss India Canada 2001, at International
Plaza Hotel in Toronto. Last year’s winner, Retu Jhalan was
amongst over 1000 people, attending gala evening.
The First runner-up was Pooja
Narang and the Second runner-up was Dimple Sharma.
The clincher question asked by
the judges was: “If you travel back in time, what period would
you choose and why?”
The five finalists had to think
and talk fast. Neelam’s answer was: “The 1970s – it was a time
of great experimentation and more emancipation for women. That
would have been a great time to live, I feel.”
Neelam performed a wonderful
‘fusion’ dance with Spanish, Egyptian and Indian music blended
in a bubbly melody. Her answer and the performance got her the
crown.
C.M. Bhandari, Indian
Consul-General in Toronto, and Sanjeev Chowdhry, Advisor to
Foreign Minister of Canada, John Manley were amongst the
speakers.
Judges for the show were:
physician Pam Gill, perfume designer, Michel Germain, barrister
Anil Kapoor, Canada 3000 director Jean Jones, businessman Harish
Patel, fashion designer Mohammad Rahmanian, aesthetic instructor
Abha Sharma, Citibank manager Mala Singh and
writer-dramatist-actress Deepmala Verma.
The show is “the largest South
Asian pageant in Canada”, said Kush Agnihotri, organiser of the
Pageant. |
