[Assam] A star is born at Tilottama

[Pradip Kumar Datta]

A star is born at Tilottama- Guwahati girl judged most photogenic at Calcutta pageant 

OUR BUREAU





 

Devishri at the pageant on Saturday. Picture by Pabitra Das 
Calcutta, June 22: Twenty beauties from all over eastern India sashayed down the ramp at a Calcutta address last evening, but one leggy lass from Guwahati walked away with the awards for being the best groomed and the most photogenic.
 
The banquet hall of a five star hotel in Calcutta was dressed up in the afternoon for eastern India’s biggest beauty pageant, Dabur Gulabari Sananda Tilottama ’08.
 
Three women — Chirasree Singha Roy, Ushoshi Sengupta and Tiffany Brewer — walked away with crowns nestled in their hair and sashes around their slender frames.
 
 
 
But the crowns for the Dabur Gulabari Miss Photogenic and Technable Miss Best Groomed stayed firmly with Assam girl Devishri Thakur.
 
Model and grooming expert Nayanika Chatterjee, who spearheaded the month-long grooming session prior to the finals, made sure her girls looked the best on their big night. Her last piece of advice: “Forget everything, take a deep breath. Give it your best.”
 
Anchor Barry O’Brien’s voice greeted the gathering for the final evening from behind the set. Then glided in the bevy of beauties. Dressed in pink leggings, pink chiffon wraps and halter-neck tops with flowers in their hair, glittery tattoos on their arms and masks shrouding their faces in mystery, the show opened with an exotic bang. Aura of Beauty, a dance sequence combining Arabic and Spanish movements, was choreographed by Sukalyan Bhattacharya. The masks were discarded in due course, and the 20 contestants were ready to be admired and judged.
 
The jury comprised author Shobhaa De, model Viveka Babaji, danseuse Dona Ganguly, art connoisseur Jyoti Thapar and industrialist Aditya Lodha.
Barry and model-actress Dipannita steered the audience through the evening, chatting, talking to the judges and audience and praising the girls. They played games with the audience, giving away gifts to a lady in pink and a gentleman who sang a song with the word ‘gulabi’ in it, and men who walked the ramp.
 
The next appearance made by the girls was a Western casuals sequence, including tunics, balloon skirts, racer backs and shirt dresses from United Colors of Benetton. 
 
An entertainment interlude followed with Neeraj Shridhar of Bombay Vikings taking the stage. 
 
Komal Sood dressed the girls in fitted A-line and fishtail lehngas, teamed with tube tops laced at the back and halter necks. 
 
Ten girls crashed out after this round and the other 10 finalists, including Devishri, sashayed down in gowns designed by Swapan and Seema. 
After a gruelling question and answer round, it was time for Devishri along with four others to go, leaving the other five to face the final round of interrogation.