Role models

Reknowned actor,Gulshan Grover,and model-actor Tanushree Dutta were recently in the city to meet the 14 finalists of Mr and Ms Citadel at Pride Hotel. After the finalists were introduced by Siddharth Kannan,the anchor for the evening,Bollywood’s ‘Bad Man’ Grover said,“Just be yourself and concentrate on the current commitments instead of struggling to get into someone else’s shoes.”

Grover,who is currently working on four projects Bullet Raja,Super Se Upar,Yaariyan and Baat Ban Gayi,also shared his initial stages of struggling and how he finally managed to make a name in not just Bollywood,but also across the globe. “When I was a student at the film school,my classmates were people like Anil Kapoor,who were fantastic when it came to dancing. And I could not dance and was bullied. However,I was good at other aspects. I never lost hope and today the world knows where I am. I want to advise these contestants that as they climb up the ladder,they will be facing a lot envious remarks,discouragements,but none of these should pull them down,” says Grover.

Tanushree Dutta too spoke of her own pageant experience,“When I was competing for Miss India,I was taught to stay focused even in hard times. I remember we were made to follow a strict diet of not even a tinge of sugar in the dishes. It was difficult. When I had to compete for Miss Universe later,I lived on tomatoes and cucumber,” shares Dutta,who was clad in a royal blue anarkali.

The owner of the Mumbai-based Magna Publishing Company Limited,Nari Hira,and the editor,Nita Deshmukh were also present at the event. The contestants will undergo a 15-day grooming session under experts before the finale of the Mr. and Ms. Citadel Pune Pageant 2013 on August 17.