Sushmita Sen celebrates 31 years of turning Miss Universe with rare pictures, was ready to withdraw her name from pageant due to Aishwarya Rai

Sushmita Sen made history in 1994 when she became the first Indian to be crowned Miss Universe. She was just 18 years old when she achieved the feat.

By: Entertainment Desk

Mumbai | May 21, 2025 05:00 PM IST

3 min read

Sushmita Sen made history in 1994 as the first Indian to be crowned Miss Universe.

Sushmita Sen gained worldwide glory on May 21, 1994, when she became the first Indian to be crowned Miss Universe. The actor celebrated 31 years of that occasion on Wednesday through a dump of some rarely seen photos on her Instagram handle. Along with the relatively unseen pictures, there was also the iconic shot of Sen looking flabbergasted when her name was announced as the pageant winner.

“A historical win that introduced an 18yr old indian girl to the Universe!!! (smile, dance, and red heart emojis),” Sen wrote in the caption. “Opening up a world of possibilities, highlighting the strength of hope, the power of inclusion, the generosity of love… (hug and red heart emojis),” she added.

“To travel the world & to have the privilege of meeting some of the most inspiring people…life defining for sure!!! (take a bow and red heart emojis),” she wrote further. Sen also thanked her parents Shubeer Sen and Subhra Sen for their support and encouragement. “Happy 31st Anniversary of India’s first ever victory at Miss Universe!!! To have the honour of representing my country, I will proudly cherish forever!!! (smile and red heart emoji),” Sen added.

Sen also thanked the people of Manila, Philippines, where she won the Miss Universe pageant in 1994. She sent a shoutout to her fellow contestant, Miss Colombia Carolina Gomez. She added that she’s celebrating her and thinking of her on the occasion. “Here’s to dreams, the impossible kinds…for I know, the UNIVERSE conspires in our favour,” Sen concluded her post.

After making history as Miss Universe, Sen made her Bollywood debut as an actor in Mahesh Bhatt’s 1996 psychological thriller Dastak. Sen even ran a project called I Am She – Miss Universe India from 2010 to 2012, through which India’s representative to Miss Universe was chosen. Sen also appeared as a judge of the Miss Universe pageant in Manila in 2016.

Appearing on the inaugural season of the chat show Koffee with Karan in 2005, Sen recalled how she almost withdrew her application from Miss Universe after learning that Aishwarya Rai was also participating. “I had taken my form back knowing that Miss Aishwarya Rai was entering the pageant and I’m like why bother? I mean, she’s beautiful, and then she’s it for Miss India. Why bother contending with her and then coming back and saying, ‘I tried mama,'” Sen recalled.

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She added that her mother insisted she participates. “But thank God for my mother. She always has explained to me that there’s a thing in life called an upset… and you will never know if you can be an upset to someone or someone else can be that to you, unless you give it a shot. So, she said, ‘You come back to me having lost to the woman you think is beautiful, and that’s fine,” Sen added.

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