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Aishwarya Rai and Sushmita Sen made the year 1994 glorious for India, as both beauties won international pageants Miss World and Miss Universe, respectively. But, many don’t know that another popular actress was competing for the title of Miss India at that time. This actress was part of the same competition of 1994, Sushmita won Miss India, and Aishwarya was first runner-up.
She is Shwetha Menon, the first female president of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA). The actress recently shared how she was Aishwarya’s roommate during the competition.
“I was a roommate of Aishwarya Rai, and Sushmita Sen won it,” said Menon at the India Today Conclave South 2025. While Francesca Hart was the third runner-up, Menon said that she went to Miss India Asia Pacific and became the third runner-up.
“I went to Miss India Asia Pacific, but managed to get third runner-up without any backing. The excitement that we had, I can see it in everyone now and in my daughter too. Today, I think everyone is a model,” the actress shared.
In an earlier chat, Shwetha said that she was the first runner-up in the Miss India competition. “One day, when I came back from school, my father informed me that there was a letter from Coimbatore to participate in Miss India contest. Though he was not very happy about the fact that I sent the application without consulting him, he gave me permission to participate in the contest and accompanied me to Coimbatore. I came first runner-up in the competition and my photos appeared in newspapers in Kerala. As the first runner-up, though I was qualified to participate in the final, I wasn’t allowed since my age was below 18,” Menon told Matrubhumi.
Apart from Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu movies, she has featured in Hindi movies like Ishq, Asoka, Bandhan, Corporate and Sandwich, among others.
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