Fame scared me initially: Miss World Manushi Chillar

Mumbai, November 19

Winning the title of Miss World brought overnight fame and success for Manushi Chillar but she felt a bit intimidated by it initially.

Manushi was crowned as Miss World 2017 at a grand event held in Sanya in China.

She says it took some time to adapt to the recognition coming her way as she was earlier a simple “nerdy” girl.

“Fame did scare me. I have always been a very private person. I’ve loved my company and I am reserved. I’m still the kind of person who wouldn’t want everything about me to be known by everyone. Initially it was a battle within,” Manushi told PTI.

The beauty pagent winner says with time, she realised it is better to enjoy the love and fame coming her way instead of fighting it.                

“Suddenly everyone knows you, you can’t have your ‘me time’, everyone want to be around and talk about you. At first I said ‘why does everyone want to talk about me’ but over time you realise that they genuinely admire you.

“It’s something you can’t avoid. After a while I told myself I might as well enjoy it because I can’t avoid it. Fighting it will be no good,” she adds.

While people say overnight fame can often be damaging, Manushi says success has made her humble.

“It makes you more grounded. When so many people are watching you, looking up to you and are genuinely happy for you, so you tend to get more responsible. If people look up to you, you’d want to be that person they look up to. You get more humble when you keep climbing, you get more grounded,” she adds.

Manushi says today when she is flocked by people for a selfie, it’s a warm feeling.

“It becomes awkward when someone asks ‘are you Manushi Chillar?’ How do I answer that! I just smile. It’s nice that there are people who feel happy for your success,” she says.

She is now heading to China to crown the next Miss World and says the feeling that she herself has completed a year as one is “surreal”.        

“I’ll be crowning the winner at the same venue where I was crowned. I’m having so many feelings. I’m excited to see who wins. I know how big this tiara was for me. To see someone else carry that legacy forward, there’s a lot of excitement to see what the next year holds for them,” she adds. — PTI