Former beauty queen Lara Dutta, who is best known for films like Andaaz, Partner, Housefull and more, was crowned the Miss Universe in 2000. She competed with Priyanka Chopra at the Femina Miss India beauty pageant back then and the latter won the title of Miss World the same year. Do you know that Lara taught make-up to her competitor Priyanka at the 2000 Femina Miss India Contest? 

Let’s take a quick look back at those times. During her appearance on the Rendezvous with Simi Garewal, Lara Dutta was asked to comment on how she was “not competitive” enough at the beauty pageant.

Simi Garewal, the show host, reminisced how it was “unusual” and “generous” for Lara to teach make-up to PeeCee. To which, the Bell Bottom actress smiled and stated that her focus was mainly on winning the titles. However, she chose humanity while keeping the competition in a positive spirit.

“With me, I guess you keep your focus when you wanted it to be. For me, it was winning Miss India and winning Miss Universe,” Lara said.

“The entire focus is there but at the same time, you don’t forget that you are human. Achievements or failures without trying to sound morbid but once you are gone aren’t really going to matter,” she added.

Lara further expressed that she grabbed the opportunity to make a positive impact on someone else’s life that people doesn’t get quite often. Such moments define life for her, the actress added. The former Miss Universe continued that if the actress can’t be there for others, then she is not truly living and doesn’t want any of it.

Meanwhile, Priyanka Chopra, who once graced Simi Garewal’s show, revealed that she used to call Lara Dutta “mom” as The Bluff actress looked up to her. Recalling how she learnt make-up from Lara at the pageant, PeeCee shared that her Andaaz co-star took her to the bathroom and showed her the “right make-up” to use for her skin.

Lara Dutta won the Femina Miss India Universe title and later represented India at Miss Universe 2000 in Cyprus. Priyanka Chopra was the second runner-up and later won the Miss World in England. They competed with Dia Mirza, who was the third runner-up and later was crowned Miss Asia Pacific International in Phillippines.

Ranbir Kapoor is one of the most talented actors from his generation in the Hindi film industry. His movies like Rockstar, Sanju, Barfi, and Tamasha are proof of it. Ranbir will now be seen as Lord Rama in Nitesh Tiwari’s highly-anticipated film, Ramayana. Casting director Mukesh Chhabra recently spilled the beans about Ranbir’s casting in the two-part saga while praising his calm face.

During the new podcast on The Ranveer Show, Mukesh Chhabra spoke about why Ranbir Kapoor was chosen to play Lord Rama in Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayana.

“Uske chehre pe calmness hai, woh toh chahiye thi na…Nitesh (Tiwari) ne bahot pehle hi soch lia tha unko. Ye bahot sahi decision hai. Wo aapko maloom chalega film aane ke baad. (He has a calmness on his face. It was needed for the film. Nitesh Tiwari thought about casting him quite earlier. It is a great decision and the audience will realize after watching the film),” Chhabra said.

Chhabra has collaborated with Ranbir in Tamasha, Rockstar, Bombay Velvet, Sanju, and Brahmastra. The casting director also worked with the actor in Tai Tai Phish, the song from Chillar Party. The casting director expressed that it is tough to beat Ranbir in terms of acting. The Ramayana actor is also quite neutral about hits and flops as he believes in his performances.

Mukesh Chhabra elaborated on casting for Ramayana by saying that it cannot be “calculated or manipulated” for such films. Chhabra stated that the team has to be quite honest in their approach while choosing actors for certain roles. When asked about casting actors for Ramayana, the casting director stated that he tries to find those whose vibe matches with the film.

Chhabra also revealed that the casting of Ramayana: Part Two is in the pipeline. Without mentioning the project, the casting director added that he chooses many big actors to play character roles despite how their off-screen persona.

Apart from the two parts of Ramayana, a Hanuman spin-off is also likely to be in the works. Reportedly, it could serve as the third part of this saga in the future. Ramayana also stars Sai Pallavi, Yash, and Sunny Deol as Sita, Raavan, Lord Hanuman respectively.