Venkat Raman
Auckland, October 18, 2022
The fact that beauty alone is not an attribute to winning a title will be demonstrated in Auckland on Thursday, October 20, 2022, at Miss IndiaNZ.
The 20th Anniversary of Miss IndiaNZ will feature 20 young Indian women who will do their best to win titles and audience attention at Sky Theatre Auckland, singing, dancing and demonstrating their attire, smile and cultural pursuits.
Returning after an absence of three years, as another casualty of the Covid-19 pandemic, the annual event will crown the efforts of Rhythm House Events and its Director Dharmesh Parikh, who instituted this event 22 years ago to celebrate the elegance of Indian beauty and glorify the fineness of Indian talent.
“Although the market is tight and meeting the costs of the project is a challenge, Miss IndiaNZ make its appearance this year because the goodwill and friendship that it generates are invaluable. We need a stage that is large enough to accommodate the growing number of participants,” Mr Parikh said.
Not just a pageant
He resents the heading of our stories as a ‘beauty pageant.’
“Do not call it a ‘beauty pageant.’ Miss IndiaNZ is a celebration of Kiwi-Indian elegance, fashion, music and dance. Our aim is to stage a celebration of Kiwi-Indian elegance, fashion, dance and music. The competitive element adds flair to the event. We continue to seek opportunities to grow the capabilities of the contestants in a wide range of entertainment industry skills. We believe that these skills are transferable to many other career pathways,” he said.
According to Mr Parikh, Miss IndiaNZ goes beyond the usual catwalk and the inevitable question and answer session to inquire into the histrionic talents of our contestants not only from Auckland but also from other cities and towns across New Zealand.
“We are often told that the talent round brings out the innate capabilities of our contestants in singing and dancing, and is a welcome departure from the run-of-the-mill events,” he said.
Mr Parikh deserves credit for having assembled an array of beauty and talent. While the progress of the annual Miss Indianz series has been a source of endearment for scores of aspiring models and film stars (some of them have actually made it to Bollywood), New Zealand’s status as a land of beauties is continuously enhanced by events such as Miss IndiaNZ.
Equal opportunity
“It is gratifying to hear from our sponsors and guests that every contestant has adequate and equal time to present herself on stage at each of the rounds and interact with the audience. We did not have elimination rounds as the event proceeded, unlike our past shows,” he said.
Persistence, perseverance and pursuit of excellence are the wonts of Mr Parikh, which is why, despite personal discomfort and severe odds, he continues to organise the annual event.
Youth Power
One of the most significant aspects of the participation of the young women is their positive mental attitude and belief that they can face an international audience and compete against each other, winning in the process new friends, goodwill and understanding.
Most Miss Indianz have graduated to compete and win global contests or become internationally renowned singers, and dancers or gained an entry into the Hindi film industry hoping to make it big someday. Their aspirations never go in vain.
Mr Parikh was pleasantly surprised that representatives of the mainstream media, including newspapers and television, were present at the annual pageant held in 2010.
Most others were however not surprised since the event has been growing from strength to strength since it was established ten years earlier.
“Mr Parikh deserves credit for not only having sustained the interest of New Zealanders including sponsors and contestants but also taken the pageant worldwide, with the winners at each contest participating in an international event every year,” they said.
Years ago, Rhythm House was licenced to conduct Miss India Worldwide Pageant, with Mr Parikh as the National Director of the Award. However, the proposal did not materialise, despite his best efforts. The paucity of sponsors was cited as one of the major reasons.
Growing popularity
Our observation is that Miss Indianz has grown in size, extent and popularity over the past 22 years. Mr Parikh, who conceptualised and produced the show, has taken it from Auckland to other parts of the country and today the contest provides excellent exposure, not just to the competing young women but also to sponsors, advertisers and the organisers.
We agreed with Mrs Parikh, when she said, “A majority of participants enjoy the unique.
