Tamil Nadu’s Anukreethy Vas crowned Femina Miss India 2018

Beauty pageants have become more than multi-hued processions of people wearing colorful costumes. These days, people prefer ‘beauty with brains’, or better ‘beauty with purpose’. This year, Femina Miss India found that beauty with purpose in Tamil Nadu’s Anukreethy Vas, a 19-year-old college student.

Anukreethy was crowned Femina Miss India 2018 in Mumbai at a grand ceremony. The event was hosted by filmmaker Karan Johar and actor Ayushmann Khurrana. The crown was presented to her by Miss World 2017 Manushi Chhillar.

Anukreethy previously held the title of Colours Femina Miss Tamil Nadu. She contested against 30 contestants to win the crown, judged by an esteemed panel that included VJ Malaika Arora and cricketers Irfan Pathan and KL Rahul. Actors Bobby Deol and Kunal Kapoor also graced the judge’s panel.

The event was made more interesting thanks to the performances of stars Kareena Kapoor, Jacqueline Fernandez, and the Dhak-Dhak queen Madhuri Dixit.

Haryana’s Meenakshi Chaudhary was announced the runner-up and Andhra Pradesh’s Shreya Rao Kamavarapu was declared the second runner-up. They were crowned by their respective predecessors — Miss United Continents 2017 Sana Dua, and Miss Intercontinental 2017 Priyanka Kumari.

Anukreethy Vas will be representing India at Miss World 2018 and the two runner-ups will represent India at Miss Grand International 2018 and Miss United Continents 2018.