Eesha Kulkarni

Model and actress Manushi Chhillar rose to fame after winning the title of Miss World in 2017. Prior to bagging the coveted crown, Chhillar represented the state of Haryana at the Femina Miss India 2017 pageant where she also won. The doctor-turned model is the sixth representative from India to win the Miss World pageant, and is on her way to becoming a certified movie star.

Chhillar made her debut in Bollywood through the much-awaited 2021 film Prithviraj, which was directed by Chandraprakash Dwivedi. Based on the life of Prithviraj Chauhan, a Rajput king from the Chahamana dynasty, the period film featured Akshay Kumar as Prithviraj Chauhan while Manushi played the role of his wife Sanyogita.

Want to know more about the beauty queen? Let’s take a look at some lesser-known facts about the actress here.

1. Manushi basically belongs to a family of geniuses. Her father, Mitra Basu Chhillar, is a scientist at Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), while her mother, Neelam Chhillar, is an associate professor and departmental head of neurochemistry at the Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences.

2. Born in Haryana and raised in New Delhi, Chillar was pursuing her MBBS degree from BPS Medical College for Women in Sonepat when she went on to be crowned as Miss World aged 20 in 2017.

3. In 2019, Manushi Chillar was named as the ‘Sexiest Vegetarian Personality’ in India, by PETA. Indian football star Sunil Chhetri also won the title with her.

4. The model was India’s top trending personality on the Google search engine in 2017. The pageant queen went viral on the internet and raked in millions of web searches and views to her social media profiles.

5. Chhillar helms a ‘Beauty with a Purpose’ campaign titled ‘Project Shakti’. The campaign’s goal is to spread awareness about menstrual hygiene. In 2018, the campaign was aided by the Government of India to ensure free availability of sanitary napkins for all girls in the government schools of Haryana by the Chief Minister of the state.

6. She will next be seen in the comedy movie The Great Indian Family or TGIF opposite Vicky Kaushal in the lead role. The Yash Raj Films production is expected to be a hilarious comedy of errors and is expected to be released in 2023. She also has Maddok Films’ Tehran alongside John Abraham in her kitty.

7. Chhillar crowned her successor Vanessa Ponce of Mexico at the end of Miss World 2018, and gracefully passed the proverbial baton (or the crown, in this case) to the new winner.

8. She made an appearance in the special show Super Nights With Padman to promote her Beauty with a Purpose project and help raise awareness about menstrual hygiene. This was done in association with Akshay Kumar’s 2018 movie, Pad Man, which dealt with the same topic.