When Sushmita Sen was asked why she deserved to win and not Aishwarya Rai: ‘I believe in two things…’

Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai had competed in the Miss India pageant in the same year, 1994, and went on to win Miss Universe and Miss World titles, respectively. During her appearance on Koffee With Karan in 2005, host Karan Johar had asked her if she thinks she deserved to win that night. The actor made it clear that she won not because she was “better” than Aishwarya, but because she was “the best” version of herself. She gave two reasons for why she won the Miss India pageant where Aishwarya was the first runner up. Also read: Watch 1995 video when Sushmita Sen took her final walk as Miss Universe, crowned Miss USA

When Sushmita said she “definitely” thought she deserved to win, Karan Johar asked her the reason if she compared herself to the performance of Aishwarya that night. Sushmita answered, “I don’t compare myself to Aishwarya’s performance. I think she was fabulous on stage. I do believe in two things: One, that night, I was the best and that’s why I deserved to win, not because I was better than someone else. It is only because I was at my best.”

“And the other, I think I was luckier than everyone else that night. My shooting star went right over my head and that’s an important thing at times when you are competing for anything. It’s not just your hard work because this 20-30 other girls who put in equal or more amount of hard work. It is also that dash of luck I had that night.”

The video clip was shared on Reddit recently and her fans agreed with what she said. A fan commented on the video, “She is one of the most eloquent actresses we’ve had so far.” Another wrote, “So graceful.” One fan found her similar to Princess Diana and said, “Is it just me or does she give Lady Di vibes? Either way, love her! So gracious and charming.” Another said, “She sounded like princess Diana.” A comment also read: “What an answer, give her another crown for dat Karan…’Because I was my best’ & luck favors the brave.”

Sushmita will now return as Aarya with the third season of her hit OTT series. She recently started shooting for the Ram Madhvani show in which she plays the titular character. The newly launched teaser shows her smoking a cigar in style with a loaded pistol placed in front of her on the table.