Subhash Ghai to attend MR. & MISS INDIA AMERICA 2002 By: Vandana Agrawal (No. Calif. Bureau) Bollywood’s Showman, Mr. Subhash Ghai, will be a Special Guest at Mr. & Miss India America 2002. He will be honored as Man Of The Year 2002, as he celebrates 25 years as a Film Maker of such blockbusters - Karz, Hero, Karma, Ram Lakhan, Saudagar, Khalnayak, Pardes, Taal, Yaadein and Star Maker of Madhuri Dixit, Jackie Shroff, Manisha Koraila, Mahima Choudhary and many more. “We are very pleased to have Mr. Subhash Ghai attend our annual pageant,” stated Deepak Mehta of Mehta Brothers Entertainment. “This is the first time Mr. Ghai is coming to an American based event, so we are very honored to welcome him. We are also glad to be able to give all our Semi Finalists this very special opportunity. They are an attractive and talented group of youngsters from all over America, and we are sure Mr. Ghai will agree.” Mr. & Miss India America 2002 will be a snapshot of what today’s Indo-American community looks like, as it showcases three different generations in one pageant. The Prince & Princess 2001 will highlight children, from 5-11 years old, competing in a talent segment and traditional wear segment. A special addition to the pageant is Mrs. India America 2002, where married women will be compete for the crown. The Finalists for Mrs. India America 2002 are: Renu Agarwal, Poppy Bhattacherjee, Smita Gupta, Pallavi Jindal and Rajinder Nagra. Shaifali Prakash, Miss India America 2001, and Sachin Piplani, Mr. India America 2001, who have shined during their one year reign, will be giving away their titles at Jinder Takhar’s 11th Annual Pageant. Jinder Takhar has successfully produced pageants for eleven years with Mr. & Miss India California, Mr. & Miss India West Coast and is now bringing Mr. & Miss India America to the bay area. The Mr. & Miss India Organization has simple goals: to provide young Indians an opportunity to display and enhance their talents, to heighten their self-esteem, and to enhance the image of the Indian community. The evening will begin at 6:00pm with a reception and an Indian buffet. The audience will be treated to an opening number by the Semi Finalists, led by Sachin Piplani, Mr. India America 2001 and Shaifali Prakash, Miss India America 2001. The competition will start at 7:30pm. The Semi Finalists will compete in three segments: traditional wear, talent and formal wear, with only the top ten finalists competing in the last segment: questions/answers. After the announcement of the new title winners, the audience will have a celebration dance party. After a preliminary selection, 35 Semi Finalists were selected. The Semi Finalists, are (in alphabetical order): Nadia Anwar, Nikhat Afza, Nisha Bala, Puja Bhattacherjee, Ven Cadambi, Sonny Cheema, Pallavi Gadepalli, Prerna Gupta, Vikash Gupta, Shalini Haranahalli, Jasleen Kaur, Manjari Kumar, Shital Manjee, Archana Marwaha, Preeti Massey, Kavita Matani, Amit Parikh, Anima Patel, Paresh Patel, Afshan Rashid, Navi Samra, Amneek Sandhu, Arjot Sandhu, Jyoti Sardar, Nayyar Safaraz, Rishi Sekhon, Menka Sharma, Arsh Singh, Bindu Singh, Namrita Singh, Simranjit Singh, Rosie Sodhi, Varun Tandon, Raj Vasudeva and Divy Wadhwa. Jinder Takhar announced, “As everyone knows we will be crowning the new Mr. & Miss India America 2002 on April 6th, but this year, we have decided to also announce the new winners of our coveted titles, Mr. & Miss India California 2002, on the same night. Of course, these titleholders will be tabulated from only the scores of the Californian Semi Finalists.”