Sushmita on achieving ‘less’ than Priyanka, Aishwarya

What is common between Sushmita Sen, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Priyanka Chopra? The three were beauty pageant winners before breaking into Bollywood. While Sushmita won the Miss Universe title in 1994, Aishwarya and Priyanka were crowned Miss World in 1994 and 2000, respectively.

Sushmita was pitted against Aishwarya and Priyanka in a media interaction once and asked about achieving 'lesser' in comparison. A video of the same is going viral on social media, with more than two lakh views in just two hours.

In the video, a journalist asks Sushmita about Aishwarya and Priyanka, saying, "They have achieved a lot. You have achieved lesser, as compared to them."

Sushmita interjects and tells the journalist, "A lot lesser! In fact, what Priyanka Chopra has done for us, very few people have. She has made us very, very proud." She then applauds her.

The journalist continues to prod her and asks Sushmita to comment on the 'two women who were crowned Miss Universe after her' (incorrectly referring to Aishwarya and Priyanka). She gently corrects him by saying, "After me, Lara Dutta won Miss Universe and unfortunately, we have not had a Miss Universe since then. But we will get one now because our time has come). As you can see, from the Olympics to everywhere else, we are going to win."

Sushmita's classy answer has won the hearts of netizens. "She is my favourite," one Instagram user wrote in the comments section. "Graceful and Strong @sushmitasen47 She was a deserving woman then and now," another wrote.

Meanwhile, Sushmita is set to make her acting comeback after five years with the Disney+ Hotstar series titled Aarya. Created by Ram Madhvani, the show stars her in the titular role as a woman who is forced to take charge of her husband's illicit drug business when he is shot, in order to protect her family.

Watch the trailer of Aarya here