The title of Miss India is touted to be synonymous with self-confidence but former Miss India and actor Sobhita Dhulipala says the process of winning the crown ended up damaging her self-esteem. The 25-year-old actor said while growing up in Vishakapatnam she was an "uncool geek child, a loner" who had not watched more than 20 films, eight of which were from the Harry Potter magicverse.
Sobhita moved to Mumbai at the age of 16 to step out of her "quaint little city". When she got admission in a "cool" college here, she appeared with "long oiled hair, floral embroidery dress, bindi and polka dot shirt." The actor, who made her debut with Anurag Kashyap's "Raman Raghav 2.0", termed her college experience as "brutal" and that was when the need for "seeking validation" seeped in. "My friend was interning at the Miss India office and asked me to go for an audition. I just wanted to clear one basic round to show it to my friends. 'I'm in this mind space and I can do this, losers'. I cleared the first round and then I wanted to do more. "For the first time in my life, I was getting attention. I was very awkward with myself, I was so lame... But Miss India did more damage to my self-esteem. It took me more away from me because you're reduced to someone who's entertaining, who is pleasing," Sobhita told PTI in an interview. After winning the beauty pageant in 2013, the model- turned-actor represented India for Miss Earth the same year in the Philippines where she won the sub-titles of Miss Photogenic, Miss Beauty for a cause, Miss Talent and Miss Beautiful face.