Miss Universe 2021 Harnaaz Sandhu responds to critics

Miss Universe 2021 Harnaaz Sandhu recently made headlines for bringing back the title back to India after 21 years. The title was won last by an Indian in the year 2000, the same year Harnaaz Sandhu was born, when Lara Dutta brought home the glory.

However, while many celebrated the win and were proud of Harnaaz Sandhu, some were critical of the pageant.

The critics commented that Harnaaz Sandhu could only win the title as she had a “pretty face”.

While speaking to Mid-Day publications, Harnaaz Sandhu responded to the mounting criticism around her pageant victory.

Harnaaz emphasised on the effort that she put in during and before the pageant and also compared her win to an Olympic win. She also mentioned that she prefers to stay out of the argument, and rather work hard to make people understand her worth.

“Breaking the stereotype”

The Miss Universe 2021 winner Harnaaz mentioned the stereotype that people have about beauty pageants. She claimed that she wishes to break such stereotypes and went onto say that her was “a lot like an Olympic win”.

She further pondered on the question as to why beauty pageant winners are not as appreciated as sportsperson who represent India are. However, she also acknowledged that it was not all bad news and now such mindsets are gradually changing and she was “happy to be breaking stereotypes already”.

Harnaaz Sandhu, while giving interview to a different media house, mentioned that the pageant isn’t all about being “perfect and beautiful”.

She said, “It is about focusing on strengths, being confident about your being, showcase your talent. I got the chance to showcase and tell everybody that I am confident. (sic)”.

“Make a difference”

Harnaaz Sandhu has claimed on multiple occasions that she wishes to make a difference in the world by encouraging young girls to follow their dreams, she has also been quite vocal about the causes she supports in her recent interviews as well.

Harnaaz Sandhu

Harnaaz Kaur Sandhu is an Indian model and titleholder of many pageants. She hails from Chandigarh and is fluent in Hindi, English and Punjabi.

Sandhu had been previously crowned Miss Diva Universe 2021, and is the third entrant from India to win Miss Universe. She went onto become the Miss Universe 2021 at the age of just 21.

Pageantry journey

The pageantry journey of Harnaaz began in her teens, winning titles such as Miss Chandigarh 2017 and Miss Max Emerging Star India 2018.

It is said that she hid the fact that she had participated in a beauty pageant from her father and only informed him after she had already won the title; he was accepting of her decision to join pageantries and had no hard feelings against her for keeping it a secret.

Harnaaz’s Instagram

While newly made fans of Harnaaz Sandhu are eager to know more about the Miss Universe 2021 and her journey to the coveted title, not much is out in the public eye for now.

However, Harnaaz’s Instagram following has grown exponentially after her win. Harnaaz has also been posting on her Instagram account glimpses of her journey to the title.

She recently shared a few unseen pictures from her time in Israel, right before she won the coveted title.

After the historic win, Harnaaz expressed gratitude for everyone who believed in her. “We did it. I said in my final answer, that I believed in myself and that’s why I was on that stage. I also want to mention a few people who believed in me too. Firstly I would like to thank my family and friends who have been there with me no matter what.They have seen me fall and get up and they have been there supporting me throughout,” she mentioned in a post.