Pageant industry has moved far beyond focusing on beauty, says Femina Miss India Telangana 2024

24-year-old Prakruthi Kambam, a model, actor, dancer, and choreographer, has rightfully bagged the title of Femina Miss India Telangana 2024. After overcoming personal challenges and enduring years of abuse, she has been successful in personifying the strong Indian woman of today through her achievements and growth. In an exclusive interview with Bizz Buzz, Kambam lays down the essential elements needed to sustain and flourish in the fashion and beauty industry

What is the takeaway of participating in a beauty pageant?

After I gave the first audition for Femina Miss Telangana 2024, I have not looked back. I got to explore a new side and version of myself. I got to learn something new each day. I have become more confident and I believe in myself now.

We have all seen the preparation that goes into entering this competition. How did you prepare for it?

I spoke to former Miss India State winners about their journey, what is expected from contestants and how one should be in the competition. I also went through training, practiced ramp walk, learnt diction, voice modulation, right heels needed to wear, and to carry oneself in it. When I am walking I should look elegant, graceful but also powerful. Hours of training and practice has gone into mastering these. My three years of effort has gone into learning and yet there is much to learn. Moreover, with everything that is changing and happening around the world I have to keep learning about it too.

What is the common notion that breaks when one enters a pageant?

When I entered the beauty pageant I thought I need to be a certain way. But, when I entered this industry, I realised we only need to be ourselves. We do not have to build around something that is not us and build it in an artificial way. They want to know if we can carry our state’s culture at the national platform. Pageantry is not about how you look but about who you are. Everybody who enters the pageant is beautiful in their own way so other contestants might have something that I do not and I might have something that they do not so it is all about who you are internally.

During a period, had pageants lost its focus?

The focus can be put on different things here and at one point the public started to focus only on the glamour side of it. Nobody genuinely went to see everything else that is happening at the pageant. It goes without saying that we all want to look good even in our daily life that is for me to feel good about myself. So when I am representing myself at that stage I want to look my best and glamorous but that will not take the eyes off from the reason behind I am here for. We go there to let the world know what Indians are and the traditions and culture we carry. We slightly went off focus there.

Many girls aspire to walk the ramp as a model, what should they be aware of before entering this industry?

I thought that if I am tall and look good I can enter the modeling industry. Everybody talks about this in daily conversation - if someone looks good they say you look like a model but being a model is an art. Whether it is about the walk or carrying yourself in an outfit, lot of training goes into it. That notion shattered when I entered the industry and I started learning about this art. So it is not only about being tall and looking good. You need to learn and perform the art beautifully.

As it is not easy to break through and make a place for oneself in the fashion modeling industry. How did you handle the downs?

I faced similar situations and experiences when I was in this industry. Throughout my journey the most pressure I felt was what I put on myself. For most of the girls this is the pressure they feel that we tell ourselves that this is how we need to be, this is how we need to do, and if it is not happening in time we start to lose our cool and we feel that we are not doing something productive, we are not achieving our goal. Only if we face that failure we will learn something out of it. It will push us towards where we want to go. We need to find a way to handle that pressure. I found my solace in music and other activities. When I started giving my time to those activities I started being more efficient in my modeling career too.

Does competing in pageants and bagging a title make entering film industry more accessible?

All these industries are different art forms, be it dance, modeling, pageant or films. When I started off my final goal was not getting into acting through all of this. My goal was that if I enter this industry then I will learn that art and execute it properly. While being in one art I felt I could do well in the other art form too. I would say that you can use the qualities or training learnt in these different arts here and there but they have their own preparations, struggles. I am in the process of training and honing my acting skills now. But, what I agree to is that through modeling or beauty pageant I might get more networking or contacts to enter the film industry.

As a pageant winner, which are the roles you would like to portray?

There are two roles that I feel attached and I need to be given a chance and I need to earn that opportunity or chance to perform that role. One is being a very homely Telugu girl in traditional attire as that is an inner feeling for me. The other role I would like to portray is a powerful woman.

How different is the preparation that goes into State, National and International pageants?

My preparation to become the State winner is just the start. I focused on how I would introduce myself, how I would be strong with my speech, and making them feel positive about me. When I go to the national level, my tasks will be different. I need to focus on my body, being fit, my skin needs to be healthy, I need to learn different things that are happening around, any topic given I should be prepared to talk about it. More intense training is there ahead but it is the same base or foundation I started with. We are 30 State finalists and it is huge to make it to this level. In India, from 1000s of girls, the top 30 will be there so I need to get to know my fellow contestants. There is not much difference in the preparation or selection between national and international as India has already judged us on the same scale. I would say the cause, or what we believe in, and what your country is bringing there is what they see.

If today, you are standing on an international platform, what would you say in representation of India?

Every State in India is imbibed in me. It is not about one place I come from that makes me an Indian, but it is about the cultures that I carry. Every State I have learnt about, the people I have met, makes me who I am. Here I am carrying the entire nation along with me and I am here to make my country win and India proud.

In this social media age, has the meaning of beauty changed?

We have grown up where everyone in the society tells us to focus on study, get into a job followed by marriage and kids. We were not encouraged much during that time to get into extracurricular activities as they thought it would ruin our education. Coming from such a generation to how it is right now where we are completely on social media, the youth needs to understand that there is life beyond social media, as we start living our life on social media. Everything is being uploaded on social media, to an extent it is fine, if that is what you feel like sharing then please do share it. But, for one’s looking to earn quick money from being out there then they should be aware that as it is quick in coming so it is in going too. Few people want to monetise it and that is what success means to them as they want a lavish lifestyle, but I suggest that they should create a business, build on their qualities, and abilities.

As a pageant winner, which are the social causes you would want to stand for?

A cause I would like to be a part of is mental health because it is very personal to me as I have experienced it firsthand. I want to help people when it comes to this cause. The second cause is girl and women safety, as again I have experienced it firsthand I feel I can bring a better difference. I do not want women, girls to go through what I went through. Back then I did not voice out so I had to struggle with it as I did not have anyone to help. But right now many people are voicing it out and we should be there for them. It will impact their personality if there is no one to help them.

What is your suggestion for the girls who want to enter this industry?

Pageants are not about being artificial. When they say you need to put your heart into it that genuinely means so. It is not something to achieve for only name and fame. I would suggest there are other opportunities you can explore. But here, you need to have the will to make a difference in the society and use your intelligence for the right, then come into this field as we are also being trained to bring a difference in the society.