INTERVIEW WITH DIANA HAYDEN - II

Who : Diana Hayden
About : Indian Actress, Model, Former Miss World(1997)
Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diana_Hayden

How it happened : Interview with Diana Hayden
Interview Date: March,2001
Place: Bahrain
Pics: None

She is the perfect combination of beauty, brains and confidence. The world was at her feet when she won Miss World in 1997. She has won more titles than any woman at a single beauty contest. She works for charitable trusts like CRY, Red Cross, Lifeline and many more, spreading the message of peace and love. She has also learnt acting at the Royal Academy for Dramatic Arts in London. The woman of substance, who charms everyone with her beauty of outside and inside, Diana Hayden gives an exclusive interview :

Nikhil Taneja (NT) : Was taking part in Miss India your sole choice ? And if yes, then what led you to take part ?
Diana Hayden(DH) : No, taking part in Miss India wasn’t my sole choice. I used to manage Anaida and Mehnaz. We used to work with BMG. And Anaida made me send my photographs to Miss India. So I sent my pictures and got selected, won the Miss India, part of my contract as Miss India was to represent India at Miss World, did that, won the Miss World, and the rest is history.

NT : How confident were you of winning the title ?
DH : I wasn’t that confident of winning the title but I sure was going to give it my best shot.

NT : How did it feel when your name was called out as the new Miss World ?
DH : Over the moon. The best thing in the world.

NT : Whom do you attribute your success to ?
DH : I had a lot of support, I had the support of my family and friends. But nobody can you attribute your success to at the end of it, but to your hard work, your dedication, your perseverance and, you know, people tend to throw away and give credit to the rest of the world. Yes you give credit, but take credit where it’s due. You achieve something and you’ve achieved it because of who you are and because you believe in yourself. And I would like people around the world, and I would especially like the children of today to not say that I study so well because my Mummy makes me or my Daddy makes me. NO, but because I had the brains for it. Because I worked at it. Yes, I had the support of my Mummy and I had the support of my Daddy, that’s great. But it’s YOU who attributes to your success.

NT : How hard is the training for a Miss India ?
DH : The training that the girls are given for Miss India today, is more than what it is for when I won Miss India 3 years back. But its how much you push yourself. First, the usual…you have 15 days of rehearsing the steps that they are going to do on stage for the fashion show bit. But, training is no basic training. Today the training is much more vigourous. It’s 2 months of intense walking and talking and eating and all that stuff. It’s all your enthusiasm in the end

NT : The Miss India contest has been a cause of many debates, as many people are against it. Your comments ?
DH : That’s their problem.(chuckles)

NT: You are associated with charitable funds like Red Cross and CRY. What exactly is the part you play for these associations ?
DH : I try and help make a small difference.

NT : What will you call as the ‘turning point’ in your career ?
DH : Having won the Miss India and the Miss World was one turning point. Then, at my acting school, having finished my acting was my next turning point. And I hope these are all turning points on my spiral up to the top.

NT : What are the qualities a girl should possess to be able to take part in a beauty contest ?
DH : Forget a beauty contest, but I think a girl in life should possess the qualities of belief in herself, being confident, improving her personality constantly and trusting. When I say trusting, I mean trusting herself. For a beauty pageant, you need the basic. Looking good, having a good figure, because it is a beauty, in inverted commas, competition at the end of it. But she also needs a personality, needs brains, needs to be able to carry herself, needs to be able to communicate with people. When I say beauty pageants, I am talking about the ones I’ve experienced. I don’t know about others. The beauty pageant may be ‘beauty pageants’. The ones I am talking about are the Miss India and the Miss World. What they are looking for is a package, of personality, something upstairs and beauty, of course.

NT : What are the advantages and disadvantages of being a beauty queen ?
DH : The advantages…the world is at your feet. Everybody treats you like that you are God’s gift to mankind(smiles), you live in presidential suites. You’ve bodyguards and you get driven around in limousines and you travel first class. And the disadvantages are the early morning flights(laughs)…at some unearthly hour and that’s about it(smiles again).

NT : Is it true that you had been offered a film opposite none other than Bruce Willis ?
DH : (Laughs) Don’t believe everything you read. I have heard about it too. But it is just a rumour.

NT : Any plans of entering bollywood ?
DH : I have met bollywood directors and producers and stuff, and I’ve got a lot of scripts come my way. But I will not do a film, whose script I am not happy with. It’s got to be very selective. I am being very selective. It’s got to be something that’s challenging to my acting talent, because I have studied Shakespeare theatre. I want something to get my teeth into and I don’t want to do the run-in-the-mill commercial stuff. So, yes, but only if it is good.

NT : Is being a Miss World or a Miss Universe a direct ticket to the fields of modelling and acting?
DH : Well, it can be. Because that’s how beauty pageant winners are getting into the film industry and the modelling industry. But for me, that wasn’t sufficient. I thought I would get into acting if I liked it. So I did a summer course to see if I liked it, in the best school in the world, and they said that I was good and that I need a 1-year course. And I did a 3-years in 1 year intensive course. So there is a window there, an opportunity. But I refuse to take the easy way out. If I want to do it, I will be very good at it, or I won’t do it. But if I do it, it will be the very best.

NT : You have been associated with Mehnaz and Anaida. What is your role in their respective careers ?
DH : I used to manage them and they are the best India has to offer.

NT : 5 years ago, when a Miss India became a Miss World or Miss Universe, she was proclaimed as a Goddess. But now that every year we have a beauty queen, doesn’t it put the pressure on the upcoming ones that they have to win to continue the success streak ?
DH : (Long Pause) Well, when I won the Miss World, yes, I was treated like a Goddess. We all used to be treated like Goddesses. The winners, still are, today. And about the pressure on the current winners, there is always pressure. There was pressure when I won. Yes, at Miss India, there is more pressure now. When you are at a Miss World, there is pressure. Period. When it’s Miss India, now these girls are feeling more pressure. The point is, you don’t take pressure. That’s what makes you a better international personality. That’s what makes you more ready for the international market. It’s a good thing it’s so competitive today at a Miss India pageant, because you are facing that kind of competition in that pressure. So when you go to the international pageant, it’s not new to you. You’ve already faced it at Miss India. But when I won Miss India, I didn’t have that much pressure that I had to win, you know. So when I went to Miss World, the pressure was that much more. Whereas these girls have already experienced the pressure at first, and then they go into pressure again. So it’s good, that they should know how to handle the pressure. That’s the point.

NT : If given a chance to change one thing in your life, what would it be ?
DH : Nothing. Nothing in this whole wide world. We all make mistakes in life and we learn by them. You know, nobody’s perfect. But you don’t change things in your life…even the bad things – you learn by them.

NT : With name, fame and a Miss World title, what is your aim in life now ?
DH : Well I have invested a lot of money and time and energy in studying acting. So that had better be my aim in life(smiles).

NT : Any regrets ?
DH : None whatsoever. You don’t regret. You learn.

NT : What are your future plans ?
DH : I’d say acting…Well, give me a break(chuckles) ! I have studied so much for it. I have got nominated for the best actress in my acting school, when it finished….there you are, that’s a new one for all of you. No one else knows about this. So it’s a bonus for you !

© Nikhil Taneja (nikhiltaneja@gmail.com)