Lara Dutta applauds Miss Universe for letting married women, mothers compete: It's an incredible step in the right direction

A few weeks ago, the Miss Universe pageant declared that it would be amending the contest’s rules to give mothers as well as married women a chance to compete. Lara Dutta, Miss Universe 2000, responded to the news by calling it a great move. Previously, the contest’s rules dictated that participants must be unmarried. The winners were also required to their identity as such for the duration of their reign. However, beginning in 2023, a participant's relationship status or family status would no longer be considered for them to qualify.

Lara stated during an interview with ETimes, "It's an incredible step in the right direction. Now we are talking about inclusion and this conversation has been happening around the world for years now. You know everything is evolving and so the concept of beauty pageant has also evolved over the years."

She continued, “I think it is fantastic that they are now allowing mothers and married women to come in. There are some incredible women out there who feel that they don't have the opportunity to participate because they don't qualify for it and also this will help some really incredible women to come forward. Women that need to be celebrated and the women we need to empower. I think it's a good step.”

On the other hand, Lara became well-known after she was crowned Miss Universe in 2000. In the competition's history, an Indian has won the championship twice; the first time was Sushmita Sen in 1994. After that, Lara made her Bollywood debut in the movie Andaaz opposite Priyanka Chopra, who was also named Miss World in 2000. Akshay Kumar played the lead in the movie.

Eventually, Lara had other popular movie appearances, including Bhagam Bhag, Kaal, Partner, Chalo Dilli, as well as the Don series. In 2020, the actress made a return to the silver screen with the Disney+ Hotstar web series Hundred. Afterwards, she appeared in Hiccups And Hookups with Prateik Babbar and Shinnova. Kaun Banegi Shikharwati, her most recent venture, also premiered on Disney+ Hotstar in January.