In photos: Miss Universe India winner Shweta Sharda wants to bring home the big crown

Shweta Sharda won the Miss Diva Universe pageant held in Mumbai and will represent India at the Miss Universe 2023, Sharda is doing her best to bring back the Miss Universe Crown to India. Harnaaz Kaur Sandhu was crowned Miss Universe 2021, and now Shweta wants to emulate this success.

As she returned to her hometown Chandigarh, she spoke to the media and said, “A tremendous sense of satisfaction and excitement comes from winning the Miss Diva India pageant. I've been dreaming about this moment for so long, and seeing it come true is simply beyond words. I am incredibly grateful and eager for the journey that lies ahead, and I'm looking forward to making my nation and my family proud by bringing the Miss Universe Crown back to India.”

Speaking to ANI, Shweta said, “I’m very grateful to have got this opportunity to represent my country at the Miss Universe pageant. Everyone dreams of representing their country on any global stage at least once in his or her lifetime. I am privileged to have got this opportunity and I will put my heart and soul into it. I just want to win the pageant and bring the crown back to India."

On whether she was planning to enter films, she said, “Since childhood, I have always imagined myself as an actress. So if an offer does come along, I will grab it with both hands. However, for now, the priority is to bring the crown back to India. If I do get a break in Bollywood, there are plenty of actors I would like to work with."

Shweta, who hails from Chandigarh, is 22 years old. She relocated to Mumbai at 16 to chase her dreams. The pageant winner has a brother and the siblings were raised by their mother. Sharda credits her mother for all her achievements and said, “My parents got separated when I was 12, and since then, she has done everything for me and my brother. She worked so hard so that we get all the comforts of life. Whenever I get tired, she becomes my motivation.”

The dancer-model will be representing India at the 72nd Miss Universe pageant later in November this year in El Salvador. Sharda has, as is the trend and the requirement now for most fields, a strong social media presence with over 400,000 followers.

Dance is her passion and she is a self-taught dancer. Sharing her love for dance, she said, “Dancing gives me happiness. I feel like with dance I get solutions to most of the problems in life. I am a self-taught dancer but if you ask me to perform in any style I will do it. I am thankful to God for this talent. It helped me a lot.”

She has featured in several dance shows including 'Dance India Dance', 'Dance Deewane' and ' Jhalak Dikhlaja'. “Madhuri Dixit has been my inspiration since childhood when it comes to dancing and I have seen her performing since childhood. On my second dance reality show, where she was a judge, I taught her dance moves. I can never forget teaching dance to [the] Bollywood diva.”