March 14, 2025

The Buzz this week is about Rohit Khandelwal. The actor from Hyderabad, now based in Mumbai (where else?), has gone on to win the Mr World 2016 title. In the process, he has become not only India’s but Asia’s first to win it. He has acted in TV serials Yeh Hai Ashiqui, Million Dollar Girl and Pyar Tune Kya Kiya apart from appearing in many commercials.

Khandelwal has stunned the world with his near perfect body. He has said that the most difficult part, other than a punishing fitness regimen, was to give up junk food. Tall and handsome, Khandelwal scored for his overall brilliance, leaving Mr Puerto Rico and Mr Mexico behind to win the coveted crown.

While the other two men’s events, Mr Universe and Mr Olympia, lay more stress on body building, Mr World assesses contestants through five stages called Fashion & Style, the Extreme Challenge, the Mulit-Media award, the Sports challenge and the Talent competition. Hence, it is more of a personality competition that chooses, as per the hype, “the most desirable male on earth.”

India has had its share of beauty queens, kick started by the dual crowns of Ms Universe and Ms World won respectively by Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai in 1994. The feat was repeated by Priyanka Chopra and Lara Dutta in 2000. There have been other girls who scaled the summit in between and since then. It had given a huge boost to the beauty industry in the country. Also, the beauty of Indian women came to be acknowledged on the world stage. There were protests too, with the main charge being the commodification of women, but the pageants continued nevertheless and Indian participation increased.

Now with Rohit becoming “the most desirable male on earth,” a similar boost can be expected for the male fashion, wellness and grooming industry. Already, metrosexual males in India have been investing a fortune in maintaining their bodies. Now this is going to spill over to entering competitions. Rohit is a pioneer who will change the way the world looks at men from India. But what about the ugly Indian male, the one who gropes, molests and treats women as chattel? Who is going to change that perception of Indian males?