It was a night of entertainment and glamour rolled into one, the 23rd annual MISS INDIA-CANADA Event, which was presented by Chevrolet had it all. The sold out show was a memorable experience for those present. At the end of the evening, Harleen Malhans of Toronto, Ontario won the esteemed title of Miss India-Canada 2013.
With a red carpet entrance, dazzling cocktail hour, and stunning stage set provided by Dream Party Decor, patrons were “Wowed” right from the very beginning. The 16 delegates began the evening with a high-energy dance sequence that captivated the audience and kept them in their seats for the remainder of the evening.
Notable attendees were Huse Madhavji, from television hit series: Saving Hope and Combat Hospital; Ms. Charandasi, Consul & Head of Chancery, and Mr. Pardeep Kumar, Vice Consul – Consulate General of India Toronto, to name a few.
Panel of Judgesfor the show included: Gurdeep Ahluwalia – CoHost of CP24 Breakfast and Anchor CP24; Deepti Aurora, Gala Committee Member – Scarborough Hospital Foundation; Rahul Bhardwaj, President – Om Financial; Dr. Arvi Grover, Director of Cardiovascular Research – KMH Cardiology; Hossein Hassani, Senior Manager of Customer Marketing – General Motors of Canada; Soula Kioussis, Director of Marketing – The Clorox Company of Canada; Sangita Patel, CoHost – Entertainment Tonight Canada; Rahul Shastri, Senior Partner – Kagan Shastri LLP, Melanie Solmon, President – Exec Assess.
Harleen Malhans of Toronto, won the Chevrolet Spark Award for Best Performance and the Zee TV Canada TV Personality Award, Aradhna Juneja of Toronto, won the Brita Miss Congeniality Award, Ruchika Bindra of Montreal, won Miss Photogenic, and Neha Bhatia of Scarborough, won the People’s Choice Award.
Organizers, Sanjay Agnihotri and Gautam Sharma were then called upon to say a few words and present UK Bhangra sensation, Jassi Sidhu with the Special Achievement Award for his contribution to South Asian music.
The top 5 finalists were then announced in random order: Jasreen Cheema of Brampton; Reema Khithani of Mississauga; Harleen Malhans of Toronto; Nikki Shah of Richmond Hill and Lavanya Hiremath of Vancouver. The final segment of Question & Answer involved asking each contestant a different question by the panel of judges.
The Second Runner-up was Reema Khithani, the First Runner-up was Nikki Shah and this year’s MISS INDIA-CANADA 2013 was Harleen Malhans.
Harleen Malhans was born and raised in Toronto. The 23-year-old is the youngest of four daughters. She has been fortunate enough to share the stage with the Indian actress and politician Jaya Prada and one of India’s most influential vocalists, Manna Dey. Harleen successfully earned a B.A. in Communication Studies at York University. Currently, Harleen stays busy by juggling a career at Canada Protection Plan, assisting in the production of various shows with a Canadian television network, and is also the upcoming fashion host of a new Toronto-based television show. It is her life-long dream to become a successful and well respected South Asian television personality. Harleen passionately feels it is crucial to have positive South Asian role models in the media world who inspire and lead by example for younger generations. The experience of winning the Miss India-Canada 2013 crown has reconfirmed Harleen’s belief that hard work, dedication, a positive mindset and a good sense of humour can result in a winning combination.