beauty

Don’t be surprised if Bollywood gets a new stunning face soon. It was a proud moment for Namrata Tolia Shah when she grabbed the spotlight and won the crown at the Mrs India 2021 beauty pageant, organised by Skywalk Productions recently.

An optimistic bubbly person and a management professional, the 5.6 inch tall beauty impressed the judges and the audience alike, to win the title by her witty answers in her question-answer round. Namrata also turned out to be the only Mumbaikar to reach the final round of the pageant.

Impressing the judges in the introduction round with her confidence and grace, she was praised in the audition round for her beauty and wisdom. Namrata also presented a self-choreographed dance of the popular Hindi song, “O Saki Saki” in the talent round and received praises for her portrayal.

And here’s a bit of trivia. A fellow contestant in her late 40s was so mesmerised by Namrata that she walked up to her during rehearsals and started singing a Hindi movie song praising her beauty. During the training sessions this contestant had admitted that she could not take her eyes off Namrata. She said, “I have never sang a song for anybody, not even for my husband. But here, I dedicate a song to your beauty.” And then, she sang the popular song, “Tere chehre se nazar nahin hatati.”

At the Mrs India pageant, Namrata also topped the fitness session in the trial tenure, where all the contestants were supposed to perform non-stop exercises and Zumba.

“The pageant’s preparation was no cakewalk,” says the winner. “I had to take care and manage my weight and food habits, while concentrating on fitness to skin to hair routines. Simultaneously, I needed to be aware of all the global news and updates and also devote time to my family. But ultimately, the multi-tasking was worth it all,” she sighs.

After her Mrs India win, fellow contestants came together to congratulate her. Many claimed they had guessed from the start that Namrata would emerge the winner because of her charisma, character, grace and poise.

Sometime ago, the new Mrs India was felicitated by the Goregaon Sports Club with a bouquet and trophy, while she opened their cricket ‘Twenty-20 Season 1’. At the event, Namrata spoke eloquently about women empowerment and noted how she strongly believes in social causes and humanitarian service.

Preetisheel Singh with Nawazuddin Siddiqui on the sets of Mom.

When Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s bald look for the movie Mom was revealed, the media and fans went ga-ga over it. So stunning and convincing was his artistic makeover, he was almost unrecognizable in pics of his special appearance character from the Sridevi Kapoor-Akshaye Khanna starrer. But not many are aware of the secret magical hands behind this overwhelming transformation.

Preetisheel Singh working on Nawazuddin Siddiqui's bald look on the sets of Mom.

So here we go. Nawazuddin’s make-up, hair and prosthetics (sculpting, molding and casting techniques to create advanced cosmetic effects) have been done by none other than National Award winner Preetisheel Singh.

Though the lady has preferred to stay relatively low-profile in the media, Bollywood knows she is no ordinary artisan. Preetisheel excels in everything in the field of make-up — from beauty, character design, tattoos, body painting to high fashion. Quietly, she has also been a pioneer in setting up a prosthetics make-up effects lab in India.

Preetisheel Singh - Pic 1

After bagging the ‘National Film Award for Best Make-Up’ for Sartaj Singh Pannu’s pre-Mughal historical Punjabi epic Nanak Shah Fakir, this whiz of makeovers has worked on various artistes in films such as Bajirao Mastani, Haider, Brothers, Rangoon, Parched, Talwar, Ghayal Once Again, Hawaizaada, Finding Fanny, Housefull 3, Shivaay and the Tamil film 24.

Preetisheel Singh - Pic 2

Her range of work doesn’t end here! Coming up are varied characters in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmavati, Sunny Deol’s Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas, Vikramaditya Motwane’s Bhavesh Joshi and Umesh Shukla’s 102 Not Out. That’s a lot of professional styling with her busy brush strokes.