# Miss Diva 2021

Miss Diva 2021 was the 9th edition of the Miss Diva beauty pageant which was held on 30 September 2021 in Hyatt Regency Hotel, Mumbai. The 20 shortlisted contestants from India competed in the pageant. Adline Castelino crowned Harnaaz Sandhu as her successor. After three months, she represented India at Miss Universe 2021 and became the 3rd Miss Universe from India to win the crown. Aavriti Choudhary crowned Ritika Khatnani as her successor. She represented India at Miss Supranational 2022 and won the title of Miss Supranational Asia 2022. Neha Jaiswal crowned Sonal Kukreja as 1st Runner-Up, whereas Kriti Sanon sashed all the remaining Runners-Up. Divita Rai was selected to represent India at Miss Universe 2022 and placed in the top 16.
This edition marked the longest period of time (20 months after Miss Diva 2020) that the organization has taken to hold an annual contest in contrast to its previous editions.

## Final results
### Color keys

| Final results | Candidate | International placement |
| Miss Universe India 2021 | Harnaaz Sandhu | Miss Universe 2021 |
| Miss Diva Supranational 2022 | Ritika Khatnani | Top 12 Miss Supranational Asia 2022 |
| 1st Runner Up | Sonal Kukreja |
| 2nd Runner Up | Divita Rai |
| 3rd Runner Up | Tarini Kalingarayar |
| 4th Runner Up | Ankita Singh |
| Top 10 | Ayesha Assadi Nikita Tiwari Pallabi Saikia Siddhi Gupta |

## Sub-contests
### Miss Beach Body

| Result | Name |
| Winner | Ritika Khatnani |
| Top 6 | Ayesha Assadi Harnaaz Sandhu Lavnaya Sangwan Palomi Insan Sonal Kukreja |

### Miss Beautiful Hair

| Result | Name |
| Winner | Naveli Deshmukh |
| Top 5 | Ritika Khatnani Sachi Kudale Sonal Kukreja Tarini Kalingarayar |

### Miss Beautiful Skin

| Result | Name |
| Winner | Harnaaz Sandhu |
| Top 5 | Anaika Nair Ritika Khatnani Siddhi Gupta Sonal Kukreja |

### Miss Beautiful Smile

| Result | Name |
| Winner | Lavanya Sangwan |
| Top 5 | Harnaaz Sandhu Ritika Khatnani Sachi Kudale Siddhi Gupta |

### Miss Fashion Icon

| Result | Name |
| Winner | Ayesha Assadi |
| Top 5 | Ankita Singh Nikita Tiwari Pallabi Saikia Siddhi Gupta |

### Miss Photogenic

| Result | Name |
| Winner | Anaika Nair |
| Top 5 | Ankita Singh Divita Rai Harnaaz Sandhu Sonal Kukreja |

### Miss Talented

| Result | Name |
| Winners | Pallabi Saikia Palomi Insan |
| Top 5 | Harnaaz Sandhu Naina Upadhyaya Ritika Khatnani |

### Other sub-contest winners

| Sub-contest | Winner |
| Miss Top Model | Pallabi Saikia |
| Miss Congeniality | Sonal Kukreja |
| Miss Iron Maiden | Palomi Insan |
| Miss Active | Sonal Kukreja |
| Miss Lifestyle | Divita Rai |
| Miss IQ | Divita Rai |
| Miss Sudoku | Divita Rai |
| Miss Takatak Star | Palomi Insan |

## Format
### The pioneer

For the first time in Miss Diva's history, the organization lowered the height criteria from 5'5 "to 5'4". The organization now also allows trans women to enter the pageant meeting the criteria in certain.
Dipanjali Chhetri became the first trans woman to compete in the Miss Diva competition. She made it to the top 50 semifinalists.

### Selection of candidates

In light of the pandemic situation that paralyzed the nation, the Miss Diva Organization decided to limit its operations to virtual projection and online interviews, thus allowing applicants to participate from the comfort of their homes. The organization opened the application to the public on June 11, 2021, until July 20, 2021.
After the initial auditions, applicants were shortlisted to a Top 50 list, and these candidates were summoned for several rounds of interviews, chaired by an elite bench of celebrities. Later, the selected contestants shortened down to top 20 finalists, including a wild card entry, chosen by public vote. These 20 finalists took part in the contest's boot-camp and were to compete in the final event to be held in Mumbai on 30 September 2021.

## Contestants
### Top 20

The following are the 20 official contestants:

#### Color key

* Declared as winner
* Ended as runner-up
* Ended as one of the finalists or semi-finalists
| Nu. | Contestant | Age | Height | Hometown | Placement |
| 1 | Aishwarya Kamal | 24 | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) | New Delhi | |
| 2 | Akshita Singh | 21 | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | Vadodara | |
| 3 | Anaika Nair | 24 | 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) | Mumbai | |
| 4 | Ankita Singh | 22 | 5 ft 8.5 in (1.74 m) | Kolkata | 4th Runner-up |
| 5 | Ayesha Assadi | 21 | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | Mumbai | Top 10 |
| 6 | Divita Rai | 23 | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | Mumbai | 2nd Runner-up |
| 7 | Harnaaz Sandhu | 21 | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | Chandigarh | Miss Diva Universe 2021 |
| 8 | Lavanya Sangwan | 22 | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | Gurugram | |
| 9 | Naina Upadhyaya | 21 | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | Mumbai | |
| 10 | Naveli Deshmukh | 25 | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | Aurangabad | |
| 11 | Nikita Tiwari | 23 | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | Mumbai | Top 10 |
| 12 | Ojasvi Sharma | 24 | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) | Delhi | |
| 13 | Pallabi Saikia | 21 | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | Digboi | Top 10 |
| 14 | Palomi Insan | 24 | 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m) | Noida | |
| 15 | Ritika Khatnani | 19 | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | Pune | Miss Diva Supranational 2022 |
| 16 | Ruchi Chettri | 20 | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) | Darjeeling | |
| 17 | Sachi Kudale | 21 | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) | Pune | |
| 18 | Siddhi Gupta | 25 | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | Delhi | Top 10 |
| 19 | Sonal Kukreja | 23 | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | Jaipur | 1st Runner-up |
| 20 | Tarini Kalingarayar | 22 | 5 ft 7.5 in (1.71 m) | Chennai | 3rd Runner-up |

### Semifinalists

As in the previous edition, the winner of the Campus Princess contest will obtain a direct place in the Top 20 of Miss Diva 2021. Below are the Top 18 finalists of Campus Princess 2020. The list of finalists was announced in two parts, Part I and Part II on July 24 and 25, 2021 respectively. Miss Diva 2021 Top 50 was announced on 16 August 2021.
On August 23, 2021, the Top 20 and Top 5 Wild Card aspirants were announced. The top 5 wild card contenders will face a public online vote until August 30, 2021, and the one with the most votes will enter the Top 20.
* Advanced to Top 50
* Advanced to Top 20
* Chosen as Top 5 Wildcard entrants
| Campuss Princess 2020 finalists | Miss Diva Top 50 semifinalists | Miss Diva Top 50 semifinalists | Wildcard entrants - Top 5 |
| S.No Name Hometown 1Amrita PariharMadhya Pradesh 2Ananya BistDehradun 3Ankita SinghaGuwahati 4Anoushka ChauhanGandhinagar 5Disha PatilNagpur 6Himali PareekRajasthan 7Ishika SinghMumbai 8Khushi AjwaniJaipur 9Lavanya SangwanGurugram 10Mahekdeep KaurAmritsar 11Mehak VinayakChandigarh 12Nimisha DhoteBhopal 13Pankhuri MehrotraMumbai 14Ritvikka DwivediMumbai 15Shibi BatarDelhi 16Shyna ChoudharyPathankot 17Vaibhavi SharmaUttarakhand 18Vanshika DawaraJabalpur | S.No Name Hometown 1Aavya GuptaMumbai 2Aditi JaswalDehradun 3Aishwarya KamalDelhi 4Akshita ShettyMumbai 5Akshita SinghVadodara 6Alankrita ShahiGhaziabad 7Anaika NairMumbai 8Ankita SinghKolkata 9Atasi SindalBankura 10Ayesha AssadiMumbai 11Bhavana SharmaBengaluru 12Dipanjali ChhetriDelhi 13Disha PatilNagpur 14Divita RaiMumbai 15Harnaaz SandhuChandigarh 16Heli VyasMumbai 17Ishika SinghMumbai 18Jasmine LazarusDelhi 19Jhanvi SareenGurugram 20Kanchan KhatanaJaipur 21Lavanya GunasekarMumbai 22Mansi TaxakMumbai 23Mariam PaulThrissur 24Marishca RodriguesMumbai 25Naina UpadhyayaMumbai | S.No Name Hometown 26Naveli DeshmukhAurangabad 27Nikita ThomasKochi 28Nikita TiwariMumbai 29Nishi BhardwajDelhi 30Niveditha RajanBengaluru 31Ojasvi SharmaDelhi 32Pallabi SaikiaDigboi 33Palomi InsanNoida 34Pranshu Singh YadavSeoni 35Rajashree DowarahDibrugarh 36Rhiya YadavMumbai 37Ritika KhatnaniPune 38Ritvikka DwivediMumbai 39Ruchi ChettriDarjeeling 40Rushali YadavAjmer 41Sachi KudalePune 42Shefali SharmaRewa 43Shivangi JulkaDelhi 44Shraddha SurveMumbai 45Siddhi GuptaDelhi 46Snehapriya RoyMumbai 47Sonal KukrejaJaipur 48Tarini KalingarayarChennai 49Vaishnavi HodalkarPune 50VM MansiKochi | S.No Name Hometown 1Mariam PaulThrissur 2Naveli DeshmukhAurangabad 3Palomi InsanNoida 4Rushali YadavAjmer 5Vaishnavi HodalkarPune |

## Judges
### Final night

* Shivan Bhatia - fashion designer
* Narresh Kukreja - fashion designer
* Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari - filmmaker, writer and author
* Kriti Sanon - actress
* Pankaj Advani - billiards and snooker player
* Kanika Kapoor - singer
* Angad Bedi - actor

### For Top 20 finalists

* Srishti Sawhney - President & Global brand director, Pulp & Fibre Business - Aditya Birla Group
* Natasha Grover - National Director, Brand & Operation Head - Miss India Organization
* Sushant Divgikar - Mister Gay India 2014, performing artist, drag icon, singer, equal rights champion & motivational speaker
* Bhawna Rao - Designer
* Abhishek Sharma - designer
* Saisha Shinde - designer
* Rani Mol - Head, Times Talent
* Supreet Bedi - TV anchor, celebrity host
* Bharat Gupta - fashion consultant, creative director, and stylist
* Noyonita Lodh - Miss Diva 2014
* Neha Jaiswal - Miss Diva 2020 Runner-up

### For Top 50 semifinalists

The following eight judges determined the 50 semifinalists.
* Bharat Gupta - fashion consultant, creative director, and stylist
* Srinidhi Shetty - Miss Supranational 2016
* Bianca Louzado - hair and makeup expert
* Neha Jaiswal - Miss Diva 2020 Runner-up
* Jitesh Thakur - Mister Supranational 2016 2nd Runner-up
* Noyonita Lodh - Miss Diva 2014
* Sushant Divgikar - performing artist, singer, equal rights champion, and motivational speaker
* Shefali Sood - Miss Diva Supranational 2019

## Crossovers & returnees

Contestants who previously competed in previous editions of Liva Miss Diva and other local and international beauty pageants with their respective placements.

### National pageants
#### Miss Diva

* 2015: Naveli Deshmukh (2nd Runner Up)
* 2018: Aishwarya Kamal
* 2022: Divita Rai (Miss Universe India)
* 2022: Ojasvi Sharma (Miss Popular Choice)
* 2023: Sonal Kukreja (Miss Supranational India)

#### Femina Miss India

* 2015: Naveli Deshmukh (Top 10)
* 2019: Harnaaz Sandhu (Top 12)
* 2019: Siddhi Gupta (Top 12)

#### Miss Teen India

* 2018: Ritika Khatnani (Winner)

### International pageants
#### Miss Teen International

* 2018: Ritika Khatnani (1st Runner Up)