From Miss World to the movies, Manushi Chhillar speaks at IFFM2026 about unexpected opportunities, delayed beginnings and discovering a sense of worth beyond success.
When Manushi Chhillar won the Miss World crown in 2017, a future in Bollywood was not part of a carefully constructed career plan. Raised in a family where success traditionally meant becoming a doctor, engineer, lawyer or civil servant, acting had always seemed far removed from her reality.
Yet life after Miss World presented possibilities, she had never seriously considered. Speaking with G’day India during the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM 2026), Chhillar described her journey into cinema as “neither accidental nor premeditated”.
“I wanted to be Miss World because Miss World was my dream,” she said. “I never thought it would become a platform for entering films.”
Although former Miss World winners had successfully transitioned into acting, Chhillar was too young to have closely followed their journeys. By the time she began watching their work, they were already established stars. It was only after returning to India and receiving offers from prominent filmmakers that she began to see acting as a genuine possibility.
Chhillar signed her first film only months after winning the pageant, but her Bollywood debut in Samrat Prithviraj did not arrive until 2022. The five-year gap was not due to a lack of opportunity. The scale of the historical production required a lengthy filming schedule, and when the global pandemic struck, approximately 15 per cent of the shoot remained unfinished. With cinemas closed and production suspended, her debut was delayed by more than two years.
The interruption was an early lesson in the unpredictability of an industry where careers, relationships and public perceptions can change rapidly. For Chhillar, it also prompted a deeper examination of how easily personal worth can become connected to external validation.
A high achiever at school, she excelled academically, participated in extracurricular activities and represented her school in numerous competitions. Winning Miss World and returning home to offers from leading filmmakers appeared to continue that pattern of achievement.
“When things keep going well, you start attaching your worth to those external outcomes,” she reflected.
Cinema challenged that mindset. Delayed projects and results that did not always match her expectations taught Chhillar to separate her identity from the commercial fate of her films. Rather than allowing a Friday box-office result to define her, she began asking more personal questions: Does she still look forward to arriving on set? Does she enjoy performing? Does she value the people with whom she collaborates?
The answer remains an emphatic yes.
Despite difficult situations and occasional disappointments, Chhillar says she continues to love being in front of the camera. She is also conscious of how uncommon such an opportunity is for a young woman from her background.
“I’ve started seeking joy,” she said. “I don’t attach my value as an individual to my films anymore.”
She now views herself as an instrument in the hands of a director—someone willing to train, work hard and deliver what the role requires. Once the work is complete, however, she wants to return home, spend time with family and friends, and reconnect with the person beyond the performer.
Looking five years ahead, Chhillar has a clear ambition. She hopes to reach a position where creative instinct alone determines the films she accepts—not money, commercial calculations or the names attached to a project.
“The most beautiful decisions are made when they come from your heart and not your mind,” she said.
For Chhillar, the crown may have opened the door, but the journey ahead is about something more enduring: building a career defined not by external approval, but by purpose, freedom and joy.
Tonee Sethi
