When I first met supermodel Ujjwala Raut in 1996, I was a cub reporter for a newspaper in India.

Raut was lanky, and competing for the ‘Femina Look of the Year’. The meeting happened in June, a day short of her 17th birthday.

Raut was the daughter of a cop who, with his limited salary, raised five girls. The oldest daughter noticed the Femina ad in an English newspaper, (they only got Marathi newspapers at home) during one of her train journeys. She urged Raut to take part in the modelling contest, believing her sister would win. Raut agreed reluctantly, and the rest is history. She went on to become the global muse for Emanuel Ungaro and Yves Saint Laurent (when Yves was still part of his name).

Raised in Dahisar, a suburb in Mumbai, Raut says that because she was the youngest, her parents were “cool” about her taking time to make decisions. “When they called out my name as the Femina 1996 winner of ‘Look of the Year’, I was shocked. I did not know how to deal with fame having been raised in a sheltered environment. Sometimes, I feel ignorance is bliss,” says the 5-ft-10-inch-tall model, who shuttles between New York City and Mumbai, with her heart in Goa.

She clinched the title from aspiring models, who spoke English very well. Raut spoke only Marathi fluently. The win changed her life overnight. Modelling has also undergone changes in the last 30 years, with the influx of celebrities. Models were the superstars in the 1990s, she says. “If you look at Versace and what Gianni did with it, you will know how he worked on the concept of making the girls showstoppers — Christy Turlington, Cindy Crawford to Linda Evangelista, and of course, Naomi Campbell. “It was also a time when movie directors would look for a fresh face. So, models who won from these contests made it to movies,” says Raut.

Bipasha Basu, Dino Morea, John Abraham, Lara Dutta, and Priyanka Chopra are some famous names from a long list. Her contemporaries Milind Soman, Madhu Sapre, and Mehr Jessia, were the real deal.

“Now you have models from East European countries; they cannot work in their own countries. Model makers are cutting costs, and not aiming for quality; they don’t want to give anyone the power to succeed. Most models I see are not raised in India. They come from abroad. Indian girls like me are rare,” she says.

Talking about the marked difference in ideology, she admits that most models are in the profession for the money, and not for the passion of it. Raut worked her way up, doing 8 to 10 shows, travelling most of the time, living out of a suitcase, working with Karl Lagerfeld to Tom Ford, and learning everything by trial and error.

“Indian models are treated with respect and adoration in Paris, Milan, and New York. They fly business or first class, have a car at their disposal, get paid on time and live in an all-expenses paid five-star hotel. Their talent is valued. In India, it is the opposite – there is always cost-cutting. Cheap tickets, odd hours, discounted hotels, and abysmally low campaign rates are all you get here,” says Raut. “No contracts are signed on how long they will use the campaign and where it will be placed. When they do have huge budgets for a campaign, they choose to take a Bollywood star instead of paying a top model.”

Some designers are just socialites. “The only advice I gave my 18-year-old daughter Ksha, who is aspiring to be a model, is to be on time, and work professionally. Being anyone’s daughter doesn’t matter, she has to carve a place for herself,” says Raut. If you must survive under the spotlight, you transform yourself into a style chameleon, look amazing without hair and makeup, much like her neighbour in New York, supermodel Cindy Crawford. “She is a real person, family-oriented, yoga practitioner, keeps her mental health in check, is cool, easy, and basic like the rest of us. She does not have her head floating in the clouds,” Raut says.

Modelling is a team effort. You can be replaced in the blink of an eye, is what Ksha must know, who grew up between India and New York. “She is an avid reader, but modelling interests her. I am going to support her fully. I have admired Bhumika Arora, Pooja Mor, Saffron Vadher (shot by photographers like Patrick Demarchelier, Martin Parr, and Annie Leibovitz), and Avanti Nagrath. All of them have a huge advantage over white girls internationally. I have met some incredible faces on the runway, and frankly no one cares if you are white or black; your work defines you,” concludes Raut.

Queenie Singh: Crown for the queen
Queenie Singh won Miss India in 1987, but today she is known more for her prized jewellery range and skincare line than catwalk. She was modelling all through the late 80s and early 90s for almost 10 years.

“Modelling industry has changed. We used to rule it, but unfortunately not anymore as models are now replaced by Bollywood actors,” she says wearing a Phillip Lim jacket, at the launch of her skincare pop-up at Serene Homes in New Delhi.

“Everyone is a model now, and there’s no exclusivity. Fashion for me has always been about comfort. It should portray who you really are. I am not a trend addict,” says Singh, who has her own style – clothes which have a sense of femininity, fitted, not grunge, and elegant with a touch of sexiness.

“I enjoyed fashion as a model. You are exposed to myriad labels. Today, fashion in India is very different from people. There are few who have their own authentic style. I grew up in the era of Hemant Trivedi, and Rohit Khosla – the mavericks who led the industry were visionaries,” she adds.

What do models do when they retire? They look for common threads in some ways to the world they left behind. Singh discovered expert aesthetician Dinyar Workingboxwalla, with whom she founded a skincare business BiB (Beauty in Everything) in 2021. “My bestselling treatments include saffron oil, which heals and rejuvenates your senses, fixes pigmentation and hydrates,” says Singh. She completed her graduation in Mathematics from Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi, and later pursued Masters in Mathematics. With three children, the youngest a three-and-a half-year-old daughter, her reintroduction to motherhood and being happy is her biggest anti-ageing formula. “A beautiful woman is the best version of herself,” she concludes.

Tiara Dhody, her daughter, launched a line of men’s jewellery, also a pret line for women, and modelled for Manish Malhotra. Her short story book, launched in 2019, titled ‘Unmask’, expressed her love for the written word.

Priya Kakar Kapur: Home in on style
Priya Kakar Kapur is a face no one can forget as she was the Santoor girl, and it was ace photographer Shantanu Sheorey who discovered her. “She is my Palmolive girl,” he exclaimed when he saw her. “I used to have a fringe and wear heavy black kajal. He asked me to remove my make-up, and then we started shooting,” laughs Kapur, adding she did campaigns for Sprite, and Benzer, a clothing chain, among others.

In the 1980s, modelling was all about attitude and beautiful girls. “It is not so anymore. We were a complete package,” says Kapur.

About 11 years ago, she decided to design interiors. She worked with Donna Karan as her husband moved to America. “People who come to my custom home decor and concept designing service,
Serene Home, expect comfort. We give them a complete home – windows to electronics, rugs, curtains et al),” says Kapur, who manufactures the products at her 20,000 sq.ft. factory.

“Do I miss modelling? I would say, no. I found my passion in doing homes, but I do enjoy fashion and wear Malini Ramani and Isha Jajodia ensembles – light and breezy, that’s my style,” concludes Kapur. – Asmita is the Lifestyle Editor of NRI Focus. She is an award winning journalist who has been writing on fashion for the last 32 years