"MY STRENGTH IS IN BEING A STUDENT" MANUSHI CHHILLAR

Studiously cool and striking, former Miss World, actor, and entrepreneur Manushi Chhillar lets Cosmo India Editor Pratishtha Dobhal into her remarkable world in a tell-all.

- Pratishtha Dobhal

The quickest way to kill the overbearing nature of perception is to throw judgement out in the cold. Here's context: when you have a cover date with the former Miss World who brought home the title after 17 long years, was launched by Yash Raj Films, and managed to clear the very competitive medical entrance exams (that require years of discipline and single-minded focus) in the first attempt, you expect a certain 'I am too cool for school' disposition.

Twenty seven-year-old Manushi Chhillar dispels any notions that I held on to from the get-go. For a 7:30am call time, she comes in five minutes early, bright-eyed with a spirited energy, and the most infectious smile that gives stiff competition to the neon lights of the gaming arcade in a very drenched Mumbai. Sans any airs, as the crew begins to buzz around her and we have a quick chat before she gets into hair and make-up, I realise her Instagram bio is spot on: you cannot miss the "chill" in Chhillar.

How does she make it all look so easy?

Could it be because both her parents were doctors, which gave her a cerebral temperament that found familiarity in discipline? Or could it be a case of Malcolm In The Middle syndrome where the middle child often finds themselves pushing the envelope at dinner table conversations? I wonder out aloud after we exchange pleasantries over our very no-holds-barred conversation that flows for longer than the stipulated time clasp.