Madhu Sapre

Madhu Sapre (Marathi: मधु सप्रे, born July 14, 1971) is an Indian Supermodel from Maharashtra. She won Femina Miss India pageant in 1992. .

Career

In the 1990s, Sapre was an athlete who rose to fame when she started modeling at a very young age. As Miss India she represented India at the 1992 Miss Universe pageant, where she was the 2nd runner up.^[1] In her answer to her final question at the pageant, Sapre talked about the lack of sports fields in India for athletes to practice on. Her rather unusual answer made her the third finalist that evening instead of the winner.

Madhu says "All the officials had told us that our answers had to be truthful," she says, "and coming from the heart. Nobody told us we had to be politically correct. I said what my heart told me and I lost. According to me India has been in poverty for many years, so it was not going to suddenly change in one year by my becoming the prime minister. But there are other areas like art and sports in which we can improve. And being a sportsgirl I had suffered because we don't have the equipment and the grounds in India. In the brief time you get to answer I wanted to say all this but perhaps because of my inadequacy in English, I could not express myself."^[2] She has also acted in the 2003 film Boom.

Milind Soman, a male supermodel from her era, posed nude in a print ad for Tuff Shoes. The social service branch of the Mumbai police had registered a case in August 1995 after Sapre and Soman posed in the nude, wearing only shoes and a python wrapped around them. Another case was filed under the Wildlife Protection Act against the advertising agency for illegal use of the python. The accused include the publishers and distributors of two magazines that featured the controversial ad, the advertising agency, the two models and the photographers.^[3] The case lasted for 14 years, after which the courts acquitted the accused.^[4]

Personal life

Sapre lives in Italy with her husband Gian Maria and shuttles between India and Italy.^[5] They have a daughter together called Indira.^[6]

References

External links

• Madhu Sapre at the Internet Movie Database
• Model marriages, indeed The Tribune – April 28, 2002
• Good guy turns bad The Tribune – September 22, 2003