Mary Kom, Santosh Sivan and Sushmita Sen backstage at I Am She 2012

Mary Kom, Santosh Sivan & Sushmita Sen backstage at I AM She 2012

Backstage at an event is always a flurry of activity with palpable excitement in the air, last minute details to sort, orders being hollered right & left, and most importantly, a bonding between everyone who has worked on the project.

At I AM She 2012 in Hyderabad it was no different. Here is a peek of what Team MissMalini experienced, and some exclusive backstage pix:

The face and founder of I AM She, Sushmita Sen, held court before the show with her celebrity judges – Olympian medalist Mary Kom, actor Harman Baweja, designer Neeta Lulla, filmmaker Santosh Sivan and model-turned-actress Mugdha Godse.

Harman Baweja, Mugdha Godse and Neeta Lulla

Mugdha Godse, Neeta Lulla, Mary Kom, Santosh Sivan & Sushmita Sen

Mike Melli chats with Mary Kom

Designer Neelam Ashley had designed a line of cocktail dresses for the contestants, and just before the show he was spotted backstage fussing over the girls and making sure they looked their best. Here he poses with the radiant Arlette Grao, who incidentally won the Second Runner-Up crown later that night.

Designer Neelam Ashley with contestant Arlette Grao

From twenty contestants in the first round, ten were eliminated after their first appearance on stage. These top 10 finalists then changed out of their cocktail dresses and donned lovely gowns by Arjun & Anjalee Kapoor. In one of my favourite moments backstage the final 10 huddled together and held hands as the top 5 finalists are called out on stage one by one. It was one of those real life bittersweet moments, where you could see the mixed emotions of the girls. The contestants who didn’t make it through were of course upset, but at the same time were truly happy for their friends who did.

The contestants wait anxiously before the final round

While waiting backstage for the show to start, we caught up with two beautiful I AM She winners from last year, Parul Duggal, first runner up at Miss Globe International 2011, and Himangini Singh Yadu, winner of Miss Asia Pacific 2012. They told us how surreal it was to watch these scenes unfold, as they could remember the tension and emotions going through their heads when they were in that same huddle together last year.

Parul Duggal, Pratap Simon, Himangini Singh Yadu and Mike Melli

Quite a glamorous experience it was for everyone involved with the I AM She 2012 pageant. More to come!

Pix: Ranjit Rodricks for MissMalini