How Bihar’s Nikhil Anand built India’s biggest pageant empire

India is regarded as one of the leading countries in the world of beauty pageants. Over the years, the nation has produced several beauty pageant winners. However, the number of beauty pageants in India remained very limited until the advent of the 2010’s. For 6 decades, only one organization practiced its monopoly in the Indian pageant sector.

The year 2014 witnessed the arrival of a young man who not only eliminated his vicious monopoly but also went on to create the first and biggest pageant empire in the Indian nation. Today, he owns the maximum number of beauty pageants in India and is the man behind revolutionizing the Indian pageant sector. His name, Nikhil Anand. 

Nikhil hails from Darbhanga in the East Indian state of Bihar. After completing his schooling, he moved to the national capital city of New Delhi to pursue his higher education in mechanical engineering. During his college years, he entered Mr. North India competition, and this marked the beginning of the journey that gave the world its youngest international pageant owner in the history. At the age of 23, Nikhil became the national director for two of the biggest international beauty pageants in the world – Miss Earth and Miss International. Subsequently, he acquired yet another big international franchise, Miss Grand International, and completely dismantled the devious monopoly that had perpetrated the Indian beauty pageant sector for more than 6 decades. 

His journey did not culminate just there. In 2018, he gave India its very first international beauty pageant – Miss Multinational and also revived the dormant Miss Teen International competition. Under his management, India witnessed the creation of its third grand slam beauty pageant which, in the present day is known as Glamanand Supermodel India. The pageant is the national preliminary to the Miss Grand International competition. Alongside creating two international competitions and one national competition, he also gave India its first properly functional and biggest teen pageant – Miss Teen Diva, a national level event responsible for selecting India’s teenaged representatives for some of the biggest international competitions in the world. 

While, from the mid-2010’s to the early 2020’s, he expanded his influence and presence in the female pageant industry, in the mid-2020’s, he joined the male pageant industry and conceptualized two male pageants – Mr. India Universe and Mr. Universe. Alongside that he also formulated Beauty High Magazine and Beauty High Pageant Academy, two of the newest ventures launched under the Glamanand Group of pageants. While his early years might have been challenging, today, Nikhil Anand is regarded as the most popular pageant director in India and is often cited as the most handsome pageant director in the world.