Prathamesh Maulingkar is a happy man. Of course, winning the title of Mr India Supranatural comes with its share of joy but his happiness is also attributed to an otherwise unusual decision by the pageant officials this year. In a deviation from their regular format that declares three winners - including the runners up, out of which one goes on to represent Mr Supranatural at the international level, this year’s pageant saw four winners being declared, with Prathamesh winning the title of Mr India Supranatural.
“It is a great feeling, obviously, but representing India at the
international level comes with a great deal of responsibility. This is
something that I have always wanted to do and I’m looking forward to making my
country proud,” says the Thivim-based model.
For the uninitiated, Peter England Mr India 2017 was the ninth
edition of Mr India World contest that was held on December 14, 2017 in Mumbai.
The pageant saw 16 contestants from all over the country compete in the finals.
While Jitesh Singh Deo of Lucknow won the title of Mr India 2017, Goa’s
Prathamesh Maulingkar was titled Mr India Supranatural 2017. Jitesh will
represent India at the Mr World 2020 and Prathamesh will represent the nation
at Mr Supranational 2018 in Poland.
Not many know that until about five years ago, Prathamesh was
pursuing a career in football and modelling happened by accident, quite
literally. An unfortunate injury forced him to quit his footballing career,
which is when ace designer Wendell Rodricks discovered his modelling talent,
encouraging him to take up a career in fashion. Since then, the 26-year-old has
scorched the ramp for a host of fashion designers and has raked in much
critical acclaim. The footballer turned model says that Wendell’s feedback is
taken into account before taking any major decision with regard to modelling.
Speaking about the hard work that went into grooming himself for
the pageant, the modest lad admits that the auditions made it look like the
competition was easy. He says, “It was only when I reached Mumbai that the
severity of the competition hit me. The participants had been preparing for it
for the last two-three years, as opposed to the couple of months that I spent
training before the commencement of the pageant.” After working on his physique
and tweaking his walk, Prathamesh groomed himself as per the desired standards.
The preparation also involved picking up a few dancing skills, to equip himself
for the talent round at the pageant.
With
a little less than a year to go for his representation at Mr Supranatural 2018
in Poland, Prathamesh has already begun with his preparations. And this time
around, he is working on his mental strength more than the efforts he is
putting into chiselling his body. According to Prathamesh, all other projects
are on the back-burner with all of his focus on preparing himself for a shot at
the international level. An international title will perhaps be the first ever
for any Goan male model and we sure hope that Goa bags one in 2018.