'I'm definitely not afraid of controversy anymore'

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Just a few short hours after Vida Samadzai dropped jaws as a showstopper for Archana Kocchar, we find the stunning 5'9 Afghan beauty by herself in the Grand Hyatt's lobby, poring over a self-motivation book, completely but quietly engrossed. Though she's happy to talk about the show, she's more eager to discuss her NGO work (Aids Awareness) and the 25 orphans she'd supporting in Rajasthan.

And that, in a nutshell, is Vida Samadzai. While she's comfortable walking the ramp, a natural in front of the camera, and a rising star on the big screen ("Truthfully," she says, "My heart is in acting over modelling."), Vida's passion is charity, or as she puts it, 'making the world a better place'.

Because for Vida, the entertainment world is inseparable from the 'real world', all thanks to an infamous red bikini. The year was 2003, and Vida, competing as Miss Afghanistan in the Miss Earth contest, shattered barriers as the first Afghan woman to compete in an international beauty pageant in three decades. Her decision to don a bikini for the swimsuit portion of the contest set off a firestorm of controversy in her country of birth, still heavily influenced by the ideology of the repressive Taliban regime.

"I guess that beauty pageant helped shaped me," she says. "Because now I want to be 'the first' to do many things. I want to cross boundaries and milestones. I want to be the best, to do my best, to help change the world. I'm definitely not afraid of controversy anymore," she says, smiling.

But how did a girl, born and raised in Kabul, Afghanistan and moved to California at 14, wind up in Mumbai, where's she been for the past couple of years? "The culture," she says. "I love the culture of Mumbai, and India. I guess it started with Bollywood movies when I was kid, which were very popular in Afghanistan. Compared to the United States, India is so fascinating and vibrant! I was tired of all the straight lines and being told where to park in America,' she explains with a laugh.

Also see: Archana Kochchar's Victorian verve

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