Meenakshi Chaudhary

Meenakshi Chaudhary is an Indian actress, model and beauty pageant titleholder who works in Telugu and Tamil films. She represented the state of Haryana at the Femina Miss India 2018 pageant, where she was crowned as Femina Miss India Grand International 2018. Chaudhary represented India at Miss Grand International 2018 and was crowned as the 1st runner up.

Chaudhary made her film debut with the Telugu film Ichata Vahanamulu Niluparadu (2021). She has since starred in Khiladi (2022), HIT: The Second Case (2022) and Guntur Kaaram (2024).

Early life and education
Chaudhary was born in Panchkula, Haryana, India. Her late father B.R Chaudhary was a colonel in the Indian Army. She completed her schooling from the St. Soldier International Convent School in Chandigarh. She is also a state level swimmer and badminton player. Chaudhary completed her bachelor's degree in dental surgery from the National Dental College and Hospital in Dera Bassi, Punjab.

Miss IMA 2017
In 2017, Chaudhary was adjudged as Miss IMA during the Indian Military Academy Autumn Ball Night, which is held towards the end of each term, to mark the culmination of the training schedule of military cadets.

Femina Miss India
Chaudhary auditioned for the Fashion Big Bazaar sponsored Campus Princess 2018 where she was crowned as one of the winners from Patiala auditions. She then auditioned for the title Femina Miss Haryana 2018, which she eventually won. She represented the state of Haryana in the annual Femina Miss India competition.

During the final question and answer round of Femina Miss India 2018, all the Top 5 finalists were asked a common question "Who is a better teacher in life – success or failure?" Chaudhary responded by expressing: ""I have had so many experiences of failures and success in life. Success taught me what it feels to be on the top of the world. However, failure taught me what it takes to push back and reach to the place which makes me feel what success is. That gives me the feeling to understand why I have to work hard for. No matter what you do and where you are, failure makes you understand the importance of success and what achieving your goals in life is all about. Therefore, I personally believe failure is the better teacher in life as it makes you understand what success means to you.""

She was crowned 1st runner up at the grand finale venued in Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Indoor Stadium, Mumbai, on 19 June 2018. She also won the sub-title 'Miss Photogenic' at the competition.

Miss Grand International
Later, it was revealed by the Miss India Organization that Chaudhary had been considered as Miss Grand India, and would represent India at Miss Grand International 2018 pageant. She was officially crowned as Miss Grand India 2018 by the then reigning Miss Grand International 2017, María José Lora of Peru.

Chaudhary represented India at Miss Grand International 2018 pageant in Yangon, Myanmar, where she made it to the top 5 of the Miss Popular sub-contest. Her national costume's theme was Prayer of Peace, which was a tribute to her father, Late Col. B.R Chaudhary.

During the grand final event held on 25 October 2018, Chaudhary was asked, "If you were crowned as Miss Grand International 2018 tonight, which country would you choose to visit for your 'Stop the war and violence' campaign, and what would be your first message to them?" She replied by saying: ""If I was crowned as Miss Grand International 2018 tonight, the first country that I would want to visit would be Indonesia because of the recent calamity that it has gone through. While the world is busy fighting against each other, we need to understand that we as humans are fighting against bigger things in life, in our natural environment through natural calamities. We forget that we are humans first and our nationalities come later on. We need to come together and fight against what we humans are going through in our everyday life, because underneath every skin colour runs the same colour of blood, that is red. We need to understand that.""

At the end of the event, she won the first runner-up title to the eventual winner, Clara Sosa of Paraguay. She is the first Indian woman to reach the said placement at the pageant.

In May 2019, Chaudhary was voted to the 2nd place in the list of Times 50 Most Desirable Women of India 2018, in an internet survey conducted by The Times of India. At the Femina Miss India 2019 sub-contest crowning ceremony, she was felicitated by the Miss India Organization for her accomplishments at Miss Grand International.

Acting career
Chaudhary made her acting debut with the web series, Out of Love, is an official adaptation of BBC drama series Doctor Foster. She played the role of Alia Kashyap, a 22-year-old who faces adversity, stress and the repercussions for having a relationship with a married person.

In 2020, she was cast as a lead opposite Sushanth in the Telugu movie Ichata Vahanamulu Niluparadu. Apart from pursuing her dental degree and modelling assignments, Chaudhary had enrolled in workshops. It was here that she initially met the actor. In connection with her debut film alongside the actor, she expressed – "Funnily, neither of us knew who the other was. I did not know he was an actor and he did not know I was a pageant winner". A month after the workshop, she was called by Sushanth to discuss a film script, which she accepted. She stated – "In other words, it was my workshop that became my audition trials." She was later signed up for Ramesh Varma Penmetsa's film titled Khiladi.

She has also acted as one of the female leads in the mystery-thriller film in Telugu language, titled HIT: The Second Case.