In contrast, we rarely hear about male pageant contests and even if they are organized they aren’t treated on par with female pageant contests.[break]
In such a scene, Group of Event Entertainers (GEE), an event management company, has been emphasizing on male pageant contests and has been organizing Manhunt International Nepal, one of the few pageants focused on the male glamour industry since 2003.
In this year’s contest, GEE brought 13 men between the age of 18-28 years on the ramp of the grand finale of the Code 10 Manhunt International Nepal 2011 on September 25, 2011 at the Army Officers’ Club, Sundhara.
Nirjan Thapa, a 24-year-old MBS graduate who has been modeling for over two years and has also been working as a modeling trainer and choreographer, won the title of this year.
The proprietor of Cargo World Pvt Ltd, Rajiv Shahi, 28, was announced the first runner-up, and Subib KC, a 26-year-old MBA graduate who works as a project officer at an INGO, won the title of second runner-up.
The fact that a contest that has been going on since 2003 came and went without much of a stir goes to show that the event did not grab as much attention as the Miss Nepal or other beauty contests do.
It is also apparent that media as well as the public have been deliberately or unintentionally giving less importance to male pageants.
“I think the perception about male pageants is quite vague here,” says Bhargav Subedi, coordinator of Manhunt International Nepal at GEE. “I don’t think the society is biased, it’s onlythe case of lack of awareness. Well the sponsors and the media are also reluctant about supporting male pageants.”
He claimed that the sponsors have a mindset that they will get more attention if they support female pageants.
Adding to that, Nirjan says, “I think most of the guys hesitate to participate in pageants and they think that it’s a female thing.”
He added, “Males don’t get opportunities and offers like females get even after being the winner of some pageants.”
Prashant Tamrakar, model and choreographer, shared his experience of his participation in Manhunt International and he also briefed the participants about the dos and don’ts of the industry.
Choreographer Rachana Gurung Sharma, who is the official trainer for Miss Nepal pageants, also conducted different classes for participants. She gave classes on presentation and personality. She specially talked about how to treat the opposite sex in the right way.
Rojin Shakya, another choreographer, also conducted classes for the participants. Anup Saxena, CEO of GEE, was the choreographer of the event.
“The grooming-up session has made me able to face the mass, says Subib, adding, “Well, we also got to learn different disciplinary manners from eating to sitting properly.”
Rajiv shares that the sessions have enabled him to build up his confidence and he has also learnt a great deal about social manners.
“Though I was familiar with ramp walks, I didn’t know a lot about the coordination of lights, music and other important aspects of a stage,” says Nirjan.
However, one problem with pageants like these is that the participants and even the title winners disappear shortly after the completion of the program. People don’t get to know what they were involved in during the period of one year when they hold the title.
Rajiv says, “There’s a dearth opportunities for us to get involved in, and there isn’t a wider scope for male pageant winners like the females have.”
“The media and entertainment sectors like movies, music videos and modeling are the only opportunities the pageant winners get to show themselves among the public,” says Nirjan.
“Fashion, style and glamour have become synonymous to women as if males aren’t into fashion at all,” refutes Rajiv and adds the even products that are focused on men feature women in their advertisements.
The winner of the pageant, Nirjan, will be representing Nepal at the 15th edition of Manhunt International 2011 being held in South Korea from September 28 to October 12, 2011.
Nepal is one of the fifty countries to participate in the competition. In the past, Suhrid Jyoti (2005), Chandan Agrawal (2007), Rikesh Shrestha (2008), and Kanij Koirala (2010) have already represented the country at Manhunt International Competitions.
Among them, Chandan and Rikesh won the titles of Mister Personality and Mister Friendship respectively.
“Chandan and Rikesh won the titles even when former Miss World participants haven’t returned with any titles,” says Anup. “They represented the Nepali flag in a foreign land through an international competition but the media didn’t support them. This is discouraging to us.”
Anup informs that Nirjan will be introduced as a participant of Nepal and not by the name Nirjan. So he is a representative of the whole Nepali people.
“I think the governments of other countries are supporting their participants but we don’t get any support from our government though we’re representing the nation,” complains Nirjan. “But I feel that I have greater responsibilities to fulfill as a representative of Nepal at the international arena, and I’m really proud to be a Nepali representative,” says Nirjan.
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