As Miss Universe 2009 pageant starts on Aug 5, a look at times when actresses were beauty queens  

Miss India, Priyanka Chopra, poses for photographers during the beachwear round of the Miss World contest at Full Moon Island in Maldives on 13 November 2000 ahead of the final of the beauty pageant in London on 30 November 2000.  

Sushmita Sen, representing India at the 1994 Miss Universe competition, reacts to winning the title in Manila. Sushmita, then an 18-year-old model from New Delhi, beat 76 other contestants to become the first Indian winner of the beauty pageant. She brought home over $150,000 in cash and prizes. Carolina Gomez of Colombia was the first runner up.  

Miss India, Lara Dutta, is crowned Miss Universe 2000 by the outgoing title-holder Mpule Kwelagobe of Botswana in Nicosia on 13 May 2000.  

Miss India, Neha Dhupia, on stage during the preliminary national costume round at the Miss Universe competition on 24 May 2002 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.  

Twenty-one-year-old Celina Jaitley is crowned Femina Miss India-Universe in Bombay on 27 January 2001. Also seen are Femina Miss India-World, Sara Corner, and Maheshwari Thyagrajan, Femina Miss India-Asia-Pacific.  

Miss India Yukta Mookhey, 20, poses after winning the Miss World title in London on 4 December 1999. Miss Venezuala Martina Thorogood was first runner-up and Miss South Africa Sonia Raciti was second runner-up.  

Tanushree Dutta, Miss India Universe 2004, poses in her Endless Sun Swimsuit along with other contestants at the JW Marriott Hotel in Quito, Ecuador, on 26 May 2004. Tanushree competed for the title of Miss Universe 2004 at the 53rd annual Miss Universe competition on June 1, 2004.  

Miss India Sayali Bhagat during the Miss World 2004 pageant final on 4 December 2004 in Sanya, on China's southern resort island of Hainan.  

Miss India Nikita Anand and other Miss Universe contestants pose for photographs in Panama City on 19 May 2003.  

Aishwarya Rai competes in the swimsuit parade during the finals of Miss World 1994 in Sun City, South Africa, on 20 November 1994.  

Miss World Diana Hayden and her two runner-ups, Miss South Africa Jessica Motaung and Miss New Zealand Laurelee Martinovch, pose for photographers in Victoria, Seychelles, on 23 November after their win the night before. Hayden, who was born in Bombay but who also has English blood, quoted Irish poet William Butler Yeats after she won before a crowd of 1,000 people, saying: 'In dreams begin responsibilities’.  

Eighteen-year-old Priyanka Chopra poses after winning the Miss World final with second placed 18-year-old Giorgia Palmas and third placed 20-year-old Yuksel Ak of Turkey at the Millennium Dome in London on 30 November 2000.  

Lara Dutta, Miss India 2000, poses for photographers on 1 May 2000 in Nicosia before heading for an event during the 2000 Miss Universe pageant.  

Newly-crowned Miss Universe, Sushmita Sen, during a visit to Malacang Palace for a courtesy call on the Philippine's President, Fidel Ramos, in Manila on 23 May 1994.  

Miss World Diana Hayden smiles for the photographer on 23 November 1995 after winning the crown the night before in Victoria, Seychelles.