A model success

"There were three rounds. The first round was the grunge round where we wore funky clothes and had our hair spiked. Here our introductions were given and 14 contestants were selected,” Kaiomurz Kersy Chindhy gave a recap of the elimination process before he was crowned Mr Pune and Westside Face of the Year in 2005. "We then came in ethnic ware and asked one judge a question to which she/he replied and then in turn she/he asked us a question. I had asked my judge that since it was the Parsi New Year and I was a Parsi what gift could she give me? Her answer was ‘anything’ and I told her that I would collect it backstage later! In the last round the five guys were asked a common question and the same applied to the girls,” 21-year-old Chindhy recalls the day of the contest when they had to reach the venue at 6 a.m., go through the final rehearsal and then wait patiently for the contest to start at 8 p.m. Though it felt ecstatic to win, the reality seeped in much later since during the contest all he was thinking of was getting all the sequences right.

The preparations commenced when an advertisement for the Citadel Extravaganza caught his eye. He sent his pictures and was shortlisted from 230 entries. "There were 10 guys and 10 girls and our 20-day training period included grooming, speech therapy, learning the sequences, meditation, intensive cardio workouts that included kick boxing. Just eight days before the contest, the sub titles were held and I won two of the four namely Mr Photogenic and Mr Versatile. This was a boost for me. Competition was tough and the remaining days were spent in more training for the question answers and ramp walks to avoid any kind of goof up. From 9.30 in the morning to 6.30 in the evening we practiced and after an hour’s break from 7.30 p.m. to 10 p.m. we worked on question answers,” says Mr Pune.

Soon after this victory, Chindhy tasted success yet again when he was chosen Mr University at the Mumbai regional finals of the LG X-Mobile Mr and Ms University organized by the students of National Institute of Event Management in association with the Mumbai Mirror, reported the daily of December 4, 2005.

The Chindhy family (clockwise from top left) Kaiomurz, Farahnush, Amy and Kersy

The breakthrough on the modelling scene came when he got an opportunity to shoot for a music video with Sanjay Maroo. "I was one of the characters, a rocker to be precise in that video called Mujse banta nahin hai remix. The video was about an original band that is being killed by remixes. It was a one-day shooting and it built up my interest in this line and I decided to pursue it more seriously,” explains Chindhy. At that time he was working as an apprentice in his uncle’s interior designing business. "I liked interior designing because it was creative and I could do something different every day without it being monotonous,” he notes.

Determined not to pursue a routine nine to five job, Chindhy remembers, "At 17, I wanted to get into the merchant navy since I love navigation and adventure. And yes one can’t overlook the money factor. So I joined the merchant navy and did my pre sea training at the training ship Jawahar in Bombay. Here I topped in a subject called ship construction and shipbuilding. I sailed for eight months during which I visited Jezebel Ali (Dubai), Bandar Abbas (Iran), Al Ruiz (Saudi Arabia), Singapore and Gujarat. I loved my job but was declared unfit,” mentions Chindhy. Having asthma since childhood, it was aggravated on the bulk carrier that he sailed since it carried only open cement and sulphur.

Born to Kersy and Amy Chindhy, Kaiomurz has a sister named Farahnush who is three years younger than him. "My dad is like my friend while I am close to my mom and she advises me when needed. As a brother I give advice to Farahnush and don’t force her to take it. I am there for her and will bail her out if she gets into trouble,” declares Chindhy.

He remembers himself as a shy and introverted child who mostly kept to himself. "I didn’t mix a lot and had select friends. It took me a while to make a friend but once I did, then it was for life. The reason I was an introvert was because I believed that people may think you were a fool if you were quiet but when you spoke you proved it,” confesses Chindhy. Having studied in St Vincents till the 10th Std, he did his junior college from S. M. Choksey where he had just about started breaking out of his reserved shell.

His best competition is his own self, to surpass his previous achievement and better himself. Recently back from a Movado watch show in Bangalore done by Prasad Bidappa, the model is working hard and hoping for a big break to come his way. "Education is never wasted. I am simultaneously doing my TY BCom externally from Pune University and next year I plan to do my MBA,” says Chindhy whose hobbies include snooker and rowing.

Realistic and practical, with his head firmly on his shoulders he candidly says that modelling can’t be the main line of work. One needs to have a backup plan.