Madhu Sapre

Model, Actress

Born: 14th July 1971, Nagpur

In 1995, Levis Strauss (yes, the jeans manufacturer) was launched in India. One of the launch activities the company held was a window-dressing contest, open to colleges around India. My brother Nagesh Manay (now an ad-man), was studying in St Joseph's College at the time. He and his friends Ryan Lobo and "Gottu" Prakash put in an entry. Theirs was one of the six teams that made it to the finals of this contest, a commendable effort, considering that they were the only non-design school finalists. They eventually went on to win all the three stages of the contest, taking home Rs 1.5L between the three of them!

The teams had to actually build the show windows at Prasad Bidapa's studio, and these were displayed at the official launch parties at Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. Levis had roped in the top models to walk the ramp at the launch parties, wearing the Levis jeans. Nagesh got to meet Madhu Sapre (top model at the time) and with no paper in hand, he got her to sign on one of the dinner tissues.

Bangalore, 1995