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"It’s a new bawa in town from New Delhi. So thank you for the warm welcome which you all have given me,” said Hormaz Daruwala, winner of Mantastic 2018. Overwhelmed by the warmth and camaraderie while in Bombay, the Delhi youngster admitted that he has "never been so close with my community members. I was afraid... never expected this. I am loving every bit of it.”
His female counterpart Delshad Navalmaneck was crowned May Queen 2018. She also bagged the Body Beautiful title and was the Viewers’ Choice (with 114 audience votes).
The much awaited event on the community’s social calendar, the pageant, organized under the auspices of the Sir Ness Wadia Memorial Pavilion (SNWMP) was held at the Rustom Baug grounds on April 30, 2018. A 22-member grooming panel ensured that the lads and lasses, some from Navsari, Surat and Poona, came up with their best on the final day. Grooming started on April 20, and continued for 11 days. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Neither the summer heat nor the price of admission — Rs 500 for the front seats and Rs 150 for the peripheral seating that included free flowing Fratelli Wines courtesy Peekay Wines plus Rs 400 for dinner coupons — deterred people from witnessing the event, which was packed to capacity. The evening was kickstarted by a dance performance by the Rustom Baug children, choreographed by Burzin Engineer. Spirits were kept high by Berjis Taraporevala and Jehanara Antia, the hosts of the evening, with their tongue-in-cheek humor.
The first runners-up for the titles were Rashna Karai (Miss Vivacious) and Zarvan Mistry (Mr Body Beautiful). Minoo Gandhi (Mr Talented) was Mantastic second runner-up and Khushnam Mogrelia, May Queen second runner-up. Other winners included: Adil Patel (Man with a Heart, Best Skin and Best Hair), Rohaan Variava (Mr Photogenic and Viewers Choice with 160 votes), Theia Bharucha (Miss Talented and Best Skin) and Diana Kapadia (Beauty with a Heart and Best Hair), Farhad Patel (Mr Vivacious) and Meher Bharucha and Dale Sudry (both winning Best Smile).
Judges — fashion choreographer Achala Sachdev, celebrity hair stylist Savio Jon Pereira, fitness advisor Huzefa Lokhandwala, garba queen Pinky Dave, Bollywood choreographer Rajeev Khinchi and dancer Puneet Dehran — narrowed down the 21 contestants (three less than last year’s 24) to 10 finalists. Round two was the question and answer round where according to Taraporevala "you saw how pretty they were and how handsome the young boys looked, now you will realize how intelligent they all are!”
The collection of gara designer Zenobia Davar was on display. Zyra Nargolwalla sang and a second dance sequence by the community teenagers was choreographed by Merzi Daruwalla.
Twenty-eight-year-old Hormaz Daruwala is a cloud computing engineer by profession; Navalmaneck, 17, a student of H. R. College, is a passionate footballer and dancer and aspires to do her chartered accountancy and law; 23-year-old Karai is currently pursuing theater and television; Mistry, 26, spent four years working in the finance industry before starting a fitness company that provides holistic fitness solutions to clients; currently employed with Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP and studying side-by-side for her masters in commerce, 23-year-old Mogrelia loves to sing and model; Gandhi (18), an academic topper who is appearing for his black belt in karate, intends to become a chartered accountant and loves music, dancing, singing and playing the guitar.
The sponsors for the evening included Bombay Parsi Punchayet, Eric Anklesaria, Anahita and Yazdi Desai, Viraf Mehta, Jindal Cocoa, FBB, Leah Tata, Zoroastrian Bank, IIFL, Homai Daruwalla, WZO Trust Funds, Jeejeebhoy Trust, Writer Relocations, Pharma Cross, Colgate, Mickey Mehta, Union Bank, Nadir Godrej, Dezenzia duglis, Davar and Homiyar Shroff. Music, lights and sound for the event were provided by Aarish Daruwalla, while brother Rehan captured the picture perfect moments. The night ended with Jimmy Gadiwalla’s lagan nu bhonu.