The outfit doesn’t define me, I define the outfit.’
It was not easy for a rank outsider to get a foot in the door in an industry as incestuous as the Indian fashion fraternity, especially in the 90s. The fact that Anamika Khanna is now one of its brightest and most-loved members is proof of her gumption, talent and tenacity.
In the two decades that Khanna has worked in the industry, she has evolved personally and professionally; and though she is at the top of her game, the challenges have not stopped.
In this incredibly candid profile, Gunjan Jain discovers what it is that makes Anamika Khanna a true agent of change and why she isn’t someone to be taken lightly.
In my life, I have never done anything against the wishes of my family, but I have also been brave enough to stand by my own decisions.’
One of the few women members of Bollywood’s 100-crore club, the star of over forty-five films, a fashion and fitness icon who endorses twenty-two brands and has designed a capsule clothing collection, a begum and a scion of Bollywood’s first family, Kareena Kapoor Khan is a woman who owns her place in the world.
However, despite her illustrious last name, Kareena’s path to success has not been smooth. And yet, through every set of challenges, she has proved to be a woman of today who lives by her rules, is brave in her choices and embraces life, work, love, family and friendships with equal enthusiasm.
Read on as Gunjan Jain talks to the chatty, candid and utterly charming Kareena Kapoor Khan in this surprisingly personal profile.
My greatest resource is life itself.’
From growing up in a commune to making a mark on and off screen to being married to one of the most prolific writers of the era is just a glimpse into what Shabana Azmi is.
However, apart from being a veteran actor, she is also a firebrand social activist, parliamentarian, UN goodwill ambassador and a feminist icon. So what does it really mean to be Shabana Azmi and how does one pack these many personalities, and have them all be excellent?
Read on as Gunjan Jain explores the myth behind the enigma that is Shabana Azmi in this heart-warming profile.
It is because my roots are strong that I can fly.’
There are very few film-makers who have been as diverse as Mira Nair. From Salaam Bombay!, a film set in the underbelly of India’s financial capital to a Monsoon Wedding, an incredibly candid family film, her repertoire is well and truly varied.
It comes as no surprise then that hard work and immense determination have been a way of life for her. Famously known as a risk-taker, she is a brilliant crisis-manager and someone who never slows down. Yet, this larger-than-life, brighter-than-sunshine genius is, at heart, a seeker.
Read on as Gunjan Jain goes behind the scenes with Mira Nair, revealing the real woman behind the camera.
Bollywood isn’t as easy as people think it is. But then life itself isn’t easy.’
The fact that Priyanka Chopra is an aficionado of Urdu poetry, and that she can write and translate verses, is just one aspect of the versatile actor’s personality. Beauty queen, model, actor, singer, style icon, blurring the lines between India and the world, she is the perfect mascot for today’s fearless, multi-hyphenated generation.
However, Chopra’s journey to get to all of the above descriptors has been anything but straightforward. Ups and downs aplenty, combined with the unpredictability of the film industry, can be hard on anyone. And yet, Chopra has proved her strength time and again.
In this inspiring profile by Gunjan Jain, Priyanka Chopra reveals what it really means to ‘make it’ in Bollywood and what it means to be her.
Early intervention will always lower your cost of prevention. I live by this realization and apply it in my work in healthcare.’
Dr Swati Piramal, along with her husband, turned a textile-centred business into Piramal Healthcare Limited, a Rs 21,000-crore conglomerate that works in pharmaceuticals, real estate, financial services and packaging. However, it is her commitment to scientific research and technology that has made the healthcare division the biggest name in patents and drug discovery in India.
Swati Piramal exudes a rare combination of elegance, serenity and power. She is a celebrated woman with a renaissance temperament, a healer and an entrepreneur who synergizes all of her interests, passions and expertise to create significant change.
In this comprehensive profile, Gunjan Jain explores what it really means to follow through on a vision that might be making its way through unchartered waters.
Conversations with some of the country’s biggest industrialists like K.M. Birla and Sunil Mittal prove that it is not just urban myth that Zia Mody is on the speed-dial of India Inc. for every multimillion-dollar deal. It is believed that her clients trust her to offer the right opinions and not ones to simply please them. Is that the magic of Zia Mody?
Being a female lawyer in the male-dominated, cut-throat world of corporate law would have been a journey that’s far from easy. Which is why, seeing her journey and meteoric rise is even more inspiring.
In this electrifying profile, Gunjan Jain tries to unravel the enigma of Zia Mody and what it is about her that makes corporate India tick so well.
Life can be difficult, but if it were not, it would be boring.’
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, chairman and managing director of Biocon, is a scientist par excellence, an innovator and counted among the most powerful women globally. She is India’s richest self-made woman, a philanthropist, a proud Bangalorean, a vociferous civic activist and the recipient of a litany of awards and accolades.
Today, at over sixty years of age, she remains as unconventional as her rebellious younger self, whose confidence helped her turn failures into successes and challenges into opportunities. But where does one find the motivation and drive to continue to cross milestone after milestone? As Biocon’s tagline goes, ‘the difference lies in our DNA’.
Read on as Gunjan Jain tries to uncover the answers to these questions and more in this impressive profile of an impressive woman.
No economy can thrive, or even survive, by ignoring the contributions of women.’
As the chairman (India) and director (Asia-Pacific) at HSBC, Naina Lal Kidwai’s professional journey has been one of firsts. She was the first Indian woman to be a Harvard Business School graduate, the first (of three) women to be employed by Pricewaterhouse, the first woman to head an investment bank and a foreign or private bank in India, and the first woman president of India’s largest chamber of industry—the eighty-five-year-old FICCI.
A true pioneer, she is a nonconformist who finds time for social causes and turns every adversity into an opportunity. A feminist in the best sense of the word—a doer, not a preacher—Kidwai is a woman of substance and a banker of enterprise.
In this truly inspiring profile, Gunjan Jain digs a little deep to reveal the many struggles and strokes of genius that make up someone like Naina Lal Kidwai.
Don’t be afraid of making mistakes, and remember that work is a small part of our total being.’
Arnavaz ‘Anu’ Aga was a trained social worker who chose to be a wife and mother. However, she soon found herself having to turn around an ailing company, becoming a celebrated, albeit accidental CEO, nurturing an energy and environmental engineering major. Today, she is a respected parliamentarian.
Her simple lifestyle does not give away the fact that she is a regular on Forbes’ list of the richest Indians. She is a role model for any woman who wishes to be empowered and find her voice and mission, whether personally or professionally. It truly seems as if she’s achieved it all.
What is the secret behind Aga’s success—both personally and professionally? Read on as Gunjan Jain uncovers the legend of Arnavaz ‘Anu’ Aga.
