It’s their will to fight every odd to pursue their dreams. It’s their courage to believe in themselves. It’s their strength to stand by their dreams when nothing seemed okay. It’s their excellence to stand apart in the crowd. And it’s their determination to bring a change in their lives as well as in their surroundings have made these women ‘women of substance’ India salutes. Here are 10 such power women who with fire in their bellies have been inspiring thousand others to live their lives on their own terms. Let’s start with the top 5 of them –
Vidya Balan
Age: 34
Position: Actor
She tops the chart just as she has topped an industry where ‘actresses’ are considered to be second class citizen. She stepped into this utterly male dominated world of showbiz and soon she changed just one simple convention that leading women are nothing but good looking, highly paid supporting actors. She has established actresses as actors, better say lead actors. She has proved that heroines in Bollywood can be heroes too; that heroines are not meant to be in this industry to dance around or romance Khans, Kapoors etc. It’s this lady who single-handedly created stars from Sabrina to Silk to Mrs. Bagchi. And, yes, she does not need to look ‘perfect’ or ‘superhot’ or to wear minimal clothes to create box-office hits. She has made the forever skeptical producers believe in the potentials of the power women of Bollywood.
Renuka Ramnath
Age: 50
Position: MD and CEO of Multiples
She is one brave-heart, who, at the peak of her career, left her bright future to start a career of her own from scratch. She took ICICI Ventures to a whopping Rs. 9200 crore and then she left her coveted position to start Multiples which has now crossed Rs 2000 crore marks in just 6 years. Besides, Multiples is now considered to be one of the most reliable names in the world of equity fund. So what made her leave everything to become an entrepreneur? It’s the freedom and the challenge of being your own boss.
Kirthiga Reddy
Age: 40
Position: Director of Online Operations, Facebook India
Being the head of Facebook India’s online operations is definitely not a cheese walk. What made her role more challenging? What if I tell you that India is the third largest market of Zuckerberg’s Facebook? Now you know where she stands and what she has achieved.
Ekta Kapoor
Age: 36
Position: Joint MD, Balaji Telefilms
Her name says it all. The czarina of Hindi television industry, she is also determined to rule the big screen with her back to back commercially hit Bollywood films.
Kiran Rao
Age: 38
Position: Film director
She might have been married to one of the Bollywood’s blue-eyed Khans, but that can never overshadow her own self-identity. She has successfully carved out a niche for herself as a notable filmmaker with Dhobi Ghat, a film that made its entry to the nominations of BAFTA for its unusual content and narrative style. She has also been a successful mainstream producer for films like Taare Zameen Par or Jaane Tu…Yaa Jane Na or Peepli Live.
