From strength to strength
PV SINDHU
BADMINTON PLAYER
SINDHU IS THE FIRST INDIAN TO WIN A GOLD MEDAL AT THE BADMINTON WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS.
Foremost among sportswomen who did India proud in 2019 is PV Sindhu. After making news this year for being the only Indian on the Forbes list of highest paid sportswomen, she notched up another victory just weeks later at Basel, Switzerland. On August 25, 2019, she became the first Indian to win a gold medal at the Badminton World Championships. In April 2017, she rose to a career high of World No. 2, and has been the recipient of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Arjuna Award, and the Padma Shri. In 2018 she won medals at the Commonwealth Games as well as the Asian Games. Sindhu is also the only Indian woman to have reached an Olympic finals in badminton, winning a silver medal for the sport at Rio in 2016. She now has her sights set on the 2020 Olympics, where she hopes to win gold.
DEEPIKA PADUKONE
ACTOR
The reigning diva of Bollywood is among the highest paid actress in the country, with accolades that include three Filmfare Awards. She features in listings like India’s Most Popular Personalities and the World’s Most Influential people. Deepika Padukone, daughter of badminton player Prakash Padukone, naturally took to the sport as a teenager, competing at the national level. She eventually left it to take up modelling, went on to receive offers for films, and made her acting debut in 2006 in Kannada film, Aishwarya. Her first Bollywood film, Om Shanti Om (2007) opposite Shah Rukh Khan, won her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut, post which the actor has given us memorable performances in romantic comedy movies like Love Aaj Kal, Cocktail, and Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani. With period dramas like Bajirao Mastani and Padmaavat, and the tragic romance Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela, Padukone cemented her place among the top names of Bollywood actors. In 2017, she starred in the action film XXX: Return of Xander Cage, her first Hollywood project, and recently, founded her production company, KA Entertainment. More notably, Padukone has been vocal about issues such as feminism, mental health, and depression, and is the founder of the Live Love Laugh Foundation, which works to create awareness on mental health.
ROSHNI NADAR MALHOTRA
BUSINESS MAGNATE
HCL founder Shiv Nadar’s only child, Roshni Nadar Malhotra was the natural choice to lead the $8.9 billion organisation. The young scion was appointed executive director and CEO of HCL Corporation in 2009, and is also vice chairperson, HCL Technologies. Nadar Malhotra, who came back to India in 2008 after her MBA in social enterprise management and strategy from the Kellogg School of Management and a short stint in the US media,
