To kick start Independence Day-weekend, we present to you our list of the most influential and path-breaking Indians from all over the world. These superstars give us one more reason to be proud to be Indian.
Sundar Pichai, CEO, Google
His first claim to fame was introducing Chrome to the world.
Deepinder Goyal, Co-Founder and CEO, Zomato
This Gurgaon-based enterprise operates in 22 countries today.
Rahul Sharma, Co-Founder and CEO, Micromax
The company holds the second largest share in the Indian smart phone market (16.7%) as of the June quarter of 2015.
Vijaya Gadde, General Counsel, Twitter
The only woman on the executive team, she has played a crucial role in the overseas expansion of this social media platform.
Naveen Tewari, Co-Founder and CEO, InMobi
With their latest artificial intelligence discovery platform, Miip, this Bengaluru-based start-up is set up against the likes of Google, Facebook and Apple for data-driven mobile advertising.
Samir Patil, Co- Founder and CEO, Scroll.in
This digital daily is all about making credible (and, incredibly interesting) content easily accessible.
Dhimaan Shah, Co- Founder, StyleCracker
Formerly an investment banker, today, he is the Managing Director of the country’s only fashion styling platform.
Akshat Nauriyal, Arjun Bahl, Giulia Ambrogi, Hanif Kureshi and Thanish Thomas, Co-Founders, ST+ART India Foundation
Gathering artists from around the world, these mavericks transformed Mumbai’s and Delhi’s public spaces, with India’s first street art fest. (Think the enormous tentacles projected out of Jindal Mansion’s façade)
Ayaz Basrai, Co-Founder of The Busride Design Studio
To his credit are the city’s hippest interiors, with Bombay Canteen, Smoke House Deli, Café Zoe and the signage at T2 topping the list.
Sameer Kulavoor, Visual Artist & Founder of Bombay Duck Designs
His Ghoda Cycle Project was adapted into prints for limited edition tees by Brit designer Paul Smith.
Kartik Sood, Painter and Installation Artist
This MSU Vadodara alumnus has recently been chosen for the esteemed Gasworks International Residency Programme (UK).
Anoushka Shankar, Sitarist
In 2003, she became the youngest and first woman to receive a Grammy nomination in the World Music category. Today, her total count of nominations stands at four (in various categories).
Mohini Dey, Bass Guitarist
At just 18, she has worked with the likes of Zakir Hussain and A.R. Rahman.
Vijay Nair, Co-Founder, Only Much Louder
They’re the organizers of NH7 Weekender, a multi-city music fest. As of last year, they put up shows in 4 cities with an audience of nearly 30,000 fans.
15. Gursimran Khamba and Tanmay Bhat, Co-Founders, All India Bakchod
The group has over 12 lakh subscribers on YouTube. And the controversial roost they recently organized raised about INR 4 million for charity.
Anand Gopal, Journalist and Author
His ‘No Good Men Among the Living’ earned him the position of finalist, for the Pulitzer Prize, in the Non- fiction category.
Aneesh Raman, Journalist
His biggest achievement was serving Barack Obama, as a domestic policy speechwriter.
Gaggan Anand, Restaurateur and Chef, Gaggan
His Bangkok-based restaurant serves progressive Indian haute cuisine and since 2014, it has been making a regular appearance on the ‘S. Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants’ list.
Pratap Chahal, Founder and Chef, That Hungry Chef supper club
He recently drew up a desire-inducing menu for the supper club, ‘The Aphrodisishack’. Needless to say, for this ex-Gordon Ramsay Group member likes to plate it up sexy!
Pooja Dhingra, Owner, Le 15 Patisserie
This macaroon queen had Matt Preston (of Masterchef Australia fame) licking her baked treats off his fingers.
Bandana Tewari, Fashion Features Director, VOGUE India
She is not only the face of the fashion bible but also one of the most respected and revered fashion journalists globally.
Anaita Shroff Adajania, Fashion Director, VOGUE India
Trendsetter, style influencer and visionary, she created a path for young stylists in India.
Rahul Mishra, Fashion Designer
In 2014 he became the first Indian to win the International Woolmark Prize at Milan Fashion Week.
Pernia Qureshi, Founder, Pernia’s Pop-up Shop
Through her website uber-luxe designer collections and labels are made available across the globe. Sabyasachi, Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla, Masaba and so on are some stalwarts that showcase at this e-store.
Priya Tanna, Editor, VOGUE India
She heads fashion magazine that dictates industry trends. Need we elaborate on her influence any further?
Arjun Bhasin, Stylist
His work ranges from Bollywood hits like ‘Dil Dhadakne Do’ to Hollywood films like ‘Begin Again’
Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Fashion Designer
His name being on every bride’s wish list explains his superlative his fame quotient.
Anamika Khanna, Fashion Designer
Her designs saw the global spotlight when Sonam Kapoor wore her creations to the Cannes Film Festival.
Suket Dhir, Fashion Designer
It’s just been three years since he started his journey as a menswear designer and he has already bagged the International Woolmark Prize for his work.
Archana Walavalkar, Co- Founder, StyleCracker
She juggles between playing stylist to the likes of Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan, and Siddharth Malhotra to name a few, and heading India’s only fashion styling platform, as its Creative Director.
Srikanth Kidambi, Badminton player
After Prakash Padukone and Pullela Gopichand, he is the third Indian male to rank in the Top 5 list of world Badminton.
Sim Bhullar, Basketball player
He’s the first Indian to play for National Basketball Association.
P.V. Sindhu, Badminton player
At the ongoing World Badminton Championship, she defeated the Olympic champion and former World No. 1, Xuerui Li.
Rohit Sharma, Cricketer
Taking into account his outstanding performance, he has been nominated for the Arjuna award, this year.
Anshu Gupta, Founder, GOONJ
He has been selected for the Ramon Magsaysay Award, Asia’s highest honour for selfless individuals/ organizations working for society’s betterment.
Shubham Banerjee, Innovator
He created a low-cost Braille printer from LEGO pieces! And, he’s just 12 years old!
Akash Ambani, Business Leader
He is spearheading the much awaited roll out of 4G services by Reliance.
Anant Goenka, Director and Head, New Media at Indian Express
It’s a herculean makeover for the publication’s digital platform but he is well-prepared, having visited more than a dozen newsrooms across the globe to understand how their websites function.
Sanjay Reddy, Vice- President, GVK Group
The world’s largest art gallery, located in T2, was his brainchild.
Ameera Shah, MD & CEO, Metropolis Healthcare Ltd.
She powered the company’s rise to its current position as a leading diagnostics player.
Sonam Kapoor, Actress
With her head-turner red carpet looks, she has made a place for our country on the global fashion map.
Freida Pinto, Actress
She never looked back after her debut in Slumdog Millionaire. Such is the craze for this beauty that it was even speculated that she would be starring in a Bond film.
Anand Gandhi, Director
His ‘Ship of Theseus’ premiered at the Toronto Film Festival to much critical acclaim and won the National Award for Best Feature Film and Best Supporting Actress.
Richa Chaddha, Actress
It was all praises and much applause for her most recent film, Masaan, at the Cannes Film Festival.
Ranveer Singh, Actor
With his daring style, he is pushing the limits of quirk, when it comes to men’s style. In the bargain, fashion for the dapper ones is seeing a much needed overhaul.
