Women in the entertainment industry create an impact with their business, social, cultural influence

Be it writing a book to tell their stories, surviving a life-threatening disease, or leaving on a journey to set inspiring examples for others to follow, inspiring women in the entertainment industry today are doing their best in making a difference in all walks of life. In the entertainment industry, for women, it has been a year of victories and excellence.

From Zoya Akhtar who is telling stories like Gully Boy and Made in Heaven to film producer Guneet Monga, who is backing ground-breaking content under her production house, these inspiring women in the entertainment industry are trail-blazers, synergizes, and women we love to look up to today. As we inch closer, a list of 

women, who made their presence felt in ways more than one and made headlines for all the right reasons :

1. Radhika Apte:

Radhika Apte’s versatility as an actor is unquestionable. If we trace her journey, she has films like Manjhi The Mountain-man, Parched, and Badlapur to her credit. She also pulled off a thriller like Andhadun, which went on to become a mega-hit. This year, she got her due as she was nominated in the Best Performance by an Actress category for ‘Lust Stories’ at the 2019 International Emmy Awards. She called it an “honor” to have been picked from among “so many countries with great content”.

2. Zoya Akhtar:

Apart from venturing into her own production company called Tiger Baby productions, Zoya Akhtar made an inspiring woman in the entertaining industry one for the audience. Zoya is well-known for helming films like ‘Luck By Chance’, ‘Dil Dhadakne Do’, ‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’. 

She earned a Filmfare under the Best Debut Director category for ‘Luck By Chance’. Other than Bollywood, Zoya also directed a part of Netflix’s ‘Lust Stories’ and streaming giant Amazon prime’s ‘Made in Heaven’.

 There are many feathers to her cap this year as she was also announced as the latest member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Proud father Javed Akhtar exuded his happiness on social media. Sharing a tweet regarding his daughter’s entry to the Academy.

3. Tahira Kashyap:

Director, writer, and script-writer Tahira Kashyap, who also happens to be superstar Ayushmann Khurrana’s wife, owned 2019 despite the challenges that life threw at her. Tahira shared online that she had been detected with cancer in her right breast with high-grade malignant cells. She battled and triumphed over breast cancer. Tahira, who directed a short feature film titled Toffee, has turned director for another. She was also invited to Ted Talks, she spoke about the ailment and how it continues to be a taboo in India. Tahira felt that it’s a “privilege to share this important platform with such amazing trailblazers, and to be able to share my story has been a wonderful experience”.

Tahira has established herself as an inspiring woman in the entertainment industry by crusader of a fight against cancer for many who are sailing in the same boat. She has given several inspiring talks on why people should fight back cancer and be mentally strong throughout the battle.

4. Priyanka Chopra:

She is a producer. She is an actor. She is also a philanthropist who knows her power as an actor! This year she produced her first Hindi film ‘The Sky Is Pink’ and even though the film couldn’t rake in box-office numbers, it still managed to move people and for all the right reasons. 

Reports of her being named as the top star in Indian cinema and television series year were released by IMDB. Bollywood superstar Salman Khan secured the sixth position in the list that includes 2019’s top 10 stars.

5. Sobhita Dhulipala:

Sobhita started her journey in showbiz and did some interesting projects like Raman Raghav 2.0, Telugu film Goodachari, Chef and Kaalakaandi, but found fame by playing the complex role of Tara in the Amazon Prime web series Made In Heaven.

This year was truly a game-changer for her as an inspiring woman in the entertainment industry as she received both critical acclaim and breakout success with Made in Heaven. This year she also featured in SRK’s Red-Chillies produced Bard of Blood which dealt with the themes of gender dynamics and fear. The seven-episode Netflix India Original, based on Bilal Siddiqi’s bestselling book of the same name, also featured Emraan Hashmi, Vineet Kumar Singh, and Jaideep Ahlawat. It won’t be wrong to say that Sobhita and the year 2019, were indeed made in heaven.