THE POWER OF 100: ARTS & CULTURE

ACHIEVERS ACROSS THE DOMAINS OF POLITICS, BUSINESS, SCIENCE, THE ARTS, ENTERTAINMENT, SPORTS, EDUCATION, LAW AND DEFENCE WHO ARE SHOWING US WHAT WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT LOOKS LIKE

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CULTURAL CZARINA

Nita Ambani, 60

Founder Chairperson, Reliance Foundation and Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre

NITA AMBANI WALKS INTO HER OFFICE at the eponymous Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (NMACC) dressed in a radiant red Banarasi sari from Reliance Retail's homegrown label Swadesh. "Everything in here is Made-in-India," says Ambani, "except for the TV (that's Japanese)." Among the treasures is an N.S. Bendre painting, the very first work she bought after marriage in 1986, and an ornate Pichhwai-painted pankha (fan) installed on the ceiling.

In between shooting for INDIA TODAY, she has been prepping for the annual day celebrations of Dhirubhai Ambani International School (it's the first since the pandemic, she says) and the IPL auction in Dubai (RIL owns the Mumbai Indians franchise). And then there's the charitable work with the Reliance Foundation and planning for the next big production to bring and create at the NMACC.

"All women are multitaskers," says Ambani. "Whatever my boys Akash and Anant can do, my daughter Isha can do as well. I firmly believe that what women cannot do, cannot be done."

The NMACC is the culmination of a dream that Ambani has had for long-a performing arts space in India that would be the envy of the world. "I took a little bit of every space I visited the world over and stored it in my head," she says. It captures her passion for the arts, one that dates back to her childhood when she learned Bharatanatyam, and later as an actor in her student days at the Narsee Monjee college. Acting was set aside, but dancing is still in her blood as she makes time to practise.