VASUNDHARA RAJE {54}
The first woman chief minister of Rajasthan interprets political power as an opportunity to empower the rural underprivileged. Her commitment to social causes won her the United Nations Women Together Award this year.

Politics with development sounds like an oxymoron in our cynical times. But Vasundhara Raje’s brand of progressive, humane politics is a testament to the fact that the two can, indeed should, overlap. Born and married into royalty, Raje was an unlikely candidate to champion grassroots reform. But the dusky daughter-in-law of the Dholpur royals, who blazed a trail by becoming Rajasthan’s first woman chief minister, has continued to silence detractors and win awards with her single-minded commitment to social causes like promotion of handloom weavers and empowerment of rural women.
Shattering the record of stalwart Bhairon Singh Shekhawat in the Assembly polls and breaking the male bastion of chief ministership in 2003 was an unprecedented achievement. But Raje’s greatest strength is in the sincere, hands-on work she continues to do for her state. Unlike many BJP hardliners in her party, she has avoided playing the communal Hindutva card, instead choosing to focus on concrete socio-economic issues like infrastructure and development. “The only way to see that the state progresses is to talk about basics like water and electricity, not caste and religion. Development is the key issue.”

Raje was initiated into politics by her mother late Vijaya Raje Scindia who urged her to fight her first election from Bhind, Madhya Pradesh in 1984. When she lost , her mother “was very cross about it.” But there was no looking back after she contested as MLA from Dholpur in 1985. Starting 1989 Raje won four consecutive elections to the Lok Sabha from Jhalawar and held a variety of posts in the Vajpayee cabinet including Minister of State for External Affairs. “I realised all that my mother told me was true. You can do it with hatred and get away with it, but do it with affection and you never lose. The enemies are always the ruling classes, never the masses.”
The counsel has stood her in good stead whenever Raje has been bombarded with unsolicited advice on how to conduct herself in political office. “I was told to not ask too many questions, to keep a distance and to create an ivory tower to keep people in a state of awe.” But Raje says aloofness goes against her grain. “I need to look into people’s eyes, smile and show them I care. As CM I touch so many lives. I experience people’s daily frustrations firsthand when I sit with them and see that after 60 years of independence, there is still no water and no doctor. It overwhelms me that there is so much to be done.”

AISHWARYA RAI BACHCHAN {33}
All set to resume shooting after her low-profile highly scrutinised marriage, the former Miss World and the new Mrs Bachchan returns to the marquee with mega releases (Jodha-Akbar) and complex roles (Sarkar 2).

She has been her own woman from the beginning. She knew exactly what she wanted from life. I first met her in 1998 when I was editing Screen, on the eve of the Screen Awards. Late Hrishikesh Mukherjee, who was the chairman of the jury that year, came out of a special screening of Aur Pyar Ho Gaya and remarked, ‘Watch out for the girl, she has a tremendous screen presence’. The girl was Ash. Sensing the possibility of her winning the Best Newcomer Award, we decided to track her, to ensure her presence at the presentation. My first meeting with her had lasted just 10 minutes, but it was long enough to experience a woman apart, who could communicate with great finesse and panache. She was too confident for a new entrant to a topsy-turvy world. She was unlike anyone I had met in the industry.
Ash did win our award for the most outstanding newcomer of the year. But not many were convinced by the choice, least of all Subhash Ghai, whose protégé, Mahima Chowdhary, was the fancied contender. Interestingly, Ghai signed on Ash immediately for his next, Taal.

BARKHA DUTT {35}
Indian television’s New Age daredevil who consistently raises the bar for news reporting, often surprising herself, lives by her own rules.

So, how far would Barkha Dutt stretch to ‘get the story’? During the Kargil War, she was screaming into the mike for a live telecast with bombs exploding yards behind her; post the tsunami devastation, she was able to coax the nation into funding the eye operation of a blind child whose family’s savings had been washed away; in Kashmir, even as she interviewed indignant women about the enforcement of the purdah, a fatwa was issued against her…. She has broken a security cordon (several, in fact), travelling in a food van right up to the door of a plane, to implore a startled, but unbending, Jaswant Singh (then external affairs minister) to let her accompany him to Afghanistan for the exchanging of militants with the passengers of the beleaguered IC 814; she has suffered a wild monkey’s bite on the ankle (and seven anti-rabies shots later) while balancing on a ledge to tape former Union Minister, the late Kalpnath Rai’s Shakespearean-style soliloquy en route to the courts....

“I have always been like this,” acknowledges Dutt, questioning every nervous move that the make-up artist makes on her face, “but I don’t know if I can remain like this because it is very high energy and as I get older, I do realise that I no longer have the stamina that I had at 23 and 24.” She agrees that in the decade-long stint with New Delhi Television (NDTV) – of which she is now managing editor – she has indulged in “acts of sheer madness”, often at great risk to her life, but never compromised on the “non-negotiables – integrity and honesty”. As for being branded a ‘braveheart’, she comments, “Bravery has little to do with it. You’re so consumed by the story at that point that you’re not paying enough attention to anything else and you lose yourself in the moment. The adrenalin rush carries you through. It’s not that there is no element of fear; it’s just that the fear takes a little longer to kick in. I had fought and fought to cover Kargil, so I knew that I was being carefully watched. The scale of violence and tragedy was so overwhelming; I held my emotions back, because to shed tears would have been interpreted as such a girlie thing to do.” The breakdown happened two months later when she returned to Delhi. But Kashmir remains her magnificent obsession.

NITA AMBANI {44}
The ambani family’s bahu’s most obvious big achievement has been the dhirubhai ambani international school, in mumbai. but that is merely a passion, there has been more work at hand

Perhaps, what makes Nita Ambani one of the country’s finest educationists is a simple character trait – she draws children to her like a warm and happy magnet – luminiscent in her presence. At the Dhirubhai Ambani International School in Mumbai, today, Ambani glows with happiness and success. “The problem is they all come to surround me,” she says as our photographer tries to get a clear shot of her. School is a happy place for the kids and for her, too. No wonder then that a father notably remarked, “Yeh school bilkul dharti se nikla hua hai.” Ambani comments, “I think what works is that this is a school that has a heart and a soul. It is one big happy family of kids and teachers.”
Some months past, the parking lot outside the school was a sea of teens and parents. A veritable throng of hopefuls had descended for standard VI admissions. “For IB we have 30 seats and we had at least 700 applicants,” reveals Ambani, after some goading. She herself stayed a rare day away, perhaps anticipating the throng. On a normal work day she is up at 5.30 a.m., in school by 7.20 a.m. and in her Maker Chambers office thereafter. “It’s a long day,” she admits, “but, I have no complaints.”

RANI MUKERJI {29}
Diverse roles, top banners, cutting-edge performances...the actress continues to rule over the silver screen firmament

Her petite frame notwithstanding, she is a powerhouse of talent…and every inch a star. As she steps down from her golden-hued vehicle, into the protection of a huge sunshade and greets me with a firm handshake prior to walking into the waiting make-up van, her star quality shines through. Although she jokes, “I am Rani, but I have no throne,” Rani Mukerji is undoubtedly the ruling talent on the silver screen firmament.
Few can forget her searing presence as Michelle McNally in Black or her impassioned arguments in the courtroom as Saamiya Siddiqui in Veer Zaara....
And last year, as Maya Talwar in Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, she gave many a woman a voice, treading where few heroines have dared to walk before. This year, for the first time, Mukerji assayed the role of a mother in the summer release, Tara Rum Pum…. From Tina in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai – where she was a mom for a few seconds in the opening frames of the film – to the present-day Shona who steers her family through moments of crisis, the actress succeeds in touching the heart of the audiences. Something she has done with her unforgettable performances in even the most forgettable of flicks that she may have signed at the outset of her ten-year stint in Hindi cinema.