One cannot ignore the overwhelming presence of remarkable women in every industry. As a young woman, it is truly encouraging to witness the work of strong women breaking stereotypes and emerging as the best in their fields. Women truly are bosses who can lead and can create waves in any industry. Not only shattering glass ceilings, but they can also roll out the red carpet and pave the way for future generations. Here are 12 amazing Indian women born in June that are truly inspiring the whole world!
14 Boss Women Inspiring With Their Work
1. Kalpana Chawla
India’s Female ‘Space Star’ Kalpana Chawla was born on 1st July 1961. Though born in India, Kalpana, who had a keen interest in aeroplanes and flying, became a naturalised US citizen in April 1991, and subsequently applied for the NASA Astronaut Corps. On November 19, 1997, Kalpana became the first woman of Indian origin to fly to space as part of the six-astronaut crew that flew the Space Shuttle Columbia flight STS-87. Kalpana died on February 1, 2003, over the southern United States when the Space Shuttle Columbia STS-107 and her crew perished during entry, 16 minutes prior to the scheduled landing.
She was posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor. One of the seven peaks of the Columbia Hills is also named after Kalpana Chawla. In 2003, the then government announced that the meteorological series of satellites, MetSat, was to be renamed “Kalpana”. The Kalpana Chawla Award was instituted by the Government of Karnataka in 2004 to recognise young women scientists. Several scholarships, streets, universities and institutions have been named in honour of Kalpana Chawla. The youth and women of India have gained pride in seeing what she has done in space. Jean-Pierre Harrison (her husband) wrote the authoritative biography on the astronaut titled, “The Edge of Time”.
2. P. V. Sindhu
The name PV Sindhu needs no introduction. Sindhu, who was born on July 5, 1995, in Hyderabad, is one of just two Indian badminton players to have won an Olympic medal, the other being Saina Nehwal. And she made history by winning an Olympic silver medal.
The ace shuttler first gained worldwide attention when she climbed into the top 20 of the BWF World Ranking in September 2012, at the age of 17, and has been in the top 10 for the majority of her professional career.
She is the first Indian shuttler to win five World Championships medals, to win an Asian Games silver medal and also the first Indian to win the World Tour Finals. Ace Indian shuttler will make her second consecutive appearance at the Olympics in Tokyo 2020, slated to get underway from July 23 2021.
3. Shweta Tripathi
Shweta Tripathi Sharma is an Indian actress popularly known for the character of Golu Gupta in 2018, Mirzapur. She began her film career as a production assistant and associate director but gained wider recognition and accolades for her acting performances in the Hindi film industry and web series. Shweta Tripathi has many hidden talents and one of them is the fact that she is a certified scuba diver and also knows how to surf! The actress is a trained Kathak as well as Bharatanatyam dancer!
She has appeared in films like Haraamkhor and Gone Kesh. Apart from this, she has been a part of web series like The Trip, Mirzapur, The Trip Season 2, and Laakhon Mein Ek. With many upcoming projects in the pipeline of her career such as Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein, Escaype Live, and The Gone Game 2, she is one of the most in-demand actresses this year even with the ongoing pandemic and lockdowns in the country.
4. Neetu Kapoor
Neetu Kapoor is a great actress and there is no doubt about it. Neetu Kapoor is now seen in quite a few films and even today her performance is loved by the people. Neetu Kapoor was born on July 8, 1958, and made her Bollywood debut at the age of eight. She was seen as a child artist in the film Suraj and that is where started her journey of acting. Rajendra Kumar and Vyjayanthi Mala were in the lead roles in the film and Neetu was seen in the role of a paid artist in Das Lakh, Do Dooni Char, Do Kaliyan, Waris, Ghar Ghar Ki Kahani, Pavitra Pappi. She then played the lead role in Film Rickshawwala in 1973 and that’s what made people her fans.
Neetu met Rishi Kapoor in 1974 and this was when the two were shooting for their debut film Jahreela Insaan. And afterwards, they got married and had Ranbir and Riddhima. Rishi and Neetu worked together in 12 films over the course of their careers. Their marriage lasted until Rishi Kapoor’s sad demise in 2020. The couple won the Best Lifetime Jodi award in 2011. Singh was inducted into the Walk of the Stars, an entertainment hall of fame at Bandstand in Mumbai, where her handprint was preserved for posterity under her married name Neetu Kapoor. She will soon be seen in Jug Jug Jio.
5. Revathi
Asha Kelunni, better known by her stage name Revathi, is an Indian actress and director, known for her works predominantly in Tamil and Malayalam cinema. She has won several accolades, including the National Film Awards in three different categories, and nine Filmfare Awards South. Revathi is a trained Bharatanatyam dancer and she has been considered as one of the all-time top actresses of Tamil cinema and South Indian cinema.
She was one of the most successful leading actresses of South Indian cinema. Revathi was the only South Indian actress of the 80s and 90s to win the Filmfare best actress award in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam, including three consecutive wins in Tamil. Apart from films, Revathi has been involved in a variety of social organisations, the most notable being the Banyan, Ability Foundation, Tanker Foundation and Vidyasagar, and has also served as a member of several film festivals including the Chennai International Film Festival and the International Film Festival of India.
6. Katrina Kaif
Katrina Kaif has debunked every theory in Bollywood – that an outsider can’t make it big, that an inability to speak in Hindi would be a major impediment. The one thing that Katrina Kaif does the best is her ability to dismantle cliches. Starting out with a non-successful movie called Boom (1999), today she is among the highest-paid actors in the country. If this isn’t a definition of success, what is? In 2005, she did Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya with Salman. Perhaps for the first time, audiences realised she did have a screen presence – charming and jovial in equal measures. The next year, she did her first film with Akshay Kumar – Humko Deewana Kar Gaya. The film was a hit and audiences liked the new pair. From then on till Tees Maar Khan in 2010, the duo would star in a string of successful films including Namaste London, Welcome (both in 2007) and Singh is Kingg (2008).
Soon, Katrina was catapulted to the highest echelons of the Bollywood A-listers’ group, featuring almost all the leading men in the industry – Ranbir Kapoor in Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahaani, Aamir Khan in Dhoom 3, Shah Rukh Khan in Jab Tak Hai Jaan, Bang Bang with Hrithik and Salman in Ek Tha Tiger. Many of these turned out to be monstrous hits. Her recent role as Kumud Raina in Bharat too was appreciated. She will soon be back with Akshay in Rohit Shetty’s Sooryavanshi.
7. Priyanka Chopra
Actor Priyanka Chopra celebrates her birthday on July 17. The actor has been ruling the hearts of the Indians ever since she became Miss World in the year 2000 but now, with her appearance in the West, she has emerged as one of the most loved celebrities all across the world. After becoming Miss World at the age of 18, Priyanka chose to be a part of the Indian film industry and did films like Barfi!, Fashion, Bajirao Mastani, Agneepath, and The Sky Is Pink.
Priyanka Chopra is the first Indian actor to have spearheaded a full-fledged mainstream TV series in the West. She was cast in the role of Alex Parrish in the ABC series Quantico and the show made three seasons giving PC her lifetime of stardom. Priyanka married singer Nick Jonas on December 1, 2018. The actor was welcomed into the family with open arms and a lot of song and dance at their Jodhpur wedding. She was also seen in two Jonas Brothers music videos — Sucker and What A Man Gotta Do. Chopra has won a National Film Award for Best Actress for Fashion (2008) and five Filmfare Awards. She has also won two People’s Choice Awards for Quantico. She is the first South Asian actress to win a People’s Choice Award. She received the Padma Shri award from President Pranab Mukherjee at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in 2016.
8. Bhumi Pednekar
Bhumi Pednekar has been around for a short period of time in Bollywood but in that time, she has played many character-based roles. Actor Bhumi Pednekar is an oddity in Bollywood – a person who went from casting other people for roles in Yashraj Films to being cast herself as a leading lady in a film. Bhumi is a classic instance of never letting go of one’s dreams. She made her film debut as an overweight bride in the company’s romantic comedy Dum Laga Ke Haisha, which earned her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut. That same year, Pednekar appeared in Y-Films’s mini web series Man’s World.
Pednekar rose to prominence by playing headstrong small-town women in the comedy-dramas Toilet: Ek Prem Katha (2017), Shubh Mangal Saavdhan (2017), Sonchiriya (2019), Bala (2019), and Pati Patni Aur Woh (2019). For her portrayal of the septuagenarian sharpshooter Chandro Tomar in Saand Ki Aankh (2019), she shared the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress, along with Taapsee Pannu. Bhumi Pednekar is currently on a roll with her kitty full of projects with films like Sonchiriya, Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare and Takht.
9. Smriti Mandhana
Smriti Shriniwas Mandhana is an Indian cricketer who plays for the Indian women’s national team. In a short span of time, Smriti Mandhana has made quite a name for herself on the cricket field. The 24-year-old, who made her ODI debut in 2013 and Test debut in 2014, was the only Indian player to be named in the ICC Women’s Team of the Year in 2016. She is ranked No. 4 in ODI batting rankings and is the only Indian in the top 5 of the list. She also captained women’s IPL team Trailblazers.
The southpaw grabbed the limelight through stellar performances in the ICC Women’s World T20 in 2018. Her 178-run streak in five matches earned her the tournament’s third-highest run aggregator. Since then there is no stopping her as she continues to pile up runs in international and franchise cricket. Mandhana became the youngest T20I captain for India when she led the women’s team against England in the first T20I in February 2019. In June 2018, the Board of Control for Cricket in India named her the Best Women’s International Cricketer.
10. Shefali Shah
She was born and brought up in a non-filmy background. Shefali Shah started her career as a TV actress and has worked in a number of Hindi TV Serials like Ramayan (2008), Hasratein, Naya Nukkad. Before making her debut with Satya (1998), she acted in the film Rangeela in which she has only a few scenes. She starred in the critically acclaimed film Satya (1998), for which she received the Star Screen Award Best Supporting Actress and the Filmfare Award for Best Actress.
Shefali has appeared in many Hindi films like Mohabbatein, Commando 2, Karthik Calling Karthik. She starred in the 2015 dramedy Dil Dhadakne Do, receiving several nominations for Best Supporting Actress. In 2019, Shefali Shah starred in a web television series called Delhi Crime. Currently, she is working on various other projects such as Human, a web series to be released on Hotstar, directed by her husband Vipul Shah. She is also starring in Doctor G opposite Ayushmann Khurrana and Rakul Preet Singh and also working opposite Alia Bhatt in the upcoming movie Darlings.
11. Kubra Sait
Kubbra Sait was born on 27 July 1983 in Bangalore. In 2005, she moved to Dubai after her graduation from the National Institute of Information & Management Sciences, Bangalore. She started hosting shows when she was about thirteen years old. Sait started her career as an accounts manager with Microsoft in Dubai before pursuing her career in the entertainment industry. She is a winner of India’s Best Female Emcee Award in 2013. She also won Miss Personality in Miss India Worldwide Beauty Pageant in 2009.
She appeared in the films Sultan, Ready and City Of Life. Sait was praised for her role as a transgender woman named Kukoo in the Netflix show Sacred Games. The Netflix original was nominated under the Best Drama category at the 47th International Emmy Awards. Sait represented Sacred Games at the Emmy Awards
12. Huma Qureshi
Huma Qureshi is an Indian actress and model who primarily appears in Bollywood films. She made her film debut with a supporting role in the two-part 2012 crime drama Gangs of Wasseypur. Her performance in the film earned her several nominations, including the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut and the Best Supporting Actress. That same year, she played the lead female role in the romance Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana and followed it with a role in Ek Thi Daayan.
She portrayed protagonists in the anthological Shorts (2013), in the black comedy Dedh Ishqiya (2014), and supporting roles in the revenge drama Badlapur (2015) and the Marathi road drama Highway (2015). Qureshi’s later roles included in films like Jolly LLB 2 (2017) and Dobaara: See Your Evil (2017). She made her web series debut with the 2019 dystopian drama Leila. Huma was praised for the portrayal of the character of Rani Bharti in SonyLiv web series Maharani. Huma Qureshi will soon resume work as she has been roped in for Akshay Kumar’s Bell Bottom. The team of Bell Bottom will shoot in Scotland from next month.
13. Kiara Advani
Alia Advani AKA Kiara Advani was born on 31st July and predominantly works in Hindi films. She has also acted in two Telugu films. Advani debuted in Bollywood with Kabir Sadanand’s 2014 comedy Fugly. She is known as the perfect combination of looks and talent. In 2016, Advani was seen in M. S. Dhoni: The Untold Story—an official biopic of popular cricketer M. S. Dhoni. She achieved critical acclaim for her OTT debut performance in the Netflix film Lust Stories (2018).
She gained further success starring in films like the Telugu political thriller Bharat Ane Nenu (2018), the Hindi romance Kabir Singh (2019) and the Hindi comedy Good Newwz (2019). In September 2018 a music video named “Urvashi”, sung by Yo Yo Honey Singh, was released featuring her and Shahid Kapoor. She will next be seen in the 2021 action war film Shershaah, she has also committed to essay the female lead opposite Kartik Aaryan iconic supernatural comedy sequel Bhool Bhulaiyaa. Additionally, Advani is reuniting with Dharma Productions and Mehta for the romantic comedy film Jug Jugg Jeeyo, where she is paired opposite Varun Dhawan. She has also signed to play one of the leads opposite Vicky Kaushal and Bhumi Pednekar in Dharma Productions action comedy film Mr Lele.
14. Mumtaz
When the history of Hindi cinema is written, the name of yesteryear’s golden star Mumtaz will be right up there for the world to see. Ask anyone from that era about Mumtaz and watch their faces light up. Mumtaz made her acting debut at age 11 with Sone ki Chidiya (1958). Then there was no stopping her! From action in films with Dara Singh to romances and family dramas with Rajesh Khanna, Mumtaz’s dancing skills, screen presence and oomph ensured that audiences were hooked on to her. She worked in as many as 16 action films with wrestler-turned-actor Dara Singh, mostly successful and with Rajesh, she worked in a number of films, of which 8 were superhits.
In the mid-70s, Mumtaz decided to call it quits, at the height of her popularity, and settle down in happy matrimony. She married London-based Indian origin industrialist Mayur Madhvani and moved westwards. She now lives in the British capital and has two daughters, one of whom is married to Feroz Khan’s son, Fardeen.
The women of July have paved their path in their respective fields shining light for those who’d want to follow. It is not an easy path, but these Indian women have proved that every dream is possible. Why not take them as an inspiration and make your own way, even if it’s a small mark. Tell us in the comments below which are the other women born in July who have managed to capture your thoughts!