Feb 7, 2023
By: eetika.kapoor@timesinternet.in
Credit: Mid Day
Born to industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla and philanthropist Neerja Birla, Aryaman and Ananya Birla have been named to the boards of Aditya Birla group companies – Grasim Industries and Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail. Here is more about the Birla siblings:
Credit: Mid Day
Having learnt to play the santoor at the age of eleven, 28-year-old Ananya Birla found her identity in music, becoming a singer-songwriter. She became the first Indian artist of English language to go platinum in India.
Credit: BCCL
Till date, Ananya’s songs have reached 350 million streams. She is the first Indian to be featured on major top 40 pop radio stations such as Sirius Hits 1 and Radio Disney.
Credit: BCCL
Ananya released a video song Everybody’s Lost showing her bolder side, inviting criticism from the audience for ruining her family’s reputation. The song has over 25 million streams.
Credit: NC
When she was only 17, she founded Svatantra Microfin, a financial institution which provides microfinance to women entrepreneurs in rural India. It was the first microfinance to get an NBFC-Microfinance Institution licence from the RBI.
Credit: Forbes
She was included in Forbes Asia's list of 'Women to Watch Out For in 2016' for her business acumen. She was only 21 years old.
Credit: BCCL
Ananya is currently shooting with Bobby Deol for the thriller series ‘The Desi Sherlock’ directed by Kunal Kohli.
Credit: Ananya Birla Instagram
She also founded the Ananya Birla Foundation in 2020 and co-founded mental health foundation Mpower with her mother Neerja Birla. She is also working with LSE on research work for mental health in rural India.
Credit: BCCL
To Vogue, she said “As the next generation of a highly conservative business family, my parents and siblings are not as conservative as the world thinks we are..”
Credit: Forbes
Aryaman made his first-class debut with the Madhya Pradesh cricket team in the 2017-2018 Ranji Trophy. The left-handed batsman was also selected for the team of Rajasthan Royals in the 2018 IPL auction.
Credit: BCCL
He took a sabbatical from cricket in 2019, saying he needed to prioritise his mental health. ‘I’ve felt trapped. I’ve pushed myself through all the distress…I feel I need to put my mental health above all else,” he wrote on Instagram.
Credit: BCCL
At the age of 23, he turned entrepreneur by launching a super-exclusive club in Mumbai called Jolie’s, which aims to provide a networking platform for high achievers from different fields.
Credit: The Architecture Digest
Not just Ananya, Aryaman is also a singer, having made his singing debut with the single “Shallow,” which was released in 2019.
Credit: BCCL
Inspired by his love for their pet dog ‘Spencer’, the young entrepreneur Aryaman opened The Pawpstar Co, a new-age toys and pet store for dogs, in 2021.
Credit: Aryaman Birla Facebook