Navya Nanda, Amitabh Bachchan’s granddaughter, says watching Dadi Ritu Nanda work inspired her to become an entrepreneur

Navya Naveli Nanda, entrepreneur and granddaughter of Amitabh Bachchan, has said that her late paternal grandmother Ritu Nanda was the first person who showed her what a woman running a business looked like, and that watching her work while growing up in Delhi was a defining influence on her own path into entrepreneurship.

Navya made the remarks on 17 August in Faridabad at the launch of the GenAI Ready Naari programme, an AI skilling initiative for women run by Nimaya Foundation, the organisation she co-founded with Samyak Chakrabarty.

Navya Nanda on Dadi Ritu Nanda


Speaking to ANI at the event, Navya said the women in her immediate family shaped how she thought about work and ambition from an early age.

"I am actually a girl from Delhi. I have seen my Dadi working many times, and I have got a lot of motivation from her in doing entrepreneurship because she was also an entrepreneur," she said.

Ritu Nanda, who passed away in 2020, was the eldest daughter of cinema legend Raj Kapoor and built a significant presence in the insurance business in India with Ritu Nanda Insurance Service Private Ltd. She was also the mother of actor Abhishek Bachchan's brother-in-law, making her a central figure in one of Bollywood's most prominent family networks.

Navya said the motivation she drew from her grandmother was part of a broader pattern of support from the women around her. "My mother, my aunt, my grandmother, all the women in my family, they have motivated me a lot and supported me a lot. I think because of that, I also want to make them proud," she said.

She also credited her mother Shweta Bachchan and her maternal grandmother Jaya Bachchan as key figures who encouraged her to build a career of her own.

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Amitabh Bachchan's Granddaughter on Women and AI

Beyond her personal story, Navya used the occasion to speak about what she sees as the next major challenge for working women in India, which is preparing for an economy increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence.

"We want our daughters to be ready for AI. We want them to learn the benefits of using AI on their own, on their jobs, in their daily lives through our programme so that they can take our country forward and build their careers," she said.

Navya said she has worked with women across India for the past five years through Nimaya Foundation and that access to employment and entrepreneurship is becoming more reachable, partly because of the internet and digital platforms where women can discover jobs and learn new skills without leaving their communities.

Navya Nanda on Women's Empowerment

Navya also spoke about the abilities women already possess and argued these translate directly into professional settings. "They can do a thousand things. I feel that these skills are in women from birth," she said.

She added that progress on gender equality was not a competition. "Women will move forward with men. Women are doing very well, men are also doing very well, and when it comes to equality, both men and women can achieve it together," she said.

The GenAI Ready Naari programme, launched at the Faridabad event, is designed to equip women with practical skills in using generative AI tools in their daily lives and careers.

(With ANI inputs)