Priyanka Chopra on ‘Ventilator’ revives father-daughter bond

Priyanka Chopra, Indian movie actor, who is making waves in Hollywood with her television series ‘Quantico’ and her numerous appearances at various talk shows from Ellen Lee DeGeneres to Jimmy Kimmel, is in the news yet again. This time for embracing something that is Indian.

She reportedly sang a Marathi song, ‘Baba’, in her soon-to-be-released Marathi film ‘Ventilator’. She has a small role in the film, which also stars Ashutosh Gowarikar, in one of the lead roles.

However, it is the video of the song that is going viral on social media because of her soulful rendition of the song. Priyanka, who has a ‘Daddy’s girl’ tattoo on her wrist, has never shied away from publicly declaring a deep bond with her father. In this song, she brings out her emotions to perfection.

The film, to be released on November 4, has been produced by Priyanka’s production house Purple Pebbles Pictures and is directed by Rajesh Mapuskar.

In fact, her production house is going to be producing movies in other languages too, including Punjabi and Bhojpuri movies.

Father-daughter bonds have always been special. But when a father and daughter decide to team up together to build something of value, including a business, it becomes that much more special.

Here are some great examples of father-daughter business teams.

Bhairavi Madhusudan, Idea Cultivator, and S. Madhusudan, Chief Farmer, Back2Basics

When her father’s organic produce business Back2Basics was in the red, Bhairavi developed a special algorithm to change the price structure and, to her surprise, the company’s profits increased by 54 percent in just 16 days. Bhairavi claims that working with her father has been one of the best experiences of her life. “My dad and me think alike. Although I am close to my mother, my father and me approach problems in the same way. He has always been there for me in every decision I have made. Working with my father is equivalent to taking lesson from a thousand professors” says 23-year-old Bhairavi.

Sakshi Vij, Founder, Myles, and Rajiv Vij, Chairman and MD, Carzonrent Pvt Ltd

As an only child, Sakshi was naturally drawn towards her father’s car rental business Carzonrent. But what prompted her to leave a cushy job was her father’s passion. The first assignment she got from him was to turn his company into a brand. As she went about building the brand, Sakshi grew curious about the transportation space and founded Myles – a subsidiary of Carzonrent – to address the traditional hassle associated with car ownership.

Drish Paul, Founder, and Pallavi P, Co-Founder, ModSpace.in

Serial entrepreneur Drish Paul co-founded ModSpace.in with his daughter Pallavi. And though his son is also part of the business, Drish says it is his daughter who is his “jaan”.

“I always encouraged my daughter to fail. You never learn unless you fail. I also consciously made sure that she did not feel any pressure. My son also works with me, but it is my daughter who I call my jaan. When we’re not working, we end up spending a lot of time traveling and watching sport as we are both outdoor persons. It is indeed heartening to see more and more daughters working with their fathers and am sure the trend is here to stay,” says Drish.

Anusha Jain, Key Facilitator New Initiatives, Bonjour

Twenty-five-year-old Anusha Jain started her journey with her father’s company Bonjour in 2012, when she was only 21 and still in college. She went on to take over her father’s boring socks brand to clock 1.5x growth. “In India, it is a tradition that a son takes over the father’s business after he retires, but women are becoming more and more qualified and independent with changing times. I was raised to be ambitious too. So here I am!” says Anusha, now 25 years old.

Ameera Shah, Dr Sushil Shah, Dr Sushil Shah’s Laboratory

Thirty-five-year-old Ameera is at the helm of a global pathology empire, having transformed her father’s single laboratory into Rs 2000-crore company, that was started by her father in the 1980s from a garage. She quit a cushy Goldman Sachs job in New York, and chose to return to India in 2001 after some sound advice from her father. He asked her if she wanted to be an executive or an entrepreneur? “In the first, you can have a great career, prestige and money. If that's what you want to do, then you should stay in the US because that's where the best opportunities are. But if you want to create impact, if you want to be the heart and soul of a company where the work you do matters, then you need to be an entrepreneur. And for that you need to come back to India,” her father told Ameera.