Best of Weekender: From remembering Irrfan Khan to a candid conversation with Ritesh Agarwal

This week, we featured two entrepreneurs in our Drive into the New Year series.

First, we had Ritesh Agarwal, Founder and CEO of OYO Rooms. After being on the spotlight for reasons both good and bad, Ritesh shared with YS Weekender that "For OYO, 2021 will be the year of resurgence, after a year of resilience."

The founder said he will be prioritising spending time with friends and family, reading, self-reflecting, and getting enough sleep in 2021.

Next, we got into a candid conversation with Vamsi Krishna, Co-founder and CEO of edtech startup Vedantu.

After what has been a breakthrough year for the edtech sector, Vamsi is curious to know what the future holds for edtech players.

He said, "I am curious to see how behaviours of parents and students settle, in terms of online learning, once the pandemic is over and we have a vaccine."

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Under entrepreneurship, we featured Delhi-based CherishX. Founded in 2015, the startup curates experiences and services that enable celebrations at home. Ever since the pandemic hit India's shores, CherishX introduced services like digital surprises, private dining experiences, and DIY kits to keep up with the social distancing norms.

According to the founders, CherishX recorded a 150 percent uptick in orders for the home surprises vertical of business, as compared to 2019.

Co-founder Mudit Juju said that CherishX has so far helped more than five million customers celebrate their special occasions, generating Rs 15 crore revenue, annually. 

As per the startup's website, Bollywood celebrity Akshay Kumar’s Prank Call ranks #1 under the digital gift category, and open-air romantic dining experience at Citrus Hotel, Bengaluru tops the candle-light dinner category.

It was also an important week in B-town with Bollywood's leading lady Deepika Padukone and late-actor Irrfan Khan's birthdays.

YS Weekender took a look at Deepika, beyond the silver screen. Criticised and trolled for every move that she makes, strong-headed Deepika continues to remain authentic, bold, intelligent and her unapologetic self.

The 35-year-old actor is an investor, a mental health advocate, a sports enthusiast, and a promoter of social causes.

Earlier last year, we lost stellar actor Irrfan Khan to cancer. The Padma Shri awardee has entertained us with performances in The Lunchbox, Paan Singh Tomar, The Namesake, Haidar, Piku, and Life in a...Metro, among others.

Starting as an outsider, Irrfan touched hearts and shattered box-office, alike.

For what would have been the actor's 54th birthday, we traced Irrfan's journey from his early days of acting in television serials, till his last film Angrezi Medium.

From being an outlier to becoming an internationally acclaimed actor, Irrfan taught us that no dream is too big. We shed light upon lessons that entrepreneurs can learn from his life.

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Irrfan Khan, actor extraordinaire, leaves behind his unique brand of stories

For your weekly dose of entertainment, we reviewed Vikramaditya Motwane's Netflix original AK vs AK, aka "The first realistic film with a superstar, not directed by Shyam Benegal."

We also listed movies, both Bollywood and Hollywood, that you should not miss in 2021.