HT City 30Under30: Winners lead the way

Here are the winners of the 2022 edition of HT City 30Under30 awards. Meet the young guns who rule the roost in their chosen fields.

ADVENTURE: Priyanka Mangesh Mohite​

Meet the winners of the 2022 edition of HT City 30Under30 awards in the field of Art, Literature, Bollywood, Fashion, OTT, Dance, Design Education, and more.

Mountaineer, 30​

Mohite, the first Indian woman to climb five peaks above 8,000m, has been conferred with the Tenzing Norgey National Adventure Award in 2021. In April that year, she became the first Indian woman to climb the 10th highest mountain peak, Mt Annapurna (8,091m). She also scaled Mt Everest in 2013.​

ART: Varuna Shreethar​

Painter, 21​

She picked up the paint brush at two, and by the time she was 13, she had held over 13 exhibitions! This young artist works in all mediums — watercolour, acrylic, digital etc. — but her hyperrealistic food paintings were what got her fame online. Her artwork of the humble filter coffee in a steel tumbler and of the masala dosa are some of the popular ones.

Lifestyle content creator Aashna Shroff has 947k Instagram followers spread across countries.

Actor Janhvi Kapoor has made her mark with films such as Dhadak, Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl and Roohi.

​BOLLYWOOD: Janhvi Kapoor​

Actor, 25​

Coming from the Kapoor clan, Janhvi had a huge lineage to live up to, and she has surpassed the expectations and make a place for herself since the beginning with Dhadak. She has managed to leave a lasting impression in people’s minds with her performances in Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl and Roohi. Her candour and infectious smile also make her a preferred choice for brands in the fashion and lifestyle sect.​

CULINARY: Shubham Thakur​

Chef, 30​

From a management trainee to one of the youngest experts in Japanese cuisine today, Thakur has had quite a journey. A master of traditional and modern Japanese fare, he is the chef de cuisine at the Delhi branch of the New York restaurant, Megu, which is among three restaurants in India to feature on the 50 Best Restaurants in Asia list. With the aim of constantly innovating, he has crafted exquisite Japanese vegan and vegetarian preparations that are a class apart.

Choreographers Piyush Bhagat and Shazia Samji boast of an Instagram following of 1.3 million.

​DANCE: Piyush Bhagat and Shazia Samji​

Choreographers, 25 and 23​

This duo is the brains behind quite a few viral hooksteps. With an Instagram following of 1.3 million, their recent dance reels have amassed over 70,000 likes, and continue to surge. They took the internet by storm with their cover on Apna Time Aayega, as well as their renditions of Badshah’s Genda Phool and the Telugu hit Butta Bomma.​

DESIGN: Akshay Varma, Aditya Ruia ​and Anuj Ruia​

Entrepreneurs; 26, 26 and 27​

With an aim to eliminate microplastics, the trio came up with Beco, which offers plant-based alternatives to products like detergents, floor cleaners, garbage bags etc. They hope eco-friendly becomes a way of life.​

Education: Raju Kendre​

Founder, Eklavya India, 28​

Born into a humble family of farmers, he didn’t allow adversities to get in his way. Through his organisation Eklavya India, Kendre has mentored students, promoted higher education and enabled grassroot leadership of first-generation learners. Having faced hardships in his own education initially, he has now helped 300 students gain admission into universities. He has also won the Chevening Scholarship in June this year.​

ENTREPRENEUR: Shashvat Nakrani​

Co-Founder, Bharatpe, 24​

Born into a business family in Gujarat, he decided to start something of his own from scratch and ended up changing the way Indians make online payments. After dropping out of IIT Delhi at 19, Nakrani, along with co-founder Ashneer Grover, built a $2.85 billion fintech company, becoming the no. 3 player in UPI P2M category in 2020.

Fashion designer Param Sahib is a self-taught visual artist who has created digital, original collections and successfully showcased them for over five years.

​FASHION​: Param Sahib​

Fashion designer, 30​

A multidisciplinary personality who identifies as an LGBTQIA+, he is a self-taught visual artist. He has created digital, original collections and successfully showcased them for over five years! His style is completely maximalist and over the top, with multiple patterns syncing into a uniform language of storytelling. The signature style of using Sikh illustrated character in artworks has become symbolic of his brand’s style.​

FOOD ENTREPRENEUR​: Akash Upadhyay​

Founder, ​DND-Daily Nutritional Diet, 29​

He innovated what he calls as India’s first fitness goal-oriented food menu through his venture. The nutritionally balanced, perfectly portioned yet calorie counted meal delivery service with a chain of restaurants is present in 10 major cities. On-boarding celebs, body builders, athletes, dieticians and influencers, he has generated a gross revenue of 10 crores till date.​

GAMING​: Naman Mathur​

Gamer, 26​

Mathur aka Mortal has 7.4 million subscribers on his YouTube channel. He’s part of Team Soul, which won the PUBG Mobile Club Open Fall Split in 2019 and donated his share of the $30,000 prize money to the Indian Army. Having collaborated with top tech brands as well as the likes of cricketers Chris Gayle and Sachin Tendulkar, among others, he has brought about a revolution in gaming content and livestreaming in India.

Divija Bhasin, a counselling psychologist and digital creator makes videos on topics like parenting, education system, sexual abuse, therapy, etc.

​HEALTH & WELLNESS​: Divija Bhasin​

Founder Of The Friendly Couch, 25​

Her mental health initiative has connected over 450+ people to trustworthy therapists since 2021. This counselling psychologist and digital creator makes videos on topics like parenting, education system, sexual abuse, therapy, myths about psychology, etc. to normalise these conversations and bring about a change in the perspective of her 155k followers. She also worked with Instagram on their online safety campaign. ​

HOSPITALITY​: Chef Sania​

Founder, Seeking Roots, 29​

Her journey kick-started with a bachelors in culinary arts. She then founded Seeking Roots, a farm-to-table cloud kitchen, in 2021. This venture helps her revive traditional cooking using local and seasonal produce, for which she has also been featured as a prominent new-age chef in magazines. Her travails include extensive travel, to document the varied Indian cuisines.​

INTERIORS: Anvitha Prashanth​

Founder, Go Native and co-founder, ​Kaiyare, 29​

An advocate of simple, conscious living, Prashanth strives to find ways to make sustainability practical and relatable. Her tableware, home decor products are made in collaboration with six different artisan groups, one of which is an all-women unit, thus aiding employment generation among local artisans. They’ve also taken up the initiative to recycle a rampant weed plant, Lantana Camara, and turn it into home products such as baskets, table mats, bags, etc.

​LITERATURE​: Arshya Gaur​

Writer, Mental health advocate, EdTech entrepreneur, 18​

Quite vocal about her experience with mental health struggles, her book, How to Open A Parachute, comprises poems that narrate her journey through the same. She also wrote a column, Lockdown Diaries of a Teenager, which explored an adolescent’s view on issues related to the pandemic. Her EdTech platform, Read Together, provides school kids with their CBSE English syllabus in a karaoke format.​

LUXURY​: Diipa Büller-Khosla​

Entrepreneur, 30 ​

A regular on magazine covers and red carpets, this stylista is taking the world by storm. Her skincare brand, Inde Wild, has received two international awards. With her social media influence in the luxury segment, she’s also driving for social change. Recognising her efforts, she has been invited to speak by the UN and Harvard Business School. ​

MODELLING​: Pranav Bakhshi​

Model, 22​

He is the first Indian fashion model with autism. Diagnosed at 2, he has worked hard to build a career in modelling by walking the ramp for well-known labels. He also works in digital production at a media agency. He is a three-time TedX speaker. A keen writer, he prefers to pen down his ideas and thoughts without speech curators. Travel and fitness are among his hobbies.​

MUSIC: Maithili Thakur​

Singer, 22​

Trained in Indian classical and folk music since the age of four, Thakur has appeared on multiple singing reality shows, including Little Champs and Indian Idol Junior. Her participation in Rising Star led to her popularity on the internet skyrocket. The 2019 Atal Mithila Samman awardee has recorded original songs, covers, and sung traditional folk music prominently in Hindi, Bengali, Maithili, Urdu, Marathi, Bhojpuri, Punjabi, Tamil, English and more languages.​

Kiara Chettri​

Singer, 18​

Chettri released her first single You’ll See at the age of 15. Currently, she has six singles and a full-length 10-track album to her name, streaming across leading platforms. Chettri became the first-ever Indian solo artiste to top global radio charts (no.1 spot on World Indie Charts and no.2 on Euro Indie Charts) for her single Why. The track has also led her to her very first Grammy submission under the Best Pop Solo Performance category.​​

Actor Ahsaas Channa is a popular face in the OTT space, with Kota Factory, The Interns 2, Girls Hostel 2.0, Modern Love Mumbai, among others, to her credit.

OTT: Ahsaas Channa​

Actor, 22​

Once a child artiste, she is today a popular face in the OTT space, with Kota Factory, The Interns 2, Girls Hostel 2.0, Modern Love Mumbai, among others, to her credit. She has aced the skill to pick projects that connect with the youth. She also uses her fame to address subjects like body image issues and mental health.​

Rohit Saraf​

Actor, 25​

Having worked across mediums, he has managed to carve a niche for himself in the OTT world. After walking into filmdom with Dear Zindagi in 2016, he lit up the web space with his charm through projects such as Mismatched, Ludo and Feels Like Ishq. With legion of fangirls gushing over him, he has also got the tag of ‘national crush’.​

PHOTOGRAPHY​: Alvia Syed​

Photographer, 22​

She has had four solo photography exhibitions in Delhi, eight group exhibitions at various locations and won many an accolade. A self-taught photographer, Syed’s clicks feature in the Kolkata segment of the book, Habib Rehman: The Architect of Independent India by Dr SM Akhtar. She’s even presented a photographic collection, Birds of the Brink, featuring 50 species of birds captured around the Yamuna river belt.

Social media influencer Dolly Singh has now ventured into acting, having done the web show Bhaag Beanie Bhaag and anthology Modern Love.

​SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCER​: Dolly Singh​

Content Creator, 29​

Her tryst with content creation began with her style blog, Spill the Sass, that was all about affordable fashion and recreating celeb looks on a budget. Singh then went on to establish herself with characters such as the South Delhi girl, Raju ki Mummy and many more. With a following of over 1.4M on Instagram, her videos are loved by people of all ages, owing to the relatability of her content. Singh has now ventured into acting, having done the web show Bhaag Beanie Bhaag and anthology Modern Love.​

Ankush Bahuguna​

Content Creator, 29​

Churning out hilarious videos based on everyday incidents, Bahuguna has carved a niche in the digital world, with an Insta fanbase of 961K. His quick wit and ability to seamlessly blend into different characters makes him an internet sensation; his character, Pankaz, is quite a hit! Acting chops aside, Bahuguna is also credited for breaking gender stereotypes associated with makeup through his Insta page, Wing It With Ankush, where he often shares tips and tricks with his 215K followers.​

SOCIAL WELFARE​: Chethan Manchegowda​

Founder, Khoon, 22​

Popular as ‘Blood Man’, he founded an NGO to combat shortage of blood; impacted by the death of one of his teachers. Hoping to make the colour red as the colour of life, and not danger, he has now over 300 groups with more than 1.5 lakh blood donors across the country. During Covid-19, help from his teams impacted 20,000 lives.​

STAND UP​: Aakash Gupta​

Stand-up comedian, 29​

He rose to fame in 2019 after winning Comicstaan season two. Hailed as Mr Versatile, he is known for impromptu jokes, character comedy and quirky observations. Gupta has almost 2.5 million subscribers on YouTube with over 100 million views on his videos. He has also appeared in popular comedy shows on OTT, besides touring India with his acts.​

SPORTS​: Nikhat Zareen​

Boxer, 26​

It was in May this year that she won the gold at the Women’s World Boxing Championships, held in Turkey, becoming the fifth Indian woman to be crowned World Champion. With this, the pugilist became the first Indian to get this top honour for the country since 2018. Currently participating in the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games, she has stormed her way into the quarterfinals.​

STYLING​: Sukhmani and Gurleen Gambhir​

Stylist duo, 26 and 29​

Known for their boho-chic dressing sensibilities, these sisters have styled the likes of actors Neha Dhupia, Angad Bedi and Vivek Oberoi on multiple occasions. Their personal style is also loved and followed by many on social media. They utilised the pandemic-induced lockdown to expand into the world of fashion content creation and currently have a following of almost 22k on their Instagram handle, Gumani stylists.​

TECHNOLOGY​: Anuj Barnwal​

Co-founder of BotLab Dynamics, 29​

It was his company that put up the spectacular drone show that took place during the Beating Retreat at Rajpath, this January, making India the fourth in the world to have the ability to fly 1,000 drones simultaneously. This IITian was even felicitated by Dr Jitendra Singh, Minister of State (Independent Charge), Science and Technology, among others. Barnwal hopes he can help replace the bigger, more expensive drones with smaller, cheaper ones that can perform the same functions, by forming a network.​

TV actor Tejasswi Prakash has created a strong brand with over 6.1 million followers on Instagram.

TELEVISION: Tejasswi Prakash ​

Actor, 29​

After a successful stint on television with various hit shows, she conquered the reality show Bigg Boss 15. With over 6.1 million followers on Instagram, she has created a strong brand. Her popularity reflects in her social media engagement metrics, and fans as well as paparazzi can’t get enough of her! Even actor Janhvi Kapoor made a reel on one of her dialogues from show, Naagin 6. ​

THEATRE: Srishti Shrivastava​

Actor, 28​

Trained in theatre production and performance, she started her journey on stage almost six years ago. Since then, she has continued her tryst with theatre while fuelling her passion for cinema. Her dramatic repertoire includes strong performances in plays such as Shikhandi and Chuhal. She has also starred in films and web series.​

TRAVEL & TOURISM​: Suyash Keshari​

Wildlife Presenter, 26​

Promoting Nature conservation and sustainable wildlife tourism, this award-winning photographer’s passion for wildlife manifests in myriad forms. He launched India’s first virtual safari experience and the world’s first OTT platform for wildlife. In 1.5 years, he took 200+ people on safaris, including celebs like Raveena Tandon.​

Jury Special Award(Travel &Tourism): Roshni Misbah

CEO, The Bikers World India, 27

Known as Hijabi Biker, she is the youngest to tour India on a 1800cc Indian Chief.

HT CITY High Spirit Award for Best Bartender: Ajay Tomer, 29

This mixologist has made a mark across the world by winning at several events.

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