 Sir, News 18 India, to welcome our next panelist, Niharika Raizada, who is a scientist and an actor. Grand Miss India UK 2010 and a runner-up at Miss India Worldwide 2010, Niharika Raizada, defines herself as a scientist with acting abilities. She is the granddaughter of music composer, late OP Nayya. She has worked in films like Masaan, Total Dhamal, Surya Vanshi and so on. She still continues with science as well as acting. Welcome Niharika. So with this, we'll begin with this session, Reimagining Talent. Over to you Jyoti Kamal. Thank you so much Archie. And thank you so much Niharika for taking the time out and being with us at this last variation summit again. And like you were saying that you have been a Miss India UK, you have been a Miss India International runner-up. And all of that kind of really something that you hadn't really worked for in terms of that being your primary target. You had kind of gotten to this whole medical, translational, medicine kind of a thing and then you wanted to be a scientist. You were from a science background. How did that kind of dovetail into all of this? What point did you decide? Okay, this is the track that I want to take. Substituted, Sir Sreakal. Good evening everyone. Thank you so much Jyoti for having me. I feel very honored to be on this platform. The talks that you've had are brilliant and it really shows the diversity that India has. Why did I choose the beauty platform to come up in the glitz and glam world? The short answer is it's one of the easiest ways to connect with people from this world. That's the short answer. I always knew from a young age that I want to be part of the cinematic world. So the beauty platform was one platform which was accessible to everybody. There was no stereotype there. There was no blockage. There was no barrier. Anyone from any background could be a part of that. And at the same time, if you got recognized on that platform, you would be considered, you know, by potential people who might do cinema and my target has kind of always been cinema. Why have I pursued academics? Because I truly believe that one has to mentally challenge themselves. And I think that despite having your artistic flair, you must have a very strong academic background. And it is my family's principle. It is our culture that we must educate ourselves. And I chose science and I chose medicine. And in my family, there are many people who have had cardiac ailments. So I wanted to specialize in cardiology. So I've had two passions in my life, cinema and cardiology. And I've been very clear about that from the beginning, from a very young age. The beauty pageants was an easy way to at least get a foot in the door and connect with that world. That was the only reason that I chose that platform. And, you know, to represent India in any way has always been a dream of mine. So I think to win, I actually won. So I was very happy about that, you know, despite all the odds against me. I've had a lot of odds against me my whole life, but I still won. So it was very good. You started in Luxembourg and you've seen the best of both worlds. You have kind of seen how education is in the West. You kind of acted in Western production, which was coyotes. And thereafter, you have kind of obviously worked in India quite a bit. How do you kind of compare what it was like in the West and what it's like here? And the very fact that you've also been a Fulbright scholar. So you have been really kind of taking academics, learning to a certain level. You've been exposed to kind of education in the West. And now you are here in India. How do you kind of see you're bringing all that experience and exposure to India? Has it enriched you? Did India kind of help you in terms of your education there? How do you kind of now bridge these Western Indian influences? So first of all, I must tell you, I have built my life the way I wanted to build my life. From a very young age, I was very clear that India was going to be my final destination. Because you may question where these thoughts came into my mind, but I truly saw India as a diamond for the future. I thought that India is going to prosper in every way possible. So India was always my final destination by fluke of how my parents landed up in Luxembourg. My father worked for the European Commission. Luxembourg is one of the headquarters of the European Commission. And we were born there. We are three children. And we are very fortunate and it's a privilege to be born in Luxembourg. It's a very small country, very rich country. And you know, there's so much to learn from there. But belonging to an Indian family, I have a very strict father and a very Indian father. My father is from UP and my mother is from Rajasthan. And I think growing up, we have always had a very Indian upbringing despite being in Europe. And I've always missed my grandparents. I never got a chance much to stay with them because we were always abroad. So coming to India was a must for me on the cards. Now, how I got here, I took my last bit of Fulbright scholarship money and I came with that to India. Before that, because I was Miss India, I was actually brought when the World Cup happened in 2011 as a brand ambassador. And again, I was introduced to the world of sports life in India. And I've been very fortunate. I've been now a part of so many different aspects of Indian life. You know, and that's exactly what I wanted. I wanted this life. You know, I wanted to be a part of it. It is very different and even the filmmaking process is different because we make films in Luxembourg which are government funded and they have no expectation of a box office. Whereas in India, people make films only mainly to make money. So that approach towards filmmaking is very different in both countries. Apart from that, I think that the process is the same. I think when you go on set, like you said, I've done this French web series show called Coyote and it's the same process. You go on set, camera rolls, action happens and then the actor performs. So that's not different. But the reasons why people make film in Europe and the reasons why people make films in India is very different. You are the Opinaean's granddaughter. You could have chosen something in music. Though of course you did kind of pursue music also and you have also been a classical dancer. But is that something that you think you could have kind of taken forward? So maybe my... And what are your memories of Opinaean and what is it that you recount? You said that you didn't get a lot of time but still. We've been brought up on his music. I've been listening to his songs since I was 5 years old. I've listened to all of his songs. I think my cinematic beginning is by looking at his songs. Whether it's Madhubala, Mala Sinha, Asha Parekh or anyone who has worked with him. So that is what I think fascinated me as a child because we were really exposed to that music. Old memories, when we used to come to Delhi, we would meet. We have a place in Punjabi bag where his sister and him used to stay. But my grandfather, you must understand, he is a very... Alhar and aloof personality. He used to live in his own. And the time he stepped into the film industry, he became a film industry. So he didn't have that much family. And this happens to someone. So I think that whatever interaction I've had now are from the people who have interacted with him during my journey here that I've been in India. I met so many people who spent their last 20 years in the police station in Maharashtra. So those people who stayed with them at that time, I've had discussions with them. Some of our family members who don't speak much but still have interaction with them. And their music, I always say, an artist's vision is visible in their art. And if you listen to his music and you listen to the way he composed, he was very ahead of his time. So I think that you can see a lot of a person in their art. When you were in Luxembourg, when you had gone abroad, you were very clear that you were going to get back to India because you think it's a diamond that has a lot of potential for the future. Now that you're back here, what's your take on India today and India in the future going forward from where we currently are? Do you kind of stick by what you thought or do you want to have a second take on that? So I have seen the journey starting from Anna Hazare to Modiji and I have seen a lot of growth. I have seen a lot of growth, no doubt. I am from the medical and healthcare industry to begin with. That is my underpinning and that is my beginning. So I would definitely like to say there are many aspects of India where still there's a lot of development and especially in the healthcare industry. When I also came here, I would always talk about research combined with medical applicability. Both of them should be together. There is not so much R&D here. So I used to talk about that. There are many more aspects where there is a lot of growth. India overall, infrastructurally has developed a lot. It is going to develop even further. I am very proud of the way it is growing and I believe that my hypothesis of it being one of the most incredible countries in the years to come is going to come true. You know, you are like multi-talented. You have really kind of spanned so many different kinds of experiences. You have studied abroad. You have been in Luxembourg. Luxembourg is one of the richest cities and countries in the world. And when you look at Luxembourg and the theme that we are kind of also exploring here, which is aspiration, the aspiration side of life, the ambitious side of life, luxury, then you see what you saw in Luxembourg. And now when you see kind of a lot of demand in India because when you look at Punjabi music, you see a lot of references to Lamborghinis and Gucci and Pradas and everything. So when you kind of hear all of that, what do you make of it? Because you have seen it, you have lived it, you kind of can look back at it. You can look forward at it. Whatever. What do you make of all of this? What stage are we at? So when we were brought back to India, we used to live in Delhi. So the journey of Delhi in general is quite high-fi and brand-conscious. So that is something which has been seen and I've seen it a lot in the past. That has become more. And as you said, songs are mentioning it. There are so many more references now to luxury brands. But I think what is the most important and what really hits home and what hits at an international level is the fact that Indian faces are now headlining and spearheading these brands. You have Alia Bhatt, who is the face of Gucci. You have a Deepika Padukone, who is the face of Tag Heuer. You have Shah Rukh Khan. You have so many people now who are, you have Manushi Chiller, who is the face of Estée Lauder. I want to be the face of Dior because that's my French background. And that's my manifestation one day. I want to do that because it's my mother tongue. And I have that Indian background. It is my dream, for example. But if that happens, before it was not allowed, before an Indian face could not be the face of an international brand, but today you see a change in that. That means that people are looking at India in a very different way. In general, if you see the statistics, the market has grown so much. Already the consumption of luxury brands in America has been already a billion-dollar industry. But here it is growing by leaps and bounds. And they say by 2030 or by 2050, it might be 9, 10, 12 billion-dollar industry. So wherever there are people, there is money and there are luxury brands, we will see them. So India is going to obviously, I think, conquer the luxury image in that sense. And it is not something which is new to us. I think that India has always said, and that is my belief. I really believe in that. And we are getting all that we had before, which we are recultivating back in this age. Fantastic. Niharika, we can't let you go without your kind of multi-talented skills and multi-lingual skills, actually, and being O.P. Nairji's granddaughter, all of that, you know where we are going. So you can kind of really put it all together. And then sing something and then kind of translate it into different languages and let's see how it goes. That's in French. German. Where are you going? In English, where are you going? This gaze will return once more. In Spanish. Where are you going? In Spanish. Where are you going? In Spanish. Where are you going? In Spanish. That's like all the languages. You have to set it to music now. I have to sing it. Yes. All of them. In those languages. Let's see how it goes. I'll sing just the Hindi version because that French person won't sit there. Let's try it. Let's see. I'll sing the Hindi version. All right. Okay. Thank you. Fantastic. Do you want to try that in French and in German? Try one. Let's see how it goes. How can you put it? Okay. Okay. Let's try. Where are you going? In Spanish. Where are you going? In Spanish. I can't do more than that. Thank you so much Niharika. It was fascinating listening to you and your kind of spanning so many cultures, languages, fields of study. It's just mind boggling. Thank you so much for having me. It's so impressive and it's so heartening to see Indians like this. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for being a part of our show. Thank you for having me. Thank you so much. Thank you Niharika. Thank you Jyoti Kamaldi. Please stay on the stage. Now I'll request Jyoti Kamaldi to felicitate our panellist Niharika Rai Zada. Thank you Niharika. Thank you Jyoti Kamaldi. With this the discussions conclude and I'll now request