From an entrepreneur to an independent musician, the pathway to make it big has not been all roses for this third-generation scion of the Birla family. After the international release of her debut single, Livin’ the Life recently, Ananya Birla (daughter of Indian industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla) talks to us about the song, her upcoming projects, and why it is important to follow one’s passion. And the timing couldn’t be more perfect — it’s just ahead of Women’s Entrepreneurship Day!
Hailing from the illustrious Birla family, the 22-year-old youngster reveals that she always had clarity on what she wanted to do with her life. “I didn’t have any pressure to join my dad to help with the family business. I don’t think he needs any sort of support at all. That said, whenever he needs my help, I will always be there for him,” says the doting daughter, adding, “Both my parents are supportive of my career choice — they want me to be who I am and I feel blessed about it.”
Elaborating on her new single, Ananya says, “This song is a celebration of life and spreading kindness in the world. It is about following your passion and dreams. Giving you an inner satisfaction, it’s the first step towards finding your inner peace. The single is all about how one can come out of adversity and start to see beauty around. For me, it was more of a realisation of how important it is to spread love in today’s world. The only powerful emotion that we have control over is love. Even if it is about making the chaiwala in the morning smile, or giving an extra tip in a restaurant or having a nice conversation to make someone feel better — I think it is very important to spread love through the smallest of things.”
An active mental health campaigner, Ananya continues to surprise us — “My mom Neerja and I started this movement called Mpower. The whole idea is to break the stigma attached to mental illnesses. It is as important to take care of your mind as it is your body. If someone has a depressive episode or a bad panic attack, they don’t need to hide it or suffer in silence. Life is too short and we should take care of it. We proactively champion mental health causes and create awareness among people.”
Will she venture into films? “I love making music and will continue doing it. I don’t know what will happen in the future. Everyone has their own journey and am just going with the flow. I don’t think my vibe will work in Bollywood. But Hollywood, may be. Right now, my focus is just to make good music,” Ananya says. The new musician on the block adds that she doesn’t want to shift careers just for the sake of it —”I have only two platforms to show my skills — business and music. I want to continue to grow and learn, and make a difference in the world. Business has the potential to change mindsets and music as a bigger medium can reach a lot of people. Music is what I am passionate about.”
The music video, shot in Catalina Island, an hour from LA, has been co-written and produced by Jim Beanz, who has worked with Nelly Furtado, Cheryl Cole and Demi Lovato. “Jim Beanz is so zen! When we first met, we didn’t have a lengthy conversation. But somehow, our vibes matched and we could bring out something amazing. He understood what I wanted. We experimented with a lot of genres, and are happy with the output. The director of the video, Rock Jacobs, is awesome and could bring out my acting ability, which I didn’t know existed. It was a great experience with the team,” she signs off.
