Entertainment / Boss Moves: South Asians Who Made TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2019

Boss Moves: South Asians Who Made TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2019

Entertainment Apr 26, 2019

by Marriska Fernandes

TIME unveiled their list of the “100 Most Influential People”. Which included five notable South Asians, who share the coveted position on the list alongside Canadian actress Sandra Oh, action star Dwayne Johnson, director and producer Ryan Murphy, former First Lady Michelle Obama and Oscar-winner Rami Malek. Check out who represented us in this year’s list! Check out who made the list! South Asians who made Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2019.

Hasan Minhaj

Hasan, known for his Netflix stand-up specials Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj and Hasan Minhaj: Homecoming King, earned a spot in the Pioneers section on Time’s most influential people.

Trevor Noah Host of The Daily Show wrote: “When I first met Hasan Minhaj in 2014, we had just been hired to work together at The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. We were both fresh-faced kids trying to find our voice in the fast-paced world of late-night television. Fast-forward five years later, Hasan is still as fresh-faced as ever, but his voice booms across screens around the world, thanks to his groundbreaking Netflix show Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj.

After hosting the White House Correspondents’ Dinner and releasing his stand-up special Hasan Minhaj: Homecoming King in 2017, the opportunity for a late-night show of his own wasn’t just obvious, it was necessary. We’ve needed Hasan’s voice since Donald Trump came down that golden escalator and turned immigrants and Muslims into his targets. See, Hasan is a first-generation, Indian-American Muslim. But Hasan also loves the NBA, struggles with a “crippling” sneaker habit and speaks fluent hip-hop. Patriot Act is the manifestation of Hasan’s whip-smart commentary, charisma and sincerity. It’s also a consistent reminder that Hasan is America. And America is Hasan.”

Minhaj was also part of TIME’s 2018 “Next Generation Leaders” series.

South Asians Who Made TIME Magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2019 — **South Asians Who Made *TIME* Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2019: Hasan Minhaj.** Photo Credit: Matthew Tammaro for *TIME*.

Samin Nosrat

In the Pioneers category was Samin Nosrat. She wrote a book titled Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat which later turned into a Netflix series in 2018.

Alice Waters, award-winning chef and cookbook author, wrote: “There is magic in the way Samin teaches. She wins you over immediately with an irresistible combination of warmth, honesty, deep understanding of cooking and that ebullient laugh of hers. If anyone can show us how to cook, it is Samin.

Samin shows us what a beautiful experience it is to understand your ingredients—where they come from, who grew them, how alive they are, how people around the world transform them in delicious, diverse ways. I love the passion and poise with which Samin delivers this message about food. Because in the end, it’s a universal message, and it’s one we have forgotten: that cooking is about care.”

Arundhati Katju and Menaka Guruswamy

Public-interest litigators Arundhati Katju and Menaka Guruswamy earned a spot in the Pioneers section.

Award-winning actor and philanthropist Priyanka Chopra wrote: “Armed with a well-planned strategy that went beyond their well-researched legal arguments, Arundhati and Menaka became beacons of hope for the Indian LGBTQ+ community. Their perseverance and commitment led an entire community to a historic win by humanizing their struggles and giving them the freedom to love. As the Chief Justice said, “Constitutional morality cannot be martyred at the altar of social morality.””

Arundhati and Menaka have helped take a giant step for LGBTQ+ rights in the world’s largest democracy. In their committed fight for justice, they have shown us that we as a society must continue to make progress, even after laws are changed, and that we must make an effort to understand, accept and love.

It is who we are as people.”

Mukesh Ambani

Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries Mukesh Ambani was named in the Titans category.

Anand Mahindra, chairman of business conglomerate the Mahindra Group, wrote: “Mukesh Ambani’s father Dhirubhai was a visionary in Indian business, whose Reliance Industries conglomerate pioneered ways of targeting global scale. But Ambani’s vision is now even more ambitious than that of the father whose blessings he unfailingly invokes at the launch of each initiative.

The scale of his Reliance Jio mobile-data network, which has already connected over 280 million people in India with low-cost 4G, is impressive by any standard. But what is truly jaw-dropping is the way it will allow Reliance to potentially dominate a staggering array of new businesses. When its enormous retail division is married to the Jio network for e-commerce, it will give Amazon a run for its money. When the media entities Ambani owns begin leveraging Jio, he could create India’s default entertainment destination. The mind boggles at the possibilities.

Back in 2003, Ambani promised Indians in a well-known advertising tagline that his company would “put the world in the palm of your hand.” It won’t be long before he delivers on that promise.”

Imran Khan

In the Leaders category, TIME included Pakistan’s newly-elected Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid wrote: “Pakistan is at a critical crossroads, and the man in charge is the closest it has to a rock star. Imran Khan captained the team that won the 1992 Cricket World Cup, built a world-class cancer hospital in Lahore, then a top-notch university for kids who could never have dreamed of attending one. Twenty years ago, he entered politics in Pakistan at the best of times. Now he is Prime Minister of Pakistan and he generates the broadest hope among young and old that he can turn Pakistan around, and help make South Asia an ocean of peace rather than a state of permanent conflict.”

Main Image Photo Credit: TIME magazine; Reuters (Ambani, Khan)

Marriska Fernandes

Author

Marriska (@marriska.fernandes) is an entertainment expert who has been creating celebrity, movies and pop culture content for digital outlets for over ten years. From reporting headline-grabbing celebrity news to reviewing movies to interviewing Hollywood and Bollywood’s finest actors and industry...

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Boss Moves: South Asians Who Made TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2019

by Marriska Fernandes

Marriska Fernandes

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