DNA’s 50: Ratan Tata, Mukesh Ambani, Amitabh Bachchan lead the list

Just who are Mumbai’s influentials? Who are the super-individuals that impact our daily lives? And who’s Influential No.1?

DNA’s Top50 answers those questions and comes up with a collection that reflects the character of Mumbai. Entrepreneurs and entertainers dominate the list, but lawyers, builders, doctors, social activists and a dabbawalla complete the Mumbai mosaic.

The list is topped by a man who has set benchmarks for India Inc: Ratan Tata. He’s Mr. Auto, Mumbai’s most admired CEO, and an empire builder.

At No.2 is a man who has become the face of new Mumbai: Mukesh Ambani. He’s the economy’s pace-setter, its mega projects manager, and a mover and shaker.

At No.3 is an artiste who has become synonymous with cinema: Amitabh Bachchan. He’s a reinventor of his own roles, a telly superstar, and a Gen-Ex to GenX icon.

As you go through the rest of the Top 50, you’ll see how each candidate has made a difference to Mumbai and how each one stands out in his/her sphere of influence.

DNA’s Top50 have been reviewed by other influentials: peers, spouses, rivals, or close acquaintances. 

Here’s what film-maker Mira Nair says fondly about her class-mate, banker Naina Lal Kidwai: “As we’ve rocked and rolled through the years, the warmth in Naina, her commitment to a decent world, her dedication to so many relationships, has just simply grown.

Here is a woman who can lead banks and companies and quite possibly our country.”  nnnp22

Rating the influentials

How did we define influence? Influence is based on a candidate’s impact on public policy; his/her impact on public behaviour; people’s perception of the candidate; and his/her global image.

Little wonder, then, that dabbawalla superboss Raghunath Medge-whose simple and effective logistics have now become a global case study-is part of the exclusive list. 

The ombudsman

Project Top 50 began as far back as March. Prospective influentials were thoroughly researched by our editors. The methodology was then vetted by a distinguished referee, Infosys CEO Nandan Nilekani, who further refined the process.

The final list of candidates was selected by the editorial board chaired by Gautam Adhikari.

The filters


We decided to include politicians and bureaucrats-people who impact day-to-day Mumbai-in our list. We left out personalities associated with the Zee and Bhaskar Groups, owners of DNA, and with DNA itself.

The experience

Every project is an experience. Amid the checks and counter-checks which went on for two months, the flurry of calls to get peer reviews, and the constantly changing photo sessions, we have our own short and sweet anecdotes to recount.

Double take

We ended up having two reviews each for Samir & Vineet Jain,  Naina Lal Kidwai, and Kumar Mangalam Birla. Naina was profiled by her class-mate and friend Mira Nair and by her colleague at HSBC, Sandeep Pahwa; the Jains were profiled by Star India CEO Peter Mukerjea and by Hindu’s editor-in-chief N Ram; and Kumar Mangalam Birla was profiled by grandfather Basant Kumar Birla and investment banker Hemendra Kothari. Each review is a fresh take on the candidate.

Nair’s review got late, says colleague Gayatari Jayaraman, because she was out in the bush in Uganda. And there were problems in transmitting e-mail.

But Gayatri tried harder, and the mail came, finally. We have published on this page the three reviewers that had to be left out from the special supplement [Ram, Pahwa, and Kothari] because of our deadlines.  

Match point

In the final days of production, colleague Harshita Rao suddenly dropped out, saying she had to rush to Pune. Her parents wanted her to meet a prospective groom. She cut short her visit though, saying ‘marriage can wait’, and helped us send The Influentials to the press in the nick of time.

Lens Nayaks

Photographers Sherwin Crasto and Rajan Chaughule said they would never do it; they would never shoot people who prefer not to be shot.

“But why can’t you shoot them quietly and secretly with your telephoto lens one early morning, when they get out of their home for a jog?” we asked. “No way, we just can’t cross the line.”

Too preoccupied
As if this wasn’t enough, one colleague was being wooed by a rival publication even as The Influentials was being put to bed. All that she had to say about the offer: “I haven’t responded yet. How do I? I don’t have the time. I get home these days at 4am.”

We hope she stays back and helps us to compile the Top50 list next year, on our 2nd birthday.