Navya Naveli Nanda means business

Even if you don’t know or follow Navya Naveli Nanda, you have an idea in your head of who she is. The word “proper” comes to mind. She’s young, privileged and always well put-together, nary a hair out of place. She’s easy-going, thoughtful, and always with her guardrails up. 

You cannot blame her. Given her background—film legends Jaya and Amitabh Bachchan are her grandparents and actor-entrepreneur Abhishek Bachchan her uncle, mom Shweta Bachchan is a popular author-columnist, and brother Agastya is already one film old—Navya was destined for the limelight. But Navya is that nepo baby who chose boardrooms over the box office. For her, the stage was always ready, but her performance is elsewhere.

At 5 ft 5 in, she’s taller than the average Indian woman, but her commanding presence somehow makes her look taller. At the bungalow in Bandra where we are shooting, she enters in tracks and tee, and before her metamorphosis for The Nod she makes it a point to meet every single crew member like a well-mannered child welcoming house guests. “Don’t underestimate Navya,” her mother says, and I consider that fair warning.

Navya is not like many others her age. A regular day in her life is spent between visiting her family’s agri-machinery factory, working on her women-focussed NGO, Project Naveli, catching up on her online MBA course, and recording her podcast, rightly named What the Hell Navya?. Because, seriously, what the hell?

For a 27-year-old, she seems to have a schedule that would rival most CEOs’. Her days may follow a 9-to-9 rhythm, but her varying endeavours ensure no two days look the same. At her tractor factory, when she’s not in white overalls on the floor, she is in the office balancing cost sheets and handling marketing. But that’s just her warmup. Work is where Navya thrives. “Some people wake up and think, ‘Oh no, today’s going to be exhausting.’ But for me it’s the opposite. I love knowing I have a full day ahead. It excites me,” shares Navya, who also sits for a weekly exam every Sunday at 8 am as part of her IIM-Ahmedabad Blended Post-Graduate Programme.

Is she the most hardworking Gen Z in the workspace today? Most certainly.

Some people wake up and think, ‘Oh no, today’s going to be exhausting.’ But for me it’s the opposite. I love knowing I have a full day ahead. It excites me.”

Growing up in a home where personalities loom larger than life would inevitably shape the way you see your own. You measure, you compare, and somewhere along the way you carve out a quiet corner of identity for yourself. For Navya, it meant choosing the civilian life. She’s fashioned herself not as an artist but as a businesswoman, each move deliberate, each choice strategic. 

Raised between Delhi, where her dad lives, and Mumbai, where her mom resides, Mumbai is now her home. It’s where Navya juggles her many ventures hour by hour: mornings for factory work, afternoons for college classes, evenings with her piano. Most would wonder when this Gen Z-er finds time for fun, but then again, most 20-somethings wouldn’t consider cost sheets a good time. “I actually love Economics. Reading books is also definitely my idea of fun,” she says.

She is currently re-reading Dune, her way to unwind between Economics lessons. Yet, for someone who thrives on spreadsheets and balance sheets, balance in life seems harder to crack.

“My worst habit? I can’t say no—to my friends, my family, or work,” admits Navya, as if being overbooked is just another line item in her life’s P&L statement. “I would actually love a lazy day. I should schedule one...in my pyjamas, with rajma-chawal, and my comfort people.”

For the most part, she’s kept the world at an arm’s distance. But her inner circle—her best friends from college—operates more like a family.  “Our group chat is called Juhu Gully because we all live next door to each other, and we have the kind of friendship where we just walk into each other’s houses unannounced.” A dynamic that, she jokes, has blurred the line between hospitality and home invasion.

Ananya Panday, Suhana Khan, and Shanaya Kapoor are also among those in her close orbit; the girls have been friends since they were four years old, and their bond has only deepened. “They’re busy shooting and working, and when we meet we have so much more to catch up on. We didn’t have that when we were younger, something to discuss that was ours. There’s a lot of mutual respect there.”

The newest addition to this circle is her IIM cohort. “They’re so good at what they do. It pushes me to do better and better. Over the past year, we’ve become such good friends,” she says, gatekeeping the names.

If Navya comes across as shy and reserved (her words, not mine), it’s because she knows too well what it is to be under constant surveillance. But IRL, her mother’s perception of her may hit closer to the mark. “Navya has the ability to enter any space, find her people in it, and make it her own,” shares Shweta Bachchan, adding that her daughter is anything but shy. But the face she presents to the world seems curated for public consumption. Naturally, she reserves her outspoken humour for those close to her. “She’s seen me around my friends. I take some time to warm up, but once I do, the people closest to me see a different side. That’s the side my mom is referring to,” says Navya. 

That side devours sci-fi and murder mysteries. It is currently jamming out to Ed Sheeran and has always been lowkey obsessed with retro Bollywood music. “Diwali is one of my favourite festivals because it means I’ll be dancing all night long. I have a secret talent of knowing the hook steps to every single Bollywood song.” And while only a handful may have witnessed her “Shava Shava” rendition up close, her Instagram sometimes offers glimpses away from her heavily curated public persona. Sandwiched between her brand endorsements, awards and accolades are raw moments with her friends, family and places she’s travelled to (albeit on business).

In spite of it all, Navya has never been one to pretend that her name didn’t help her get into the room. “I’ve never shied away from my privilege. It’s allowed me to do everything I love, and I’m very grateful for that.” But she always wanted to be known as more than just someone’s daughter or granddaughter. Choosing a public-facing life wasn’t optional to her, and her work, which is rooted in social work, has opened the door to both praise and scrutiny.

Like any other nepo baby living in the social media era, Navya is no stranger to criticism, exposed to the ill will of internet commenters and a doubting public. But she’s learned to separate the constructive from the cruel. Trolls may have opinions, but they don’t get a front-row seat to her show. “Yes, people should have a say in work that impacts society, especially in NGOs and development sectors where solutions rely on community involvement. As for the rest, I try not to pay attention to that.”

At what point did she realise her family wasn’t just a regular Indian family? “As a child visiting Bombay, I believed the crowds outside our house were for me, not my granddad. My family let me believe it—sweet, but untrue.” It’s comforting to hear that the Bachchans, like most grandparents, manufacture their fair share of ‘awee’ moments too.

As a child visiting Bombay, I believed the crowds outside our house were for me, not my granddad. My family let me believe it—sweet, but untrue.”

It was only later that it dawned on Navya that her Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan belonged to every living room in the country as much as her own. And with that realisation came a responsibility she doesn’t take lightly. “Everyone has a last name, and I think it’s everyone’s responsibility to do justice to that name, to make their families proud and carry that legacy forward.” Heavy is the head...

She knows you have things to say about her, but she’s not here for your idea of who she should be. “Her generation is extremely sure of themselves. You can’t make Navya do anything she doesn’t want to. She might hear you but she’ll turn around and do what she wants anyway,” says Shweta, sounding more proud of her daughter than annoyed. 

Navya, somehow, carries the boldness of Gen Z tempered by the wisdom of the generations before her. Her mother sees her as the quintessential Gen Z-er, a go-getter who speaks her mind and is unafraid to take up space. But Navya sees herself differently. She calls herself an “old soul”, a trait she believes stems from her deep bond with her nani. “I’m very, very close to her. The way I think, the things I’m interested in are all influenced by her. I think my nani, mom and I are the same person at different stages of life.”

On her podcast you witness glimpses of this, when the trio discuss dating in their respective generations and instances where their life experiences have overlapped. Navya, Shweta, and Jaya are three generations, yet eerily similar. “It’s crazy. We have the same opinion on everything—an outfit, a political issue, food, movies, music.” But while their outlooks may sync, Navya doesn’t take her ability to forge her own path lightly—whether it’s pursuing an MBA or going out when she should have stayed in. “I don’t listen to what people have to say. I really just stick to my gut. Sometimes I’ll discover I was wrong and my mother was right all along. But I’ll never tell her that.”

Navya shares a striking resemblance to her mom; she has her soft charm and quiet confidence. But more than anything, Navya is a direct product of her mother’s upbringing. “I believe in being a safe space for my children, where they can come to me no matter what and have a conversation. Not a friend, but definitely an ally,” says Shweta about her style of parenting. And in many ways, that philosophy is Navya’s foundation—she speaks quietly but authoritatively, like someone who knows she has a voice and the freedom to use it.

Her stage isn’t the silver screen but the spaces where real conversations happen, about gender equality, financial literacy, and the issues that matter. And perhaps that is Navya’s greatest inheritance, not just a legacy of names and achievements but the ability to shape her own. Because if there’s one thing we know for sure, it’s that nothing about Navya is accidental. Every choice, every step—whether on a factory floor or a dance floor—is made with intent, entirely and unapologetically hers.

Editorial Direction: Megha Mahindru, Ridhima Sapre. Photography: Giuseppe Triscari​. Fashion and Creative Direction: Samar Rajput. Hair and Makeup: Deepa Verma​. Art and Creative Direction: Harry Iyer. Visual Direction and Bookings: Jay Modi. Assistants: Aditya Singh (Fashion)​. Film and Production: By The Gram​