Amruta Fadnavis (née Ranade; born 9 April 1979) is an Indian banker, actress, singer and social activist and wife of current Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis. She holds the post of vice-president with Axis Bank.
Early life and career
Amruta Fadnavis was born as Amruta Ranade on 9 April 1979 in
Nagpur district,
Maharashtra, to Sharad Ranade, an
ophthalmologist, and Charulata Ranade, a
gynaecologist. She studied at St. Joseph Convent School, Nagpur. She was a state-level under-16
tennis player.
She graduated from G.S. College of Commerce and Economics, Nagpur. Later she pursued an
MBA in finance and studied taxation laws at Symbiosis Law School, Pune.
Fadnavis started her career with Axis Bank as an executive cashier in 2003 and subsequently headed the Axis Bank business branch in Nagpur.
Personal life
Amruta married Devendra Fadnavis on 5 December 2005.
They have one daughter.
Career
As a banker
As a banker, Fadnavis has worked with
Axis Bank since the last 17 years. She joined as an executive cashier and works as Vice-president – Transaction Banking Department. She migrated to the corporate office at Worli, Mumbai in January 2015 and continued working with Axis Bank even after her husband became the Chief Minister of Maharashtra.
As a singer
Trained since the age of six in classical music, Fadnavis has performed at various social events as well as has sung for many commercial and social films.
She made her debut as a playback singer in
Prakash Jha’s
Jai Gangaajal with the song titled "Sab Dhan Mati". She sang a song in a biopic
Sangharsh Yatra based on the life of BJP leader
Gopinath Munde.
Fadnavis' first music video "Phir Se" featuring Amitabh Bachchan released by T-Series was viewed over 700,000 times in a single day and reached over 1.4 million views in three days.
In 2018, her song "Mumbai River Anthem" was to save the four rivers of Mumbai-Poisar, Dahisar, Oshiwara and Mithi.
On the occasion of Mahashivratri in 2022, Fadnavis launched a new song, a rendition of the Sanskrit hymn Shiva Tandava Stotra.
As a social activist
In 2017, Fadnavis organised a fashion show of
acid attack survivors, dubbed the "Acid Attack Victors", at National Sports Club of India,
Worli. The show was supported by Divyaj Foundation in collaboration with Maharashtra State Women Commission.
Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis, who was present at the event, announced an increase of the compensation amount for acid attack victims from 300,000 to 500,000.
In 2019, Fadnavis and the Divyaj Foundation initiated a musical talent show titled Mitti Ke Sitare for underprivileged school children between the ages of 7 and 15 from the slums of Mumbai, with an aim to provide selected candidates in different genre of vocal and instrumental music a larger platform.
Other activities
Amruta Fadnavis led the delegation to
Manasarovar to promote Indo-Chinese peace in 2015.
Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association (MSLTA) announced Fadnavis as the Chief Patron of the Davis Cup tie between India and New Zealand 2017 in Pune.
A documentary about Fadnavis, The Voice won the Best Film Documentary at IndieFEST, in 2019.
Controversies
In October 2018, Amruta Fadnavis attended the inaugural voyage of India's first luxury cruise liner 'Angriya'. Fadnavis was criticised after a video of her sitting on the edge of the vessel risking her life to take a selfie was released online. Fadnavis purportedly ignored multiple requests from security personnel to return to the safe areas of the vessel. She later issued an apology for setting a bad example for the youth by taking undue risks to take a selfie.
In September 2019, Fadnavis was in a controversy for calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the " Father of our Country" while wishing the latter on his birthday.
Awards
-
Women's Excellence Awards 2017.
-
The Woman of Substance Award at I Am Woman awards 2017.
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Award for Excellence – 2017 for Excellence in Women Empowerment by All Ladies League and Divine Vibrations.
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Suryadatta National Award-2016 for excellence in the field of Banking & Finance.
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Woman of the Year – 2015 awarded by Army, Airforce, Navy (AAN foundation) towards – service to Woman's Dignity & Equality in society.
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Lokmat Most Stylish Icon – Power Woman Award 2016
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JITO (Jain International Trade Organisation) power woman award
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Honored with Nelson Mandela Humanitarian Award & Certificate of Recognition.
