Wadia family

The Wadia family is a family originally based in Surat, subsequently shifted to Mumbai. The family is related to Jinnah family, through Dina Jinnah, the daughter of Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

Lovji Nusserwanjee Wadia began the Wadia shipbuilding dynasty in 1736, when he obtained a contract from the British East India Company for building docks and ships in Bombay (present-day Mumbai). Although the Wadia's would eventually come to be considered a Bombay family, many of them remained in Surat, where one branch of the family established a ship breaking yard (where ships are dismantled) that remains one of the largest of its kind in the world.

By the 1840s, the family was one of the leading forces in the Indian shipbuilding industry. By that time they had built over a hundred warships for the British and had trading networks around the world.

The Star Spangled Banner, the national anthem of the United States, was written in 1812 on a Wadia built British Navy ship, the HMS Minden. A Wadia did not visit the United States until 1849, when Ardeshir Cursetji Wadia also became the first Parsi to do so.

Preity Zinta

Preity Zinta (pronounced [ˈpriːt̪i ˈzɪɳʈaː]; born 31 January 1975) is an Indian film actress. She has appeared in Hindi films of Bollywood, as well as Telugu, Punjabi and English language films. After graduating with a degree in criminal psychology, Zinta made her acting debut in Dil Se.. in 1998 followed by a role in Soldier the same year. These performances earned her a Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut, and she was later recognised for her role as a teenage single mother in Kya Kehna (2000). She subsequently established a career with a variety of character types; her film roles along with her screen persona have been credited with contributing to a change in the concept of a Hindi film heroine, and won her several accolades.

Zinta received the Filmfare Award for Best Actress in 2003 for her performance in the romantic drama Kal Ho Naa Ho. She went on to play the lead female role in two consecutive annual top-grossing films in India, the science fiction film Koi... Mil Gaya (2003), which is her biggest commercial success, and the star-crossed romance Veer-Zaara (2004), which earned her critical acclaim. She was later noted for her portrayal of independent, modern Indian women in Salaam Namaste (2005) and Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006), top-grossing productions in overseas markets. These accomplishments have established her as a leading actress of Hindi cinema. Her first international film role was in the Canadian film Heaven on Earth, for which she was awarded the Silver Hugo Award for Best Actress at the 2008 Chicago International Film Festival.

Ness Wadia

Ness Wadia (born 30 May 1970) is an Indian businessman belonging to the Wadia family. He is Managing Director of the Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation, a company which has holdings in most of the Wadia Group subsidiaries, including an indirect majority stake in Britannia Industries. He was the Joint Managing Director of Bombay Dyeing, the flagship company of the Wadia Group, till March 2011 when he stepped down from the post. Wadia is a co-owner of the Indian Premier League cricket team Kings XI Punjab along with business man Mohit Burman & actress Preity Zinta.

Early life

He was born into the Parsi Wadia family. His parents are Nusli Wadia and Maureen Wadia. He is the grandson of Neville Wadia and Dina Wadia, and the great grandson of Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, and Maryam Jinnah. Ness's younger brother, Jehangir Wadia, is the Managing Director of group companies Bombay Dyeing and GoAir.

After completing his education at Lawrence School, India, Ness studied in England at Millfield School. Ness studied International Relations at Tufts University near Boston, Massachusetts, and then went on to do his M.Sc in Engineering Management at University of Warwick.