When The CRO Of Bombay Stock Exchange Met On-Screen Harshad Mehta

It was one of those rare, iconic, and unintentionally hilarious moments when the Digital Women Summit stage brought together the Chief Regulatory Officer of the Bombay Stock Exchange and the man who played infamous fraudster Harshad Mehta in Scam 1992. It wasn’t planned, but the audience loved the irony.

Kamala K of BSE, and Pratik Gandhi, Actor and Ambassador of ZeeTV's Ideabaaz, were at the 11th SheThePeopleDigital Women Awards and Summit in Hyderabad to talk about the growth of Indian women-led innovation and their impact on the world.

In a fireside chat with Shaili Chopra, founder of SheThePeople & Gytree, and Titan on Ideabaaz, Kamala spoke about scaling women-led businesses, the challenges involved, and the role of bold decision-making.

Prior to her, Pratik took the stage to speak about his journey as an actor, and the human stories behind entrepreneurship - the doubts, the failures, and the small sparks that grow into big successes. 

When their worlds came together, the conversation became meaningful and unintentionally funny.

Resilience and Real Stories

While speaking about the balance between risk-taking and strategic planning, Kamala K recounted Pratik Gandhi’s leap from a corporate career to entertainment, and what it could teach the audience of entrepreneurs. 

"I liked how Pratik mentioned earlier that every time he failed, he geared himself up for success," she shared. "As he said, everybody aspires to be a celebrity actor, but not everyone succeeds."

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Kamala drew on Pratik's story of taking risks, learning from failures, and staying committed despite repeated setbacks to get where he is today. 

She explained how this approach can be applied to everybody. Perseverance, combined with strategy, allows one to navigate setbacks without losing sight of the goal. 

"Risk-taking is good, but it must be paired with boundaries. It cannot be speculative where you're going to lose everything and get disheartened," she said, relating this principle to entrepreneurship.

Kamala elaborated that it’s not enough to have bold ideas or raw creativity; one needs structure, process, and mentorship to truly scale.

The room applauded as the unlikely pairing of Kamala K and Pratik Gandhi transformed the event into a space where art and entrepreneurship intersected. 

The 11th edition of the Digital Women Awards brought together innovators, founders, and creators from across India.

From inspiring panels to candid conversations like this one, the event celebrated women-led initiatives, highlighted the importance of bold thinking, and created spaces where stories of courage, creativity, and perseverance could meet.

Views expressed by the author are their own.