Doing it differently: Pooja Shetty Deora and Aarti Shetty

In the last few decades, women have stepped into the entertainment business- which up until then, was fully dominated by men. With women like Ekta Kapoor having paved the way, the country might see more and more women in the industry. Two sisters-Pooja Shetty Deora and Aarti Shetty are climbing up the ladder as well

Daughters of Manmohan Shetty- the former owner Of Adlabs, a production company and a film processing unit; both Shetty and Shetty-Deora started their own production company a few years back. In 2005, Anil Dhirubhai Ambani acquired their father’s company and changed the name to Reliance media works. After a couple of years, Pooja and Aarti set up their current company, Walkwater Media. Pooja, 35, with her business background and years of experience working with her father, is currently the Joint Managing Director at the company. Aarti, 32, has studied film-making from New York and has been an assistant director to people like Karan Johar and Ramgopal Verma and is the Creative head of the company.

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Except for taking some advice from him when they were starting out, both the sisters manage their business without taking any help from their father. Deora told Entrepreneur India about her father’s role in their company, she revealed, “…giving feedback and support only when asked. At most times, he just tells us to get going and fight our battles alone. That is how he did it.”

Their first success came in 2010 with the low-budget sleeper hit, ‘Tere Bin Laden,’ that earned Rs. 8 crores. They are currently concentrating scripts with substance; since now they don’t have to give in to the pressures of being a larger business firm. Shetty Deora adds,“We want to make sure we are doing quality content. We are a small team and we want to grow organically. So, we typically analyze a script for six months to a year before we give our nod.”

Along with this project, Aarti Shetty, has worked with her father on an Entertainment Theme Park called ‘Adlabs Imagica.’ Pooja on the other has won many awards for her contribution to both the companies she has worked with. Amongst others, she has won awards for India’s Greatest Brand Builder and Great woman Achiever.

Original Source: Entrepreneur India

http://entrepreneurindia.in/people/coverstory/knocking-down-tradition/11180/