Voting Information for Registered Judges

Welcome to The Asian Awards judges information area. We have tried to keep the process relatively simple and clear in order to reduce the burden on you as a judge.

Instructions for judges

  • Immediately below you will see a list of the categories that will be judged at the 7th Asian Awards. Please click on those categories you feel your experience is most suited to judging. You are welcome to judge as many categories you feel suitable.
  • When you click on the category you will see the list of nominees. All you are required to do is note down the names of the people you would like to nominate in order of preference for each category (top 3 in order).
  • You can download the criteria for judging here.
  • Once you have chosen your nominees please email the list to voting@theasianawards.com. Please include your name on the email so that we can verify the nominations.
  • You will note that some of the categories are marked with the following comment "A previous deferment has already been accepted for this category. Therefore no judging is required." In these cases the winner deferred acceptance from the 6th Awards.
  • Mukesh Ambani

    Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani is an Indian business magnate and the chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries, the largest private sector enterprise in India, a Fortune 500 company, and one of the largest private sector conglomerates in the world.

    • Ambani set up one of the largest and most complex information and communications technology initiatives in the world in the form of Reliance Infocomm Limited (now Reliance Communications Limited).
    • Chosen as the businessman of the year 2007 by a public poll in India conducted by NDTV
    • As of October 2015, he was the third richest man in Asia with a personal wealth of US$24.0 billion.
    • On 29 October 2007, a strong rally in the Indian stock market and the appreciation of the Indian rupee boosted the market capitalisation of all Reliance group companies, making him for a while the world’s richest man, with net worth climbing to US$63.2 billion leaving Bill Gates behind at around $56 billion.
    • He is also a member of the International Advisory Board, a globalist think tank council on foreign relations.
    • Wikipedia link
  • Indra Nooyi

    Indra Krishnamurthy Nooyi (born October 28, 1955 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India ) is the Chairperson and CEO of PepsiCo Incorporated. On August 14, 2006, Nooyi was named the successor to Steven Reinemund as chief executive officer of the company effective October 1, 2006. On February 5, 2007, she was named Chairperson, effective May 2, 2007

    • In 2007 she became the fifth CEO in PepsiCo's 44-year history
    • According to BusinessWeek, since she started as CFO in 2000, the company's annual revenues have risen 72%, while net profit more than doubled
    • She is the 4th most powerful woman in the world today. Her story lays emphasis on true values of life. Although she faced many hurdles while reaching the highest peak in international level, she walks with pride holding the dignity and honour of her most loved country, India. As a staunch believer of faith, Nooyi states that success rests on three important factors, "family, friends and faith." Although an entrepreneur of one of the biggest firms of the US, Nooyi attributes her success to her employees. She views PepsiCo as her extended family and believes that to top the speed of competition an entrepreneur should attract the best employees. As an individual she attributes most of her success to her upbringing in India.
    • Wikipedia link
  • Ajay Banga

    Ajaypal "Ajay" Singh Banga is the current president and chief executive officer of MasterCard. MasterCard announced on April 12, 2010 that Ajay Banga, previously MasterCard’s president and chief operating officer, had been named by the Board of Directors to serve as the company’s president and chief executive officer, effective July 1, 2010. The company also announced that Banga would become a member of MasterCard’s Board of Directors, effective immediately.

    • On Thursday, February 5, 2015, President Barack Obama appointed Banga to serve as a Member of the President's Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations.
    • Presently, he is also the chairman of the U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC) representing more than three hundred of the largest international companies investing in India.
    • He is also a member of board of directors of the Dow Chemical Company; member of the Council on Foreign Relations; and member of International Business Council of the World Economic Forum.
    • Globally Mastercard has revenues of over £10bn and employs over 10,000 people.
    • Wikipedia link
  • Ren Zhengfei

    Ren Zhengfei is a Chinese businessman. He is currently the president of Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd, headquartered in Shenzhen, China, and an ex-PLA officer. Forbes magazine listed Ren as the 190th richest person in China, with private assets of approximately $450 million USD in 2010.

    • In 1987, Ren founded Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd with just 21000 Yuan. At the time, Huawei mostly sold telephone exchange equipment from Hong Kong.
    • He now serves as its CEO. The company had an annual revenue of $34 billion USD with 10% going into research & development, and over 144,000 employees as of January 2013
    • In 2013 he was listed in the Time 100 most influential people of the world.
    • In October 2013, he announced the production of a $200m R&D facility in the UK
    • in 2012 Huawei posted revenues of $35.3bn with a net profit of just under $2.5bn.
    • Wikipedia link
  • Wang Jianlin

    Wang Jianlin is a Chinese businessman and philanthropist. He serves as the Chairman of the Dalian Wanda Group, China's largest real estate developer, as well as the world's largest movie theater operator. He owns 20% of the Spanish football club Atlético Madrid.

    • As of November 2015 he has a personal net worth of $36bn and is the richest Asian in the world.
    • His company owns 9.03 million square metres of investment property, 58 Wanda Shopping Plazas, 15 luxury hotels, 68 cinemas, 57 department stores, and 54 karaoke centres around China.
    • The company became the world's largest theatre owner in 2012 when it acquired AMC Theaters. He bought out U.S.-based AMC Entertainment for $2.6 billion. He listed it on the New York Stock Exchange in December.
    • He acquired the landmark Edificio España building in Madrid, Spain, in March 2014 from Grupo Santander for "about a third less than the €389 million that Banco Santander paid in 2005, at the height of Spain’s construction boom".
    • In September 2013 he announced plans to build the world's largest studio pavilion at Oriental Movie Metropolis which include a 10,000 square meter studio and an underwater stage.
    • Wikipedia link
  • Masayoshi Son

    Masayoshi Son born a Zainichi Korean and now a naturalized Japanese citizen, known worldwide as one of Japan’s most distinguished entrepreneurs of the digital age, is currently the Chairman and CEO of Softbank Corp. Softbank Corporation is Japan’s largest distributor of software and systems hardware, and Japan’s largest publisher of computer magazines and books. The corporation has also grown to become a leading producer of technology-related trade shows and expositions. He has a personal net worth of over $13bn.

    • Son attended high school in the United States—graduating in two weeks—then graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, where he started several businesses and, at the age of 20, used his technological skills to invent and patent a device he sold to Sharp Corporation for $1 million.
    • He returned to Japan in 1981 and a year and one-half later, started Softbank. In addition to its operations in Japan, Softbank today has affiliates in the United States and Korea.
    • Softbank invested in Yahoo, Inc. in 1995, and in the following year established the joint venture Yahoo Japan Corporation.
    • The innovative flare that is characteristic of Son is the basis of Softbank’s success. His strategy of diversification has given Softbank a strong position in several key areas. The corporation’s mission is to be a premier infrastructure provider to the computer industry, creating the means by which the leading software developers, hardware manufacturers, and service providers can display, explain, and distribute their products.
    • Wikipedia link
  • Tadashi Yanai

    Tadashi Yanai is founder and president of Fast Retailing, of which Uniqlo ("unique clothing") is a subsidiary. He is routinely ranked as one of the richest men in Japan, and in 2013 was ranked 45th richest man in the world, making him the richest man in Japan with an estimated net worth of $17Bn

    • Fast Retailing operates more than 1,000 stores in 14 countries. It has annual sales of over $10bn. Uniqlo alone is opening about one new outlet a week and will break into Germany and Australia next spring with stores in Berlin and Melbourne.
    • The company also owns the Theory and Helmut Lang brands. Yanai's success in converting customers has helped increase the company's stock price by two-thirds over the past year. Recently he announced he would retire in 2014; succession planning under way, with speculation that his 2 sons may take helm.
    • Yanai is clearly an inspirational leader, and Uniqlo is a tribute to him and his management style, which is so rarely seen in a large corporation. He allows his team to be confident enough to let the designers feel free to show their personality, and he is intent on producing good products, at the right price, that people want.
    • Wikipedia link
  • Pony Ma (Ma Huateng)

    Ma Huateng also known as Pony Ma, is a Chinese entrepreneur who founded Tencent Inc., one of the largest internet companies in China. As of November 2015, he is the third richest person in China, and the 70th richest in the world, with an estimated net worth of US$ 19 billion.

    • The company's first product, an instant message tool named Tencent QQ, became very popular in China. Tencent soon expanded to become "China's answer to AOL".
    • He currently holds the position of Chairman and CEO of Tencent Holdings, one of the top three Chinese internet companies along with Alibaba and Baidu.
    • By the end of September 2012, Tencent's QQ instant messaging had achieved a total of 784 million active users, an increase of 10% from the previous year.
    • Online games such as Legend of Yulong and Legend of Xuanyuan boosted revenue by more than half, up to US$ 5.1 billion, with a US$ 1.5 billion profit margin.
    • Wikipedia link
  • Robin Li

    Robin Li is a Chinese Internet entrepreneur and co-founder of China's most popular search engine Baidu. His personal wealth in 2014 estimated to be $13 billion.

    • Li studied information management at Peking University and the University at Buffalo, The State University of New York.
    • In 2000 he founded Baidu with Eric Xu. He has been the CEO of Baidu since January 2004, which was listed on NASDAQ in August 2005.
    • In the 13 years since founding Baidu in January 2000, Robin has turned the company into the largest Chinese search engine, with over 70% market share, and the second largest independent search engine in the world
    • Prior to founding Baidu, Robin was already regarded as one of the world’s top search engine experts. His hyperlink analysis, patented in 1996, is among the inventions that shaped today’s search engine technology. Since founding Baidu.com, his Chinese-language search engine, in 2000, Li has left everyone in the dust. Baidu leads China's search market with a commanding 62 percent share and lots of long-term potential: With a current online population of 150 million users among its 1.3 billion people, China may eventually become the world's most lucrative Internet market.
    • Wikipedia link
  • Ela Bhatt

    Ela Ramesh Bhatt is the founder of the Self-Employed Women's Association of India (SEWA). A lawyer by training, Bhatt is a part of the international labour, cooperative, women, and micro-finance movements and has won several national and international awards.

    • She was one of the founders of Women’s World Banking (a nonprofit organisation providing strategic support, technical assistance and information to banks and independent institutions that offer credit and other financial services to low income entrepreneurs in the developing world) in 1979 with Esther Ocloo and Michaela Walsh and served as it’s chair from 1980 to 1998.
    • She currently serves as the chair of: The SEWA Cooperative Bank (Self Employed Women’s Association), HomeNet, The International Alliance of Street Vendors and WIEGO
    • She was granted an honorary doctorate degree in Humane Letters by Harvard University in June 2001.
    • Ela Bhatt is widely recognised as one of the world’s most remarkable pioneers and entrepreneurial forces in grassroots development. Known as the ‘gentle revolutionary’ she has dedicated her life to improving the lives of India’s poorest and most oppressed women workers, with Gandhian thinking as her source of guidance.
    • Wikipedia link
  • Aruna Roy

    Aruna Roy is an Indian political and social activist who founded and heads the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathana ("Workers and Peasants Strength Union"). She is best known as a prominent leader of the Right to Information movement through National Campaign for People’s Right to Information, which led to the enactment of the Right to Information Act in 2005. She has also remained a member of the National Advisory Council.

    • In 2000, she received the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership. In 2010 she received the prestigious Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence in Public Administration, Academia and Management.
    • She quit the IAS in 1974 to join the Social Work and Research Centre in Tilonia, Rajasthan, set up by her husband Sanjit Roy, and later called it her true “alma mater”, like going to university all over again. She lived in villages, operated on shoestring budgets, met and overcame local resistance and, in 1983, set up the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathana, which today has become an example of a fully transparent, accountable organization. She also triggered a broad debate and nationwide demand for the public’s right to scrutinize official records. That movement went on to lay the foundation for the Right to Information act, a crucial check against arbitrary governance. The MKSS, in the over 25 years of its existence has been instrumental in taking up everything from human rights and women’s rights issues in Rajasthan to local ‘jan sunwais’ or ‘public hearings’ on social issues and more.
    • Wikipedia link
  • Sir Fazle Hasan Abed

    Fazle Hasan Abed, KCMG is a Bangladeshi Social worker, the founder and chairman of BRAC, the world's largest NGO with over 100,000 employees. For his outstanding contributions to social improvement, he has received the Ramon Magsaysay Award, the UNDP Mahbub Ul Haq Award, the inaugural Clinton Global Citizen Award and the inaugural WISE Prize for Education. He was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in the 2010 New Year Honours for services in tackling poverty and empowering the poor in Bangladesh and globally. In 2014, Sir Abed was ranked 32 in the list of The World's 50 Greatest Leaders prepared by Fortune.

    • In a span of only three decades, BRAC has grown to become the largest development organisation in the world in terms of the scale and diversity of its interventions. As BRAC grew, Abed ensured that it continued to target the landless poor, particularly women, a large percentage of whom live below the poverty line with little or no access to resources or conventional development efforts.
    • BRAC now operates in more than 69 thousand villages of Bangladesh and covers an estimated 110 million people through its development interventions that range from primary education, essential healthcare, agricultural support and human rights and legal services to microfinance and enterprise development. It is now considered the largest non-profit in the world – both by employees and people served.
    • in 2002, he was given The Social Entrepreneurship Award by the Schwab Foundation.
    • Wikipedia link
  • Anish Kapoor

    Sir Anish Kapoor is an Indian sculptor. He represented Britain in the XLIV Venice Biennale in 1990, when he was awarded the Premio Duemila Prize. In 1991 he received the Turner Prize and in 2002 received the Unilever Commission for the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern. Notable public sculptures include Cloud Gate in Chicago's Millennium Park; Sky Mirror, exhibited at the Rockefeller Center in New York City in 2006 and Kensington Gardens in London in 2010; Temenos, at Middlehaven, Middlesbrough; Leviathan, at the Grand Palais in Paris in 2011; and ArcelorMittal Orbit, commissioned as a permanent artwork for London's Olympic Park and completed in 2012.

    • Kapoor received a Knighthood in the 2013 Birthday Honours for services to visual arts.
    • He was awarded an honorary doctorate degree from the University of Oxford in 2014.
    • Kapoor's Orbit was announced as the winning proposal for an artwork for the 2012 Olympic Games. The Greater London Authority selected Kapoor's sculpture from a shortlist of five artists as the permanent artwork for the Olympic Park. At 115 metres tall, Orbit is the tallest sculpture in the UK.
    • Kapoor's fortune has been estimated at around $100 million. Kapoor operates independently from any gallery although he has a longstanding working relationship with Lisson Gallery in London.
    • Wikipedia Link
  • Deepak Chopra

    Deepak Chopra is an Indian-American author, public speaker and physician. He is a prominent alternative medicine advocate and is described as a "controversial New-Age guru". Through his several dozen books and videos, he has become one of the best-known and wealthiest figures in the holistic-health movement.

    • Chopra speaks and writes regularly about metaphysics, the study of consciousness and Vedanta philosophy. He is a philosophical idealist, arguing for the primacy of consciousness over matter and for purpose and intelligence in nature – that mind, or "dynamically active consciousness", is a fundamental feature of the universe.
    • As of 2014 Chopra has written 75 books, 21 of them New York Times bestsellers, which have been translated into 35 languages. According to Paul Offit, writing in 2013, Chopra's business grosses around $20 million annually, built on the sale of courses, books, videos, herbal supplements and massage oils; a year's worth of anti-aging products can cost up to $10,000. Chopra himself is estimated to be worth over $80 million as of 2014.
    • Wikipedia Link
  • Vera Wang

    Vera Wang is an American fashion designer based in New York City and former figure skater. She is known for her wide range of haute couture bridesmaid gowns and wedding gown collections, as well as for her clientele of elite lady figure skaters, designing dresses for competitions and exhibitions.

    • Beginning in 1970, Wang was a senior fashion editor for Vogue but left Vogue after being turned down for the editor-in-chief position currently filled by Anna Wintour and joined Ralph Lauren as a design director for two years.
    • Wang has made wedding gowns for many well-known public figures, such as Chelsea Clinton, Karenna Gore, Ivanka Trump, Campbell Brown, Alicia Keys, Mariah Carey, Victoria Beckham, Avril Lavigne, Jennifer Lopez, Jennifer Garner, Sharon Stone, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Hilary Duff, Uma Thurman, Holly Hunter, Kate Hudson, Khloe Kardashian and Kim Kardashian. Wang's evening wear has also been worn by Michelle Obama.
    • She was honored with the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013.
    • Wikipedia Link
  • Anna Sui

    Anna Sui is an American fashion designer. Sui is one of the most celebrated names in American fashion, known for her timeless designs and ability to transcend eras with historical and culturally inspired collections. She was named one of the "Top 5 Fashion Icons of the Decade" and in 2009 earned the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), joining the ranks of Yves Saint Laurent, Giorgio Armani, Ralph Lauren, and Diane von Furstenberg.

    • Her worldwide luxury fashion brand includes clothing, shoes, cosmetics, eyewear, and accessories, as well as her renowned line of signature fragrances. Anna Sui products are sold through her free-standing stores and distributors around the world in over 50 countries. In 2006, Fortune estimated the collective value of Sui's fashion empire at over $400 million.
    • Wikipedia Link
  • Mindy Kaling

    Vera Mindy Chokalingam, better known as Mindy Kaling, is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer who, amongst other roles, plays Kelly Kapoor on the NBC, Emmy Award winning sitcom The Office. Kaling is also a co-executive producer and writer of several of the show's episodes. Kaling was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to a Tamil father and Bengali mother from India.

    • Kaling was singled out when she was nominated for a 2008 Image Award in the ‘Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series’ category for ‘The Office’ episode ‘Branch Wars’.
    • Kaling was last seen on the big screen opposite Ben Stiller and Amy Adams in ‘Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.’ She made her film debut as the object of Paul Rudd's unwanted affections in the Judd Apatow directed comedy ‘The 40-Year Old Virgin’.
    • Kaling's other television credits include playing Richard Lewis's assistant on the critically acclaimed and Emmy nominated comedy series ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’. She was also a guest writer on ‘Saturday Night Live’ and in 2007; her standup comedy was featured on ‘Comedy Death-Ray’.
    • Most recently, Kaling directed The Office webisodes The 3rd Floor. She also directed the season 6 episode titled "Body Language," which marked her television directorial debut. Kaling's contract was set to expire at the end of Season 7. On September 15, 2011, she signed a new contract to stay with the show for Season 8 and was promoted to full Executive Producer status. Her NBC contract included a development deal for a new show (titled "The Mindy Project"), in which she appears as an actor and contributes as a writer. This show makes Kaling the first South Asian-American woman to be the headliner of her own network television show.
    • The Mindy Project received positive reviews from critics, with many highlighting the writing of the series, Kaling's performance, Kaling's unique character and the direction of the series.
    • Wikipedia Link
  • Gemma Chan

    Gemma Chan is a British film, television and theatre actress and former fashion model. She portrayed Charlotte in season four of the Showtime and ITV2 series Secret Diary of a Call Girl; Ruth in Channel 4's award-winning series Fresh Meat; Mia Bennett in the BBC's Doctor Who "The Waters of Mars" and Soo Lin in Sherlock

    • She also appeared in the BAFTA-nominated film Exam and Paramount Pictures' action-thriller Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit.
    • She co-starred in Humans, an AMC/Channel 4 eight-part science-fiction drama, which premiered in June 2015.
    • She is currently playing the role of Miss Pemberton in the drama serial Brotherhood
    • Wikipedia Link
  • Aziz Ansari

    Aziz Ansari is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his series regular role as Tom Haverford on the NBC show Parks and Recreation. Ansari began his career performing standup comedy in New York City during the summer of 2000 while attending New York University. In 2007, he created and starred in the critically acclaimed MTV sketch comedy show Human Giant, which ran for two seasons. This led to acting roles in feature films, including Funny People; I Love You, Man; Observe and Report; and 30 Minutes or Less.

    • In addition to his acting work, Ansari has continued to work as a standup comedian. He released his debut CD/DVD, entitled Intimate Moments for a Sensual Evening, in January 2010 on Comedy Central Records, and still tours nationally between acting commitments.
    • In June 2008, Ansari was announced as the first cast hire for NBC's new comedy from producers of The Office. The show, Parks and Recreation, debuted in April 2009 with Ansari portraying government employee Tom Haverford. Ansari's performance has received notable praise from critics, including Entertainment Weekly naming him one of 2009's "Breakout TV Stars", TV Guide naming him a "Scene Stealer" and Yahoo! TV placing him in the No. 1 spot on its list of "TV MVPS".
    • On June 6, 2010, Ansari hosted the 2010 MTV Movie Awards.
    • Released on Netflix in NOvember 2015, Aziz Ansari’s Master of None almost instantly became one of the year’s most talked-about and well-reviewed shows.
    • His first book, Modern Romance: An Investigation, was released in June 2015.
    • Wikipedia Link
  • Masahiro Tanaka

    Masahiro Tanaka is a Japanese professional baseball starting pitcher for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). From 2007 through 2013, he played for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles in Nippon Professional Baseball's (NPB) Pacific League.

    • From 2012 to 2013, he won 26 consecutive decisions, which broke an NPB record.
    • On January 22, 2014, Tanaka signed a seven-year contract worth $155 million with the Yankees. The contract contains an opt-out clause after the fourth year and a full no-trade clause.
    • Wikipedia Link
  • Manny Pacquiao

    Emmanuel "Manny" Dapidran Pacquiao is a Filipino professional boxer and politician. He is the first and only eight-division world champion, in which he has won ten world titles, as well as the first to win the lineal championship in four different weight classes. He is also the second highest paid athlete in the world.

    • He was named "Fighter of the Decade" for the 2000s by the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA).
    • During a time when boxing has struggled to provide compelling superstars that transcend the game, Manny Pacquiao has filled the void and become a saviour of the sport. He came along at precisely the right time. His resume, spanning 9 divisions, is difficult to ignore and his popularity in his native Philippines might surpass the national stardom of any fighter in the history of the sport.
    • Pacquiao has hardly had things easy during his unprecedented collection of titles. He beat the best fighters in the division at flyweight, junior feather, featherweight, junior lightweight, junior welterweight, and now welterweight. No fighter has ever dominated such a wide range of weight classes.
    • Aside from boxing, Pacquiao has participated in acting, music recording and politics. In May 2010, Pacquiao was elected to the House of Representatives in the 15th Congress of the Philippines, representing the province of Sarangani.
    • Wikipedia Link
  • Shinji Kawaga

    Shinji Kagawa is a Japanese professional footballer who plays for German club Borussia Dortmund and the Japan national team. In 2012 Kagawa signed for Manchester United on a four-year contract. Two years later, he returned to Dortmund. A goal-scoring midfielder, he is known for his "vision, technique, movement and deft passing." On 29 November 2012, Kagawa was named Asian Football Confederation International Player of the Year.

    • From 2012 to 2013, he won 26 consecutive decisions, which broke an NPB record.
    • On 2 March 2013, Kagawa scored his first hat-trick for United and also became the first Asian player to score a hat-trick in the Premier League, in his team's 4–0 home win against Norwich City.
    • On 31 August 2014, Kagawa officially returned to his former club, Borussia Dortmund, signing a contract until 30 June 2018.
    • Wikipedia Link
  • Kei Nishikori

    Kei Nishikori is a Japanese professional tennis player, ranked world No. 6 as of September 2015. He is the only male Japanese tennis player ever to be ranked inside the top 10 in ATP Singles Ranking. Nishikori was named ATP Newcomer of the Year in 2008. He has won ten singles titles and was runner-up at the 2014 US Open, making him the first ever male player from an Asian country to reach a Grand Slam singles final. He also became the first man from Asia to qualify for the ATP World Tour Finals and reached the semi-finals in 2014.

    • On August 30, 2008, he became the first Japanese player to reach the round of 16 at the US Open in 71 years, when he beat fourth seed David Ferrer in five sets in what was considered one of the tournament's major upsets.
    • On 10 May Nishikori made history by reaching the final of Madrid Open, his first Masters 1000 tournament final. Nishikori beat David Ferrer in three sets in the semi-final, and faced world No. 1 and defending champion Rafael Nadal in the final.
    • Wikipedia Link
  • Ang Lee

    Ang Lee is a Taiwanese-born American film director, screenwriter and producer. Lee's earlier films, such as The Wedding Banquet, Pushing Hands, and Eat Drink Man Woman explored the relationships and conflicts between tradition and modernity, Eastern and Western. Lee also deals with repressed, hidden emotions in many of his films, including Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Hulk; and Brokeback Mountain. Lee's insight into the human heart has allowed his films to transcend cultural and linguistic barriers to speak to audiences all over the world.

    • Lee has won the Academy Award for Best Director twice, first for Brokeback Mountain (2005) and most recently for Life of Pi (2012).
    • He also won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000). He is the first person of Asian descent to win an Oscar, Golden Globe, and BAFTA for Best Director, and is the only director to win both the Golden Bear and Golden Lion multiple times.
    • Wikipedia Link
  • Aamir Khan

    Aamir Khan is an Indian film actor, director, screenwriter, producer and television presenter. Through his successful career in Hindi films, Khan has established himself as one of the most popular and influential actors of Indian cinema and is known by the name Mr Perfectionist. He is the recipient of numerous awards and nominations, including four National Film Awards and seven Filmfare Awards, and was honoured by the Government of India with the Padma Shri in 2003 and the Padma Bhushan in 2010.

    • In 2001, Khan started a production company, whose first release, Lagaan, was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and earned him a National Film Award for Best Popular Film and two more Filmfare Awards (Best Actor and Best Film).
    • Khan's greatest commercial successes came with the thriller Ghajini (2008), the dramedy 3 Idiots (2009), and the adventure film Dhoom 3 (2013), all of which held records for being the highest grossing Bollywood film of all-time.
    • Wikipedia Link
  • Fan Bingbing

    Fan Bingbing is a Chinese actress, television producer and pop singer. She topped the Forbes China Celebrity 100 list in 2013 and 2014, after ranking in the top 10 every year since 2006.

    • Fan rose to fame in Asia in 1998-1999 with the mega-hit TV series My Fair Princess. Since then she has received awards from the Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards, Eurasia International Film Festival, Tokyo International Film Festival, Beijing College Student Film Festival and Huading Awards for films like The Matrimony (2007), Lost in Beijing (2007), Buddha Mountain (2011) and Double Xposure (2012). Fan has participated in many foreign-language films, such as the French film Stretch (2011), the Korean film My Way (2011) and the Hollywood blockbuster X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014). She has also been called a fashion icon due to frequent appearances on the red carpet, movie premieres, and fashion shows.
    • On May 31, Barbie announced the launch of the Fan Bingbing Celebrity Specialty doll in Shanghai. Fan becomes the first actress from China to be invited to join the Barbie global celebrity Hall of Fame.
    • Fan joined in the opening ceremony of 2013 Cannes Film Festival premiere, wearing a custom Louis Vuitton gown, and that was the first time the French fashion house had created a gown especially for an Asian actress.In December, Fan posed for Louis Vuitton Spring/Summer 2014 ad campaign.
    • Wikipedia Link
  • Om Puri

    Om Rajesh Puri OBE is an Indian actor who has appeared in mainstream commercial Indian and British films, Independent films and art films. His credits also include appearances in American films. He has been awarded Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award of India.

    • Puri had a cameo in the highly acclaimed film Gandhi (1982, directed by Richard Attenborough).
    • In the mid-1990s, he became known internationally by starring in many British films such as My Son the Fanatic (1997), East Is East (1999) and The Parole Officer (2001). He appeared in Hollywood films including City of Joy (1992), opposite Patrick Swayze; Wolf (1994) alongside Jack Nicholson; and The Ghost and the Darkness (1996) opposite Val Kilmer. In 2007, he appeared as General Zia-ul-Haq in Charlie Wilson's War, which stars Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts.
    • In 2014, he appeared opposite Helen Mirren in the comedy-drama The Hundred-Foot Journey.
    • Wikipedia Link
  • Rob Schneider

    Rob Schneider is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and director. A stand-up comic and veteran of the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live, he went on to a successful career in feature films, including starring roles in the comedy films Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo, The Hot Chick, The Benchwarmers, and Grown Ups.

    • Schneider's maternal grandmother was a Filipina who met and married his grandfather, a white American army private, while he was stationed in the Philippines
    • Schneider is featured in the video release The Bad Boys of Saturday Night Live, along with colleagues Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, David Spade, and Chris Farley.
    • After leaving SNL, Schneider played supporting roles in a series of movies including Surf Ninjas, Judge Dredd, The Beverly Hillbillies, Demolition Man and Down Periscope. He also appeared in a recurring part on the TV series Coach. In 1996, he co-starred in the NBC sit-com Men Behaving Badly, an American take on the hit British series of the same name. The U.S. version ran for two seasons.
    • He has also starred in hit movies such as I Now Pronounce you Chuck and Larry, Big Stan, Grown Ups. In late 2015, He will be starring alongside Adam Sandler once more in The Ridiculous 6.
    • Wikipedia Link
  • Priyanka Chopra

    Priyanka Chopra is an Indian film actress and singer, and the winner of the Miss World pageant of 2000. Through her film career, she has become one of Bollywood's highest-paid actresses and one of the most popular and high-profile celebrities in India. Chopra is cited as the world's sexiest Asian woman, as well as one of the most fashionable Indian celebrities, by various media outlets. She has received numerous accolades, including a National Film Award for Best Actress and Filmfare Awards in four categories.

    • In 2000, her mother entered her into the Femina Miss India contest, in which she finished second and took the Miss India World title. She was then entered into the Miss World pageant, where she was crowned Miss World 2000 and Miss World Continental Queen of Beauty—Asia & Oceania, becoming the fifth Indian to win the competition.
    • She received critical acclaim for the role of a troubled model in the 2008 drama Fashion, which marked a significant turning point in her career. She later gained recognition for her versatility in portraying a range of unconventional characters, including an autistic woman in the 2012 romantic comedy Barfi!, and a boxer in the 2014 biographical sports drama Mary Kom.
    • In 2015, she began starring as Alex Parrish on the ABC drama Quantico, becoming the first South Asian woman to headline an American network drama series.
    • Wikipedia Link
  • Charles Kao

    Charles Kuen Kao, KBE is a Chinese-born Hong Kong, American and British electrical engineer and physicist who pioneered in the development and use of fiber optics in telecommunications. Kao, known as the "Godfather of Broadband", "Father of Fiber Optics" or "Father of Fiber Optic Communications", was jointly awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physics for "groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibers for optical communication". Kao holds multiple citizenship of Hong Kong, the United Kingdom and the United States.

    • On October 6, 2009, Kao was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his contributions to the study of the transmission of light in optical fibers and for fiber communication,said: "I am absolutely speechless and never expected such an honour".
    • Wikipedia Link
  • Takaaki Kajita

    Takaaki Kajita is a Japanese physicist, known for neutrino experiments at the Kamiokande and its successor, Super-Kamiokande.In 2015, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics jointly with Canadian physicist Arthur B. McDonald.

    • In 1998, Kajita's team at the Super-Kamiokande found that when cosmic rays hit the Earth's atmosphere, the resulting neutrinos switched between two flavours before they reached the detector under Mt. Kamioka. This discovery helped prove the existence of neutrino oscillation and that neutrinos have mass.
    • He was awarded the 2015 Fundamental Physics Prize.
    • Wikipedia Link
  • Vilayanur S. Ramachandran

    Vilayanur Subramanian Ramachandran is a neurologist best known for his work in the fields of behavioural neurology and psychophysics. He is the former Director of the Centre for Brain and Cognition, and is currently a Professor in the Psychology Department and Neurosciences Program at the University of California, San Diego.

    • Ramachandran initially obtained an M.D. at Stanley Medical College in Madras, India, and subsequently obtained a Ph.D. from Trinity College at the University of Cambridge. Ramachandran’s early work was on visual perception but he is best known for his experiments in behavioural neurology which, despite their apparent simplicity, have had a profound impact on the way we think about the brain.
    • Ramachandran has been elected for two fellowships at All Souls College, Oxford, and awarded the Henry Dale Medal by the Great Britain Royal Institution, London . He gave the 2003 BBC Reith Lectures and was conferred the title of Padma Bhushan by the President of India in 2007
    • He has been called “The Marco Polo of neuroscience” by Richard Dawkins and "the modern Paul Broca" by Eric Kandel. Newsweek magazine named him a member of "The Century Club", one of the "hundred most prominent people to watch" in the 21st century.
    • Ramachandran has published over 180 papers in scientific journals. 20 of these have appeared in Nature, and others have appeared in Science, Nature Neuroscience, Perception and Vision Research. He is author of the acclaimed book Phantoms in the Brain that has been translated into nine languages and formed the basis for a two-part series on BBC-4 TV (UK) and a 1-hour PBS special in the USA. He is the editor of the Encyclopedia of the Human Brain (2002), and is co-author of the bi-monthly "Illusions" column in Scientific American Mind
    • Ramachandran’s work with patients at the University of California, San Diego has led to one of the most effective treatments for chronic phantom-limb pain and to a new therapy for paralysis resulting from stroke. It has also provided suggestive insights into the physiological cause of such mystifying syndromes as synesthesia and autism.
    • Wikipedia Link

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