Her dramatic Met Gala dress was the talk of the evening, but for many fashion followers around the world, the name Natasha Poonawalla is a familiar one. The Indian businesswoman and philanthropist is known as much for her style choices as her jet-setting lifestyle and celebrity friends, as she's often spotted at some of the biggest fashion events across the world, hobnobbing with everyone from Priyanka Chopra Jonas to Katy Perry and designer Christian Louboutin.
The striking Met Gala look she wore on Monday, celebrating the Indian sari, was created by Indian designer Sabyasachi and worn with an ornate Schiaparelli Couture corset that curved over her head. Accessorised with custom Sabyasachi Fine Jewellery pieces, her take on this year's theme, Gilded Glamour, which honoured New York's 19th century golden age between 1870 and 1890, was one of the most memorable looks of the star-studded evening.
Who is Natasha Poonawalla?
Natasha is the executive director of the Serum Institute of India, the world's largest manufacturer of vaccines. Her husband, Indian billionaire Adar Poonawalla, is chief executive of the company, which produces, among others, the Covishield coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford. Natasha is also chairwoman of the Villoo Poonawalla Charitable Foundation, named after her late mother-in-law, a responsibility that takes her to events around the world.
Natasha was born in Pune, Maharashtra, where she grew up. She later went to pursue her master's degree at the London School of Economics. It was during this time, while on holiday in Goa, that she would meet her future husband Adar at a New Year's Eve party.
"We’d see each other every few months. His focus was clear from day one. He was like, ‘I like you. I know I want to get married. This is it'," she told Vogue India of their budding long-distance romance.
Adar is the only son of Indian billionaire Cyrus Poonawalla, chairman of the Cyrus Poonawalla Group, which includes the Serum Institute of India. Last month, Cyrus was named fourth on Forbes magazine's India's 100 Richest People list, with an estimated fortune of $24.3 billion. He ranks 56th in the world.
Natasha and Adar got married in 2006 and now have two boys, Cyrus and Darius.
Often branded a socialite, Natasha, who was on the cover star of Vogue India in December last year, told the magazine she was so much more than that.
“I think I was misjudged a little bit,” she says. “People saw me dressing up and said, ‘She’s that fashion person on the racecourse.’ But I didn’t feel the need to expose the serious part of my life to everyone.”
The serious part, as an executive of the Serum Institute of India, was highlighted during the coronavirus pandemic when her and her husband's company became a key player in India's fight against Covid-19.
"This year, people have realised what I do,” she tells Vogue India.
Still, there's no denying her A-list friends, including her close friendship with Bollywood star Kareena Kapoor Khan and her sister Karisma Kapoor, as well as actresses Malaika Arora and her sister Amrita Arora, all of whom appear often on her Instagram feed.
French designer Louboutin also makes regular appearances.
"There’s nothing in the world like friends who make you giggle non-stop," she once posted with a photo of the two of them.
Chopra Jonas and her husband Nick are also often seen photographed with Natasha, and so are Bollywood actress Sonam Kapoor and husband Anand Ahuja.
In January, when the Jonases announced they were expecting their first child together via surrogacy, Natasha posted a congratulatory message along with a photo of herself with the happy couple.
"Congratulations PC and Nick! Thrilled for you guys… brace yourself for life’s greatest joyride! Wish you all the love and strength for this new chapter. From sleepless party nights to sleepless parenting nights — with you all the way!" she said.
A life in fashion
Natasha's Met Gala appearance on Monday was not her first time at the event.
In 2019, she turned heads in an icy-blue custom-made dress by designer Peter Dundas. The crystal embellished mini-dress worn, with a detachable draped skirt in blue and cinched at the waist by a silver belt, matched the theatrics on of the red carpet. As a nod to her Indian heritage, Natasha completed the look with a diamond maang tikka on her forehead.
Of her headline-grabbing dress at this year's Met Gala, she told Vogue India that she chose the Sabyasachi-Schiaparelli ensemble because it was "strong but feminine" and "a powerful tool for social change”
“Fashion to me is wearable art. Art in this sense is communication — it allows people from different cultures and times to communicate with each other via images, sounds and stories," she said. “I feel blessed to be present and happy to have survived the struggles that came with being part of the effort to fight the pandemic."
Scroll through the gallery below for the best-dressed celebrities at the Met Gala 2022:
Super 30
Produced: Sajid Nadiadwala and Phantom Productions
Directed: Vikas Bahl
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Pankaj Tripathi, Aditya Srivastav, Mrinal Thakur
Rating: 3.5 /5
AIDA%20RETURNS
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More from Janine di Giovanni
Six large-scale objects on show
- Concrete wall and windows from the now demolished Robin Hood Gardens housing estate in Poplar
- The 17th Century Agra Colonnade, from the bathhouse of the fort of Agra in India
- A stagecloth for The Ballet Russes that is 10m high – the largest Picasso in the world
- Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1930s Kaufmann Office
- A full-scale Frankfurt Kitchen designed by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, which transformed kitchen design in the 20th century
- Torrijos Palace dome
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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The%20specs
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GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
SPECS
Mini John Cooper Works Clubman and Mini John Cooper Works Countryman
Engine: two-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Transmission: nine-speed automatic
Power: 306hp
Torque: 450Nm
Price: JCW Clubman, Dh220,500; JCW Countryman, Dh225,500
If you go
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Seattle from Dh5,555 return, including taxes.
The car
Hertz offers compact car rental from about $300 (Dh1,100) per week, including taxes. Emirates Skywards members can earn points on their car hire through Hertz.
The national park
Entry to Mount Rainier National Park costs $30 for one vehicle and passengers for up to seven days. Accommodation can be booked through mtrainierguestservices.com. Prices vary according to season. Rooms at the Holiday Inn Yakima cost from $125 per night, excluding breakfast.
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Nepotism is the name of the game
Salman Khan’s father, Salim Khan, is one of Bollywood’s most legendary screenwriters. Through his partnership with co-writer Javed Akhtar, Salim is credited with having paved the path for the Indian film industry’s blockbuster format in the 1970s. Something his son now rules the roost of. More importantly, the Salim-Javed duo also created the persona of the “angry young man” for Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan in the 1970s, reflecting the angst of the average Indian. In choosing to be the ordinary man’s “hero” as opposed to a thespian in new Bollywood, Salman Khan remains tightly linked to his father’s oeuvre. Thanks dad.
Fire and Fury
By Michael Wolff,
Henry Holt
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UFC%20FIGHT%20NIGHT%3A%20SAUDI%20ARABIA%20RESULTS
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Results
Stage seven
1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates, in 3:20:24
2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers, at 1s
3. Pello Bilbao (ESP) Bahrain-Victorious, at 5s
General Classification
1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates, in 25:38:16
2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers, at 22s
3. Pello Bilbao (ESP) Bahrain-Victorious, at 48s
Uefa Nations League: How it works
The Uefa Nations League, introduced last year, has reached its final stage, to be played over five days in northern Portugal. The format of its closing tournament is compact, spread over two semi-finals, with the first, Portugal versus Switzerland in Porto on Wednesday evening, and the second, England against the Netherlands, in Guimaraes, on Thursday.
The winners of each semi will then meet at Porto’s Dragao stadium on Sunday, with the losing semi-finalists contesting a third-place play-off in Guimaraes earlier that day.
Qualifying for the final stage was via League A of the inaugural Nations League, in which the top 12 European countries according to Uefa's co-efficient seeding system were divided into four groups, the teams playing each other twice between September and November. Portugal, who finished above Italy and Poland, successfully bid to host the finals.
SERIE A FIXTURES
Friday Sassuolo v Torino (Kick-off 10.45pm UAE)
Saturday Atalanta v Sampdoria (5pm),
Genoa v Inter Milan (8pm),
Lazio v Bologna (10.45pm)
Sunday Cagliari v Crotone (3.30pm)
Benevento v Napoli (6pm)
Parma v Spezia (6pm)
Fiorentina v Udinese (9pm)
Juventus v Hellas Verona (11.45pm)
Monday AC Milan v AS Roma (11.45pm)
Sanju
Produced: Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Rajkumar Hirani
Director: Rajkumar Hirani
Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Vicky Kaushal, Paresh Rawal, Anushka Sharma, Manish’s Koirala, Dia Mirza, Sonam Kapoor, Jim Sarbh, Boman Irani
Rating: 3.5 stars
RESULTS
Bantamweight:
Zia Mashwani (PAK) bt Chris Corton (PHI)
Super lightweight:
Flavio Serafin (BRA) bt Mohammad Al Khatib (JOR)
Super lightweight:
Dwight Brooks (USA) bt Alex Nacfur (BRA)
Bantamweight:
Tariq Ismail (CAN) bt Jalal Al Daaja (JOR)
Featherweight:
Abdullatip Magomedov (RUS) bt Sulaiman Al Modhyan (KUW)
Middleweight:
Mohammad Fakhreddine (LEB) bt Christofer Silva (BRA)
Middleweight:
Rustam Chsiev (RUS) bt Tarek Suleiman (SYR)
Welterweight:
Khamzat Chimaev (SWE) bt Mzwandile Hlongwa (RSA)
Lightweight:
Alex Martinez (CAN) bt Anas Siraj Mounir (MAR)
Welterweight:
Jarrah Al Selawi (JOR) bt Abdoul Abdouraguimov (FRA)
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Stormy seas
Weather warnings show that Storm Eunice is soon to make landfall. The videographer and I are scrambling to return to the other side of the Channel before it does. As we race to the port of Calais, I see miles of wire fencing topped with barbed wire all around it, a silent ‘Keep Out’ sign for those who, unlike us, aren’t lucky enough to have the right to move freely and safely across borders.
We set sail on a giant ferry whose length dwarfs the dinghies migrants use by nearly a 100 times. Despite the windy rain lashing at the portholes, we arrive safely in Dover; grateful but acutely aware of the miserable conditions the people we’ve left behind are in and of the privilege of choice.
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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Canada
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Who is Mohammed Al Halbousi?
The new speaker of Iraq’s parliament Mohammed Al Halbousi is the youngest person ever to serve in the role.
The 37-year-old was born in Al Garmah in Anbar and studied civil engineering in Baghdad before going into business. His development company Al Hadeed undertook reconstruction contracts rebuilding parts of Fallujah’s infrastructure.
He entered parliament in 2014 and served as a member of the human rights and finance committees until 2017. In August last year he was appointed governor of Anbar, a role in which he has struggled to secure funding to provide services in the war-damaged province and to secure the withdrawal of Shia militias. He relinquished the post when he was sworn in as a member of parliament on September 3.
He is a member of the Al Hal Sunni-based political party and the Sunni-led Coalition of Iraqi Forces, which is Iraq’s largest Sunni alliance with 37 seats from the May 12 election.
He maintains good relations with former Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki’s State of Law Coaliton, Hadi Al Amiri’s Badr Organisation and Iranian officials.
![Poonawalla at the Exhibition Opening of L'Exibition[niste] by Christian Louboutin as part of Paris Fashion Week Womenswear Fall/Winter 2020/2021 on February 24, 2020. Getty Images For Christian Louboutin](https://www.thenationalnews.com/resizer/v2/JDPVJN3LENG6LEKJXV7TIO6OII.jpg?smart=true&auth=aa23845297bbdf21a160f7ae2e8b078055540616bd7c0cd085cdea7d36fb9bcb&width=800&height=450)
