With close to 58 million monthly consumers, India has the third largest podcast listenership in the world, covering a myriad of nuanced topics including love, friendship, entrepreneurship, financial freedom, sisterhood, movies, relationships and body positivity. This audio platform is a perfect way for women to make themselves heard and broadcast their thoughts and opinions freely, while building a tightly-knit community of listeners who can’t survive without their weekly fix of hilarious quips and social commentary.
Since the podcast trend is flying off the charts with a burgeoning community of consumers, it’s time to introduce you to some amazing women-led podcasts that offer inspiring, funny, and engaging content on various subjects. These podcasts deep dive into issues concerning Indian women including body-shaming, feminism, social justice and some lighter notes of cinema, books, gossip and much more. From the newly minted ‘What The Hell Navya’ by Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan’s granddaughter, Navya Nanda, exploring three generations of women delving into interesting discussions, to Swati Rawat’s ‘Vision-Nari’ podcast offering interviews with prominent female leaders in business, there’s no dearth of podcasts with Indian women at the helm.
Listen to these podcasts to distract yourself while you’re slogging in the gym, finishing chores or commuting to and from work—either way you’ll keep coming back for more.
Vision-Nari
Although I’m already sold thanks to the punny name of the podcast, Vision-Nari is much more than just its stellar name. The host Swati Rawat invites undiscovered gems from the world of business to talk about their inspiring career growth, personal life stories and struggles. The podcast highlights women leaders, visionaries, entrepreneurs and businesswomen from various fields and interviews them about their life journeys, aspirations and inspirations, along with debunking myths and preconceived notions on how to achieve success.
A voracious podcast consumer herself, Swati started her series once she realised that there were hardly any Indian women who are featured in glossy business magazines and coveted ‘30 Under 30’ lists, and weren’t getting the recognition they should. Today, the podcast is successfully serving her purpose and bringing to light many lesser-known leaders, and is a smash hit.
Listen to the podcast here!
Movie Wala Podcast
Hosted by cinema enthusiasts Tanvi and Flo, this podcast is perfect for listeners who love discussing films, dissecting their favourite scenes, best songs and other light-hearted gossip related to Bollywood—all served with a side of nostalgia! Movie Wala Podcast categorises Hindi movies into marital dramas, family sagas, romantic comedies and so on, and has in-depth, meaty conversations about them. Although they don’t claim to be snooty movie critics, they analyse and decode the work of iconic actors and directors and reminisce about the best moments of the Hindi industry in their own unique and wholesome way.
If you’re a Bollywood nerd ready to be quizzed on film trivia any time of the day, and live, sleep, breathe Hindi movies, this podcast is definitely your jam. The hosts are building an engaged community of cinephiles and doing a very good job at that.
Listen to the podcast here!
Fat. So?
Have you ever been casually body-shamed by ignorant aunties at the last family function you reluctantly attended? Or been subjected to cruel fat/skinny jokes or been given unwanted opinions on your choice of clothing or your diet? If you said yes, we’re all sailing in the same boat. Fortunately, millennials and Gen Z’ers are shedding this nasty societal practice and are at the forefront of a vehement body-positivity movement, offering some fresh, new perspectives.
Helmed by Ameya Nagarajan and Pallavi Nath, the podcast discusses the pains, joys, learnings, unlearnings and the silver linings of being on the wrong end of the weighing scale. They highlight the issues faced by fat people in India, especially by women. With an aim of combating fatphobia, the hosts candidly converse about societal expectations and norms, self-love, loneliness, love, sex, and the dynamic journey of a person constantly trying to lose weight.
Listen to the podcast here!
Chuski Pop
Another relatable podcast hosted by two firecrackers Sweety and Pappu, Chuski Pop is a feel-good fortnightly series featuring some of the most loved personalities in pop culture and soulful discussions covering every random topic you could concoct. These ladies radiate the aura of an older sister or BFF offering life advice with a dash of wit and fun that every young girl wishes to have.
Describing themselves as the “two Desi chicks riding the fourth wave of feminism in their salwar kameez and golden heels, while flipping birds to aunties and bringing us stories from far-away lands and the motherland,” the hosts’ woke tales and candour is not to be missed. Sweety and Pappu create awe-inspiring art as well, which is available for sale on their website.
If you’re keen on listening to quips on Indian culture, feminism, sexuality, issues faced by the LGBTQ+ community, Bollywood, the ’90s, bad art, existential crises, puppies and more, go catch Chuski Pop, like, yesterday!
Listen to the podcast here!
What the Hell Navya
An exciting and refreshingly candid podcast that was started just last month by Navya Naveli Nanda, women’s health advocate and granddaughter of Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan, ‘What The Hell Navya’ brings together three generations of women of the Bachchan family — Navya Nanda, Shweta Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan—to discuss diverse subjects including financial independence, fame, personal stories and secrets, careers, ageing, love, parenting, friendship, and more. The show is already on its way to becoming a safe space for women belonging to different age groups and offers diverse insights, perspectives and opinions on various fun topics. The power-packed trio “comes together to share stories you have never heard before,” says the promo video, and we can’t wait to tune in to the lives of these three elusive personalities.
Listen to the podcast here!
