Vogue Values: Women of Excellence, presented by Tira, had its share of unforgettable moments — one would expect nothing less from a room full of exceptional women. One of the most heartwarming ones was when Aneet Padda stepped onto the stage to accept her award, smiling and composed, already warning the audience that she was a “big talker” and that she had something important to say.
The 23-year-old actor began with a memory from her childhood, recounting what she thought a woman of excellence would look like as an eight-year-old. “I thought a woman of excellence would be a princess in a castle. Or a woman of excellence would be somebody who can do a cartwheel or run faster than a car or fight battles like a soldier.” She shared with the room how, as she grew up, excellence slowly began to feel conditional, like something the world decided for you instead of something you could work towards.
The young actor has already added a series of notches to her belt, with roles in Salaam Venky (2022) and Big Girls Don’t Cry (2024), not to forget her portrayal of Vaani in Saiyaara (2025), which became the highest-grossing Indian romantic film of all time, making her one of the nation’s most beloved stars.
But her speech turned away from her personal accomplishments toward something more profound. Padda told the audience about her mother, about how her mom’s childhood was very different from her own. “She had to learn to take care of herself at a very young age. But there was no award waiting for her at the end of it. There was no applause for her. Nothing really to see.” She shared an anecdote, telling the room about how her mom saved up for years to take her and her sister on a trip abroad. “Remember, in a city like Amritsar, it’s not common for a mom to take her two daughters somewhere outside India without her husband. But it was so important to her that her daughters see the world so that they could change what they believed to be possible for themselves. For us, it was just a trip, but for her, it was something entirely different.”
