Bollywood star Alia Bhatt and Filipina Broadway singer Lea Salonga are among the second batch of stars to be hounoured as part of Time magazine's inaugural Time100 Impact Awards. The first round of accolades were handed out in Dubai in March.
This latest ceremony was held in Singapore on Sunday. Recipients included Iranian-American microbiologist and infectious diseases expert Dr Pardis Sabeti and Gregory L Robinson, the American former director of the James Webb Space Telescope Programme.
At the first event in Dubai, Time said the Impact Awards "recognise leaders who have done extraordinary work to shape their fields and the world at large".
“These scientists, entertainers, storytellers and changemakers are moving all of us forward, one extraordinary action at a time,” said Time's chief people officer Sue Suh at the National Gallery Singapore, marking the first time the awards were being presented in the Asia-Pacific region.
Bhatt, an acclaimed actress who is also known for her advocacy of mental health issues, wore a flowing custom bronze gown by Indian designer duo Gauri and Nainika to the event, and posed for pictures as she proudly cradled her baby bump.
Bhatt, 29, who married actor Ranbir Kapoor, 40, in a glamorous ceremony in Mumbai in April, announced in June that she is expecting their first child.
Scroll through the gallery above for more pictures from the Time 100 Impact Awards in Singapore
The Time honour caps what has been an eventful year for the actress. Her film RRR, a Telugu-language period epic, is now one of the highest-grossing Indian films in history, while her Bollywood film Brahmastra: Part One — Shiva — which also stars husband Kapoor — is the highest-grossing Hindi film of 2022 so far. She's also received rave reviews for her Netflix film Darlings, in which she plays a domestic abuse survivor who decides to turn the tables on her husband.
In July, Bhatt wrapped up her first Hollywood film, Heart of Stone, an espionage thriller also starring Gal Gadot and Jamie Dornan.
"Ten years ago when I started working, all I thought about was how I would one day take over the world. How everyone, everywhere would know who I am and how hardworking and talented and intelligent and bright and flawless I am. I wanted to be perfect and I wanted the world to know it," Bhatt said while receiving the award.
"Ten years later, I’m receiving one of the most prestigious awards on this global platform. And I have no idea how I got here or what I’ve done to deserve this. But, what I do know is: if it falls to me in any way to lead by example, be a role model or make any kind of impact, I want to do it in as human and as flawed a way as possible. Because, after all these years, the thing I’ve realised is [that] it’s the flaws that make you. Perfection is boring.
"Through my movies and my characters, I’ve tried to celebrate flawed people. Because at the end of the day, it’s the imperfections that make a character compelling. So what I’m trying to say is that being yourself is truly the greatest impact that you could make. In the movies and in life, you do not have to be perfect; you just have to bring everything you have — the lows, the highs and the real things we are actually afraid of speaking about. There’s no greater impact than being yourself."
Salonga, 51, best known for her singing in Disney films Aladdin and Mulan as well as her work in hit Broadway shows, was honoured for being a role model for people of colour.
“In her four-decade award-winning career as an actress and singer, Salonga has emerged not only as a Disney and Broadway icon, but a role model for children of colour," Time said. "Salonga prides herself on promoting representation in Hollywood and on Broadway, and showing underrepresented groups that their stories matter."
"As a precocious 7-year-old in the Philippines enamoured with theatre footlights and music, I never imagined I’d be called out — in a good way — for being impactful," Salonga said in her acceptance speech. "I mean, I just wanted to make people smile, I just wanted to entertain. And doing that became so much more important to me over the last two and a half years."
The singer said she wanted to share her award "with my fellow entertainers all over the world".
"Through a time of great uncertainty and darkness, [they] continued to do what they were put on this earth to do. To take our minds off our woes and troubles, even for just a few minutes, through song or dance or words. They brought us music virtually from their living rooms, made music and television shows via Zoom, played instruments and sang arias out the windows of their apartment buildings," she said.
"They gave eyes and ears a rest from the constant barrage of sirens and bad news. They showed up. They were, in a word, impactful. And this is for them."
The Time100 Impact Awards is an extension of the magazine's long-running "most influential" annual list.
"Just as Time's annual list recognises achievement in one year, we also know influence endures. The Time100 Impact Awards, recognise leaders who, through sustained effort, have done extraordinary work to shape the future of their industries and the world at large," the magazine said.
Recipients of the awards at the inaugural event in Dubai in March included Bollywood star Deepika Padukone, UAE Minister of State for Advanced Technology Sarah Al Amiri, British-Ghanian architect Sir David Adjaye and Nigerian economist Tony Elumelu.
Scroll through the gallery below for more pictures from the inaugural Time100 Impact Awards
