Anuja Chauhan Wiki, Age, Husband, Family, Biography & More

Anuja Chauhan is an Indian author, advertiser, and a screenwriter. She is known for her written works like The Zoya Factor (2008), ^{Battle For Bittora (2010), Those Pricey Thakur Girls (2013), The House That BJ Built (2015), Baaz (2017), and Club You To Death (2021).}

Wiki/Biography

Anuja Chauhan was born on Thursday, 17 September 1970 (age 53 years; as of 2023) in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. Her zodiac sign is Virgo.  She did her schooling at the Army Public School, New Delhi, Sophia Girls Convent, Meerut Cantonment, and Delhi Public School, Mathura Road, New Delhi. She gained a bachelor’s degree in economics from Miranda House, Delhi University. Anuja Chauhan attained her postgraduate diploma in mass communication from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT).

Family

Parents & Siblings

Anuja Chauhan’s father was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Indian Army. He took premature retirement and migrated to Australia. Her mother-in-law, Margaret Alva is the former General Secretary of the All India Congress Committee, a senior leader of the Indian National Congress, and the former Governor of Rajasthan. Anuja Chauhan has three elder sisters, Padmini, Rohini, and Nandini. Her older sister Nandini Bajpai is also an author.

Husband & Children

In 1989, Anuja Chauhan met Niret Alva, a television presenter and producer during the production of their college play in Delhi. In 1994, Anuja Chauhan married Niret Alva. In 2002, the couple moved to Gurgaon, a Delhi suburb. Anuja Chauhan has two daughters, Niharika Alva, and Nayantara Alva, and a son Daivik John Alva.

Religion/Religious Views

Anuja Chauhan converted to Christianity eleven years after marriage. In 2018, she became post-religious.

Autograph

Career

Advertising

In 1993, Anuja Chauhan joined JWT, Delhi and served there for seventeen years. She created several iconic catchphrases like ‘Yeh Dil Maange More,’ ‘Mera Number Kab Aayega,’ ‘Nothing official about it,’ and ‘Oye Bubbly.’ She created catchphrases mostly for Pepsi, and Cola. By 2003, Anuja Chauhan, at the age of at age 33, became the Senior Creative Director, and one of the youngest Vice Presidents in JWT.In August 2010, Anuja Chauhan left her position as vice president and executive creative director at JWT to focus on writing. She was ranked 26th in the Creative Rankings 2010, a list of the top executive creative directors in Asia-Pacific. In 2011, she was the sole Indian to serve on the One Show Jury. She has continued to work as a consultant in advertising. As a consultant for the JWT, she re-started working on the Pepsi brand in 2014 and provides consulting services.

Writer

• ‘The Zoya Factor’ in 2008, published by HarperCollins.

• ‘Battle For Bittora: The Story Of India’s Most Passionate Lok Sabha Contest’ in 2010, published by HarperCollins.

• Her third book, ‘Those Pricey Thakur Girls’, set in pre-liberalization India, was published by HarperCollins in January 2013.

• ‘The House That BJ Built’ in May 2015 published by Westland.

• ‘Baaz’ in April 2017, published by HarperCollins.

• ‘Club You To Death’ in February 2021.

Awards, Honours, Achievements

• In 2011, Anuja Chauhan was featured in Femina magazine’s list of the 50 most beautiful women in India, and her name was on the list of the top 50 most powerful women in the country in MSN’s The Influentials.

• In 2017, Anuja Chauhan won the Femina Women Achievers Award, in the Literary contribution category.

• In 2018, she was awarded by the FICCI Ladies Organization for her contribution to Literature.

• In 2008, her novel, The Zoya Factor won India’s Fun Fearless Female Award for literature.

• In 2009, she was awarded the India Today Woman award for Woman as a Storyteller featured in Cosmopolitan Magazine. It was longlisted for the India Plaza Golden Quill in 2009.

Facts/Trivia

• The popular catchphrases that Anuja Chauhan worked on include ‘Darr Ke Aage Jeet Hai’ for Mountain Dew, ‘Tedha Hai par Mera Hai’ for Kurkure, ‘Be a Little Dillogical’, for Lays Chips and ‘KitKat Break Banta Hai’ for Nestle Kit Kat.

• Anuja Chauhan’s novel The Zoya Factor was optioned for a film by Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment production company. Subsequently, the rights were purchased by Pooja Shetty Deora’s Walkwater Films. The film, also titled The Zoya Factor, directed by Abhishek Sharma, produced by Fox Star Studios, Adlabs and Walkwater Films, with dialogues by Chauhan, and starring Sonam Kapoor and Dulquer Salmaan was scheduled for release in September 2019.

• In October 2010, her book, Battle For Bittora was released by actor Saif Ali Khan in Delhi, for critical approval from India Today, Outlook, The Week and Tehelka magazines.

• Anuja Chauhan also wrote the screenplay for the commercial feature film Guppie, a love tale helmed by Bollywood producer Nikhil Advani.