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Bela Bajaria Age, Husband, Family, Biography & More

Bela Bajaria

Bio/Wiki
ProfessionBusinesswoman
Physical Stats & More
Height (approx.)in centimeters- 161 cm
in meters- 1.61 m
in feet & inches- 5’ 3”
Weight (approx.)in kilograms- 55 kg
in pounds- 121 lbs
Figure Measurements (approx.)34-30-34
Eye ColourLight Brown
Hair ColourBlack
Career
Awards, Honours, Achievements Honoured by the "I Have a Dream" Foundation of Los Angeles, The March of Dimes Foundation
Honoured by Lenny Somberg Award in 2018
Honoured by THR’s Women in Entertainment list, Variety’s LA Women’s Impact Report
Awarded with the Industry Leadership Award from the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles
Personal Life
Age (as of 2021) 55 Years
BirthplaceLondon
NationalityAmerican
HometownLos Angeles
SchoolTorrance High School
Rolling Hills High School
College/UniversityCollege of Liberal Arts, California State University
Educational QualificationBachelor of Arts degree in communications in 1995 [1]The Times Of India
Relationships & More
Marital StatusMarried
Family
Husband/SpouseDoug Prochilo (writer and producer)
Bela Bajaria And Her Husband
ParentsFather- Name not known (owns a business of car washes)
Mother- Name not known ( assisted her family in the business of car washes)
ChildrenSon- Enzo
Daughter- Sofia Prochilo and Rami Prochilo
Bela Bajaria With Her Daughters
SiblingsBrother- One (Name not known)
Sister- One (Name not known)

Bela_Bajaria

Some Lesser Known Facts About Bela Bajaria

  • Bela Bajaria is an Indian American businesswoman and a media executive. Bela oversees all the Netflix TV programming, including in English,  scripted and unscripted, series and limited series.
  • Her parents shifted to the US when Bela was just 4.
  • Bela’s parents owned car washes in Los Angeles, where Bela and her sister used to work. On weekends, both Bela and her sister worked as cashiers. In an interview with LA Times, she said,

    I felt like I had an amazingly strong family foundation, it was very rooted and very grounded… My parents came to America, to Los Angeles, without really knowing anyone. They started life from scratch. I felt pressure, not pressure really, but drive.” [2]Los Angeles Times

  • ” It was not cool to be Indian back in those days,” says Bela while sharing memories of her school days.
  • When asked by an interviewer that how she grew up to President of universal TV, she said,

    Moving to Los Angeles at 8 was very jarring. Being the oldest child, I absolutely felt a need and responsibility to succeed, to make good on my parents sacrifice. So that absolutely informed a lot of who I am.”[3]Variety

  • Not just a businesswoman, she is also a perfect mother. Both Rami and Sofia says,

    She’s taught us to put 100 per cent into everything and I’m proud that she does such a hard job and still has time for us.”

  • Both, Rami and Sofia appreciate their mother’s work but they didn’t want to choose entertainment as a profession. They said in an interview that

    It’s cool she gets to work with interesting people, and I like visiting the lot with my friends. But I don’t think I’d want to go into entertainment,” said Rami. It seems like everything is too different every day! I’ve always wanted to be a doctor. And Sofia said, “I want to play soccer.”

  • She was the winner of the Miss LA India contest, Miss India USA and Miss India Worldwide 1991.
  • When she was 19, Bela’s parents forced her to participate in a pageant contest so that she can meet Indian girls from all over the world. Bela added that

    The pageant made me embrace Indian culture on my terms. People were surprised that I won, but I think I did well because there were no stakes in it for me. I was confident because I didn’t have my identity riding on it.”

  • In an interview, while talking about her experience as a contestant in Indian American pageant, Bela said,

    I took the title very seriously. I used my platform to talk about the issues that really concerned me. How much you can achieve depends solely on you. I took every opportunity that came my way.”

  • In 2016, Bela joined Netflix as the VP of the local language originals and handled Netflix content for India, Asia, the Middle East, Turkey, Africa, and Latin America.
  • Her most famous shows include, “Indian Matchmaking,” “Never Have I,” and “Sacred Games”.
  • In the year 2020, the co-CEO of Netflix announced officially,

    Since joining Netflix in 2016, Bela has demonstrated her versatility and creativity – building out our unscripted team and helping to take our local language slate, which is increasingly important for our members, to the next level. In her new position, Bajaria will be taking over all the Netflix TV programming, including in English, scripted and unscripted, series and limited series.”

  • Fortune ranked Bela Bajaria 43rd in the list of Most Powerful Women, 2020 and they also wrote,

    Behind Squid Game’s sudden success is Bela Bajaria, Netflix’s Global TV chief who took the helm a year ago and oversees production of local language originals in 40 countries.”

  • She never wanted to be a Bollywood actress. She admitted this in an interview and said,

         I was not interested in becoming an actress or going to Bollywood. But i was predisposed to the entertainment industry.”

  • It was published in a magazine that positioning Bajaria as the leader of Netflix’s TV operations both domestically and abroad makes sense.

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