Bollywood Biz : Bollywood’s Business Savvy Club
Bollywood stars are more than just eye-candy. They are astute businessmen in their own
right, who know how to best capitalise on
their brand value. From designer lines, entertainment theme parks, all the way to lifestyle
gyms, these celebs have their fingers in every
possible pie.
Corporate Citizen brings you the
diverse business ventures of the who’s who of Tinsel town
Shah Rukh Khan
There is perhaps no better businessman in Bollywood than the
King Khan. SRK is not only one of the most sought out actors
in Bollywood, he is probably the actor with the most diverse
business portfolio. SRK owns a production house called Red
Chillies Entertainment, which is one of the leading production
houses in the country. He also owns a visual effects (VFX) studio
under the Red Chillies banner. He has a controlling 55 percent
stake in the IPL team Kolkata Knight Riders, which in itself is
worth $46 million. He also has a 26 percent stake in the Indian
arm of Latin America based Kidzania, an international chain of
family entertainment centres. Apart from these ventures, SRK
also owns a large amount of real estate all around the world,
which he leases as a form of additional income. The best part
about the Baadshah Khan is that he isn’t just a passive investor.
He is known to have taken very active interest in all his business
ventures to ensure that they are as big a blockbuster as his
movies.
Arjun Rampal
Apart from being a model and actor, Arjun Rampal also owns a
swanky bar-cum-lounge LAP. Designed by none other than the
first lady of Bollywood Gauri Khan, the restaurant stretches
across 17,000 sq ft space, divided into two sections — a
“members only” lounge and an alfresco dining area of 10,500
sq ft. Rampal, who takes his music seriously, has six resident
DJs and plans to use the restaurant to showcase young music
talent. Membership to the lounge area is exclusive and by
invitation only. In addition to the lounge, Arjun also runs an
event management company called Chasing Ganesha.
Sunil Shetty
Sunil Shetty’s golden streak
on the silver screen may
be a thing of the past, but
he is in no mood to retire.
Being a fitness freak himself,
Sunil runs a number of
gyms across India. He also
owns a production house
by the name of Popcorn
Entertainment, which has
produced films like Khel,
Rakht, BhagamBhag, Mission
Istanbul, EMI and Loot. Sunil
is the owner of Mischief, a
series of boutiques spread
across Mumbai. He has
even ventured into designing
and development of luxury
real estate projects through
his venture S2 Reality. If
this wasn’t all, he owns a
few upscale restaurants
in Mumbai, which are
frequented by the who’s who
of the maximum city
Hrithik Roshan
Hrithik Roshan embodies fitness. Which is why, it comes as no surprise that he started his own
line of casual wear, HRx, which focuses on fitness and fashion. HR are the initials of his name
and the X stands for extreme. The brand was launched in an exclusive partnership with Myntra.
com, which manufactures the merchandise and sells it through its online store. The line is doing
so well, that Hrithik plans to set up exclusive offline retail outlets in the future. HRx is set to clock
sales of `100 crore by 2016. He is also the co-owner of the FC Pune City along with Wadhawan
Group and ACF Fiorentina with a total stake of Rs.21 crore
John Abraham
John Abraham has been Bollywood’s resident hunk for over
a decade now. John is way more than a pretty face, though.
He is an MBA graduate with a knack for business. He owns
a production house called JA Entertainment, which produced
the hit film Vicky Donor. A known fitness enthusiast, he is all
set to gang up with British boxing legend David Haye to open
up a fitness franchise that will focus on the art of boxing. John
Abraham also has a business partnership with American Real
estate Moghul and Presidential candidate Donald Trump, and
he has invested in the uber-posh Trump Towers residential
complexes Trump Towers, in Mumbai and Pune. Such is the
business savvy of John Abraham, that he has received the
Creative Entrepreneur of the Year title at the seventh edition of
NDTV Profit’s Business Leadership Awards
By Neeraj Varty
