The Side Hustle: Why Every Bollywood Star Wants a Brand Now The biggest stars are no longer limiting themselves to just endorsements and movie posters; they are building brands.
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Gone are the days when a Bollywood star's career arc was predictable. From films to endorsements and then a production house - that's not the playbook anymore. The biggest stars are no longer limiting themselves to just endorsements and movie posters; they are building brands. What looks like a side hustle has now become the biggest reinvention of stardom. But why is every star suddenly a founder? Let's dig in!
A New Script: Stardom Meets Entrepreneurship
For decades, a Bollywood celebrity's business model was simple - act in films, earn through endorsements, and some of them got into production companies as well as politics. The celebrity-to-entrepreneur leap was rare, but today the celebs are capitalizing on their cultural capital to build scalable businesses. From Katrina Kaif launching Kay Beauty to Hrithik Roshan's HRX, the transition from star to entrepreneur has become a mainstream move. In a world where box office successes are becoming rare, a personal brand-backed business offers both longevity and financial security.
Why Beauty & Wellness Became Bollywood's Playground?
Beauty and skincare are perhaps the most saturated celebrity playgrounds. For the uninitiated, the Indian beauty and personal care industry is soon expected to cross $300 billion by the year 2027. It's therefore a perfect intersection of identity and income for film stars.
Why does beauty work in favour of a celebrity? The first thing that works in their favour is the authenticity advantage, as celebs embody aspirational beauty standards, making them credible brand faces. Secondly, it is also a high-margin business that provides better profitability than multiple ad campaigns. One of the most important factors is also that it has global expansion. With diaspora audiences, Indian celebs can push products internationally.
Fitness Is the New Stardom Currency
Stars like Hrithik Roshan, Shilpa Shetty, and Tiger Shroff have made their bodies their biggest investment by running businesses including HRX, fitness apps, and PROWL, respectively. We all know that their physique is their strongest USP, so they invested in their superpower, and their very presence became their biggest advertisement. They made us believe that fitness is not just about protein shakes but a lot more. The celebrities make us believe that we are not just buying a product from their brands but also buying a piece of their discipline and charisma.
It is also to be noted that the Indian fitness industry is projected to hit $12 billion by 2027, and it is ripe for celebrity-backed brands.
Food, Beverages & Celebrity Kitchens
From Genelia D'Souza and Riteish Deshmukh's healthy food ventures to Madhuri Dixit's homemade snacks brand, food is the most personal extension of a celebrity. Bollywood stars are not just packaging nostalgia but also gaining the trust of their fans and customers by scaling into D2C food businesses. A Bollywood star selling laddus or granola creates a sense of authenticity and instantly travels from kitchens to Amazon carts because the first thought that comes to mind is: "If it's good enough for them, it's good enough for me." With India's packaged food market crossing $70 billion, celebrity-led food ventures are carving niches in health, heritage, and indulgence.
The Main Hustle
For Bollywood, the side hustle is no longer 'side'. It's the main act that outlives stardom. Today, a celebrity's Instagram feed sells everything from skincare products to food items. Tomorrow, their legacy may not be their box office successes but the billion-dollar brands they built. Films gave them faces we knew, but business is giving them empires we are all ready to buy from.
