Bollywood’s leading stars are increasingly turning their fame, personal brands and consumer connect into businesses spanning fashion, beauty, fitness, healthcare and startups
Our Bureau
Mumbai
For decades, Bollywood success was largely measured by box-office numbers, awards, endorsements and the ability to remain relevant on the silver screen. But the definition of stardom is changing. A growing number of Bollywood actors are moving beyond films to build businesses of their own, transforming celebrity influence into entrepreneurial capital.
From children’s clothing and cosmetics to fitness, health-tech and nutrition, these ventures reflect a larger shift in India’s consumer economy. Bollywood stars are no longer simply endorsing products created by others. Increasingly, they are becoming founders, investors and brand builders, taking greater control over businesses associated with their names and personal identities.
The trend also underlines the growing power of celebrity-led consumer brands in India, where a large social-media following can provide a significant starting advantage. But sustaining a business requires more than visibility. Product quality, distribution, pricing, consumer trust and the ability to create a distinct identity have become equally important.
Alia Bhatt
Alia Bhatt entered the entrepreneurial world in 2020 with Ed-a-Mamma, a children’s clothing brand built around the idea of comfortable and environmentally conscious fashion.
The brand focuses on children’s apparel and has sought to differentiate itself through the use of natural materials and a sustainability-oriented approach. For Bhatt, the venture represents a move into a consumer category that goes beyond her identity as an actor.
Her entry into children’s fashion also reflects a broader trend in which Bollywood entrepreneurs attempt to build brands around values associated with their public personalities. In this case, sustainability, parenting and conscious consumption form an important part of the brand narrative.
Katrina Kaif
Katrina Kaif took her entrepreneurial ambitions into the fast-growing beauty and cosmetics market with Kay Beauty in 2019.
The brand combines Kaif’s celebrity profile with a dedicated product and retail strategy. According to available information, Kay Beauty has expanded to more than 300 retail stores across over 1,600 cities.
The journey illustrates the opportunities and challenges of celebrity-led beauty businesses. India’s cosmetics market has become increasingly competitive, with domestic and international brands fighting for consumers across physical stores and digital platforms.
For a celebrity brand to establish itself in such an environment, recognition can open the door, but repeat purchases and consumer confidence ultimately determine its staying power.
Hrithik Roshan
Hrithik Roshan has built one of Bollywood’s more recognisable fitness-focused brands through HRX.
The venture is associated with activewear, fitness products and an active lifestyle. Roshan’s long-standing public image as one of Bollywood’s fittest stars provides a natural connection between the actor and the brand.
HRX demonstrates how a celebrity’s personal identity can become an important component of a business proposition. Fitness is not merely a product category for the brand; it is connected to a lifestyle built around discipline, performance and physical wellbeing.
The model has also benefited from India’s expanding interest in fitness, sportswear and healthier lifestyles, particularly among younger urban consumers.
Kunal Kapoor
Kunal Kapoor has taken a different entrepreneurial route, combining technology, social impact and healthcare.
He co-founded Ketto with Varun Sheth and Zaheer Adenwala. The crowdfunding platform has focused on helping individuals and organisations raise money for social and medical causes and claims to have facilitated fundraising of more than $150 million.
Kapoor expanded his entrepreneurial interests further with MetaGo Health, launched in July 2026. The move takes him into the health-tech sector, a space that has attracted growing attention from entrepreneurs and investors as technology increasingly becomes part of healthcare delivery.
His journey is significant because it illustrates that celebrity entrepreneurship does not necessarily have to revolve around lifestyle products. Public recognition can also be used to build businesses addressing wider social and economic needs.
Ranveer Singh
Ranveer Singh has also moved into the consumer-business space with SuperYou, a protein-snacking brand that he co-founded.
The venture targets consumers looking for convenient snacks that combine taste with nutritional value. Its positioning reflects the growing convergence of food, fitness and lifestyle consumption in India.
For Singh, SuperYou represents an attempt to translate his energetic public persona into a consumer brand operating in a market where health-conscious eating is becoming increasingly mainstream.
The new Bollywood entrepreneur
The rise of celebrity entrepreneurship represents a broader transformation in India’s entertainment economy. Social media has made actors more directly connected with consumers, allowing them to develop audiences that extend beyond traditional film promotion.
For Bollywood, therefore, the entrepreneurial journey is becoming an important second act. The stars of today are not only seeking audiences in cinemas and on streaming platforms. They are also building companies, products and brands that can potentially exist beyond their film careers.
The Bollywood success story is consequently moving from the red carpet to the boardroom — where fame may open the door, but business strategy determines how far the journey goes.