BACHCHAN means BUSINESS

To call Abhishek Bachchan an actor, entrepreneur, or sports mogul would be reductive. He embodies an evolved model of celebrity-one where creative pursuits like Ludo, I Want to Talk, Ghoomer and calculated investments feed into each other, redefining what success means beyond the screen, the balance sheet, and a family name synonymous with cinema.

- Kanaad Chatterjee

Born into a dynasty of legends, and educated in the west, you'd think Abhishek Bachchan's future was already mapped out even before he was born. And with characters like the swaggering anti-hero of Yuva (2004) or the whimsical gangster in Ludo or the cricket coach in Ghoomer (2023) or the marketing executive battling cancer in / Want to Talk (2024), he has constantly shown an appetite for a craft that accompanied the weight of his lineage. But instead of resting on those laurels or just sticking to a formula, unlike many contemporaries, Bachchan pivoted. And he did so not with the desperation of someone clinging to relevance, but with the precision of a chess player plotting an endgame.

What came next was a metamorphosis few anticipated. The second act of his career saw him building his own universe, expanding much further beyond the confines of the one he'd inherited. In 2014, Bachchan became the first actor star to own a professional kabaddi team-the Jaipur Pink Panthers. Sceptics scoffed. But his unconventional gamble marked the beginning of a new chapter.

In 2015, he was among the first few Bollywood celebrities to invest in a blockchain startup. The investment ballooned from $250,000 to $17.5 million when the company got acquired by NASDAQ-listed LongFin Corp. He also has a burgeoning real estate portfolio, reportedly amassing approximately 0.19 million square feet of property with a combined investment of Rs 219 crore. He was also a part of hyperlocal quick commerce platform Zepto's $350 million funding round along with Sachin Tendulkar, RP-Sanjay Goenka Group and the likes. His recent investment is a homegrown hot sauce brand, Naagin, which he serves at home to guests. "Love ignites the spark, but cold-eyed strategy fans the flame," he says, revealing the duality of shrewdness and passion, symbolic of a veteran investor who is at the top of his game.