From consumer brands to tech investments, they’re building businesses that go beyond stardom.
Indian actors are increasingly building businesses rooted in personal experience, consumer insight, and long-term brand identity.
Celebrity entrepreneurship is no longer limited to endorsements or brand collaborations.
Across India, a growing number of actors are stepping into business with a more hands-on approach, launching ventures in beauty, wellness, healthcare, artificial intelligence, and consumer products. What makes this shift interesting is that many of these businesses are deeply tied to the founders’ personal experiences rather than simply their public image.
Instead of attaching their names to existing brands, they are building companies designed around gaps they personally noticed in the market.
Here are five Indian female celebrities actively building businesses beyond cinema.
Kriti Sanon
Kriti Sanon has steadily expanded her presence beyond entertainment into wellness and skincare entrepreneurship.
In 2022, she entered the fitness space through her startup The Tribe. A year later, she launched skincare brand Hyphen in partnership with PEP Technologies.
Hyphen focuses on combining nature-driven ingredients with science-backed skincare formulations. The company’s product portfolio includes sunscreens, serums, moisturizers, and face creams aimed at younger Indian consumers.
The brand has also gained attention for its marketing strategies, including a recent campaign where Sanon playfully announced she was stepping down as “Chief Customer Officer” before revealing a new title: “Chief SPF Officer” for the launch of its sunscreen campaign.
Her approach reflects a larger trend where celebrity founders are becoming deeply involved in product positioning and brand storytelling rather than remaining passive ambassadors.
Sanya Malhotra
Sanya Malhotra’s entrepreneurial journey emerged from something personal and surprisingly simple: replacing coffee with matcha.
After becoming interested in matcha’s lower caffeine content and wellness benefits, she connected with wellness entrepreneurs Dr. Kunal Shah and Siddharth Shah of Essenzaa Nutrition.
The collaboration eventually led to the creation of Bree Matcha.
The company sources premium matcha from Kagoshima, Japan, while packaging products in India. Its offerings include ceremonial-grade matcha, daily-use blends, and curated gift kits.
Rather than positioning itself purely as a beverage brand, Bree Matcha leans heavily into rituals, mindfulness, and wellness-focused lifestyles increasingly popular among younger urban consumers.
Bhumi Pednekar
Bhumi Pednekar has entered entrepreneurship through both technology and consumer products.
Last year, she co-founded Maya alongside Mihir Lath. The company focuses on AI-assisted content creation across advertising, films, and music videos while also supporting the growth of India’s animation ecosystem.
Pednekar has spoken openly about how expensive storytelling and production can be for emerging brands and creators. Exploring AI tools showed her how technology could significantly lower production costs while expanding creative possibilities.
Alongside her technology venture, she also launched premium beverage label Backbay Aqua with her sister Samiksha Pednekar.
The company’s first offering centers around natural Himalayan mineral water positioned within the growing premium wellness beverage segment.
Rashmika Mandanna
Rashmika Mandanna entered the fragrance industry through her brand Dear Diary, a company built around memory, emotion, and storytelling.
Unlike conventional celebrity perfume launches focused mainly on glamour, Dear Diary positions scent as a deeply personal experience tied to nostalgia and identity.
Mandanna has said the fragrances draw inspiration from sensory memories connected to her upbringing in Coorg, including jasmine, sugarcane, coffee estates, and pink lotus.
The debut collection includes fragrances named National Crush, Irreplaceable, and Controversial.
The brand evolved from her social media journaling style, where she regularly shared vulnerable and reflective moments with followers, helping create an emotional connection that now extends into the business itself.
Lisa Ray
Lisa Ray’s entrepreneurial journey emerged from deeply personal health experiences.
After publicly battling multiple myeloma, she later revealed that cancer treatment also triggered medical menopause, a topic she felt remained poorly discussed and unsupported within healthcare systems.
That experience led her to co-found NuHer, a Mumbai-based clinic focused on menopause and perimenopause care.
NuHer combines medical, psychological, and lifestyle support designed specifically for women navigating hormonal health challenges during midlife.
Ray has emphasized that the company’s mission extends beyond treatment. It also aims to increase awareness and reduce stigma surrounding menopause conversations in India.
Beyond Celebrity Branding
What connects these ventures is that they are not built purely around fame.
Each founder identified a problem, experience, or market gap that felt personally meaningful, then used that understanding to build businesses with a stronger long-term identity.
Some focus on wellness. Others focus on AI, healthcare, beauty, or emotional storytelling.
But together, they reflect a broader shift in entrepreneurship itself.
Modern celebrity founders are increasingly expected to bring more than visibility.
Consumers now look for authenticity, involvement, and a believable connection between the founder and the product being built.
Photo, Source: YS
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