Fresh Mint

Cameras went clicking when Hrithik Roshan reportedly bought a whopping Rs 45 crore Husman building in Mumbai. While the Roshans are denying the deal,sitting here in Chandigarh we can’t help but applaud it as a great investment,especially in times of recession. Who doesn’t want a secure future,and why only Roshans,check out the Khans – Shah Rukh has great stakes in Knight Riders,investments in Dubai,and we hear he still has a share in his restaurant Khidmat in Delhi. Sohail,Salman and Arbaaz have invested heavily in Goa,tell sources. Pritish Nandy has a commercial gym while Perizaad Zorabian has her very own cafe in Mumbai. Bobby Deol,buzzes the busy bee,makes more money from his restaurant business than films! In fact,recent reports covered the news about Dharmendra,Bobby,Esha and Aahana gearing up for a hospitality hub in Mumbai. The Deols already own ‘Some Place Else’ and will open two more restaurants – Suhana and Zion,Punjabi and Chinese respectively by this year end. While Suniel Shetty is a business pro,Salman and Sanjay Dutt jointly have stakes in the popular Mumbai pub ‘Poison’. Meanwhile,Akshay Kumar,after buying an 8.5 crore bungalow in Bandra,some more property in Mumbai and Mauritius is eyeing real estate in hometown Delhi. Katrina Kaif too is toying with the idea. But the one who is a high risk taker and minting is Mandira Bedi. Sources tell us the lady’s heavily into share market and real estate. Moving on to the other ladies,Shilpa Shetty wowed everyone with her perfume and DVD,Shilpa’s yoga. She also designed for Satya Paul and was penning a cookbook,Soul Curry. Off screen,Kajol’s busy with property dealing while Kareena Kapoor dabbled in fashion designing for Globus. Now,you must be wondering where is all this info heading – you see,from investing in cricket clubs,real estate to restaurants and fashion,our celebrities are dipping their fingers in more than one pie. “In a nutshell,they are getting smarter with the pots of money they make,” says publicist Dale Bhagwagar who can’t get the sorry image of yesteryear’s actor Mukri out of his head. “He was walking down the road with vegetables in his hand…so many celebrities have just vanished because they never bothered to save or invest,” Dale points at the short shelf life of this career and adds how in the present times,Bollywood folks are playing it smart.

“You can call it a retirement pension plan. Looks,stardom,glamour don’t last forever,and everyone is not Amitabh Bachchan,” Dale adds how a huge number of celebs are putting their money into construction,real estate and restaurant. “Because this is where the returns are high. Stock market is risky,speculative,it’s not everyone’s ball game,” he says. In fact,Dale’s client,Zulfi Syed along with cricketer Suresh Raina are planning to invest in a restaurant in Delhi. So are Arjun Rampal and wife Mehar Jessia who’ll be opening their restaurant cum lounge bar,‘Lap’ in the country’s capital in July. “DJing is one of my hobbies. It’s one of the reasons behind opening Lap. I plan to play a few nights there,after it opens,” the actor’s proud of his investment.

Back from Pune where he’s signed as a silent partner in a restaurant called ‘Trikaaya’,director Kunal Deshmukh calls this move selfish. “I don’t want to restrict myself to just the filmi crowd. With this,I not only get to meet new people,find new stories and characters,but have a steady flow of income,” Kunal says this allows him the luxury of making the kind of films he want to. After restaurants,he adds that it’s the real estate that’s hot with celebs. “God’s not making any more land,so whatever we have is prime. In any case,actors are minting enough,and investing in property is a safe bet,” he says. “When you make money,you want to make more,” is actor and host Vishal Malhotra’s funda. Into stocks along with director Ken Ghosh,he says such investments are increasing for they not only save tax,but distributes funds earned evenly. “A lot of investment bankers and brokers are being hired for the same,” he calls this compulsory saving,a by-product of their profession.

But the best reason for ten odd side-businesses is best stated by Dolly Bindra – “Roti,kapda aur makaan. These will always sell and make for excellent future investments,” says the actor cum business-woman all set to open her kitchen,Dolly Da Dhabha. Like they say,penny saved is penny earned!