The ‘racetrack schoolboy’ who built a cloud kitchen empire: How Naga Chaitanya is silently transcending his ‘actor’ identity

The cloud kitchen that started with a craving

Shoyu, his Japanese-inspired cloud kitchen, did not begin with a business plan. It began with hunger, and a lot of time on his hands during the COVID-19 lockdown. “Japanese cuisine is very close to my heart. It’s my favorite cuisine. Whenever I travel the world, it’s Japanese cuisine that I’m always eating first. I wanted to bring that flavor, bring that palette to Hyderabad in some way,” he said.

His original instinct was to open a restaurant. But the pandemic changed everything. As dining rooms shut and delivery apps surged, he spotted a gap. “I felt there’s a gap in the market for a cloud kitchen that actually packages food well and sends food home, like how it’s plated in a restaurant, with that kind of an approach.” Ensuring the food arrived at the customer’s door in good condition proved to be a discipline of its own. “In a cloud kitchen, you’re not seeing anything. It’s just the packet coming to your door with the delivery boy. It has to be about the food. There can’t be any mistakes there.”

Before any dish reaches a customer though, it passes a test closer to home. When Naga Chaitanya is working on new recipes, his wife Sobhita Dhulipala is usually the first to try them. “At home, whenever food trials are happening and I’m trying out new dishes, Sobhita keeps trying the food and gives me feedback,” he said. He describes her input as part of what has shaped the menus. “Family has been a great support for me in this as well.”

And if Sobhita is the in-house critic for Shoyu, Nagarjuna has made his loyalties with Scuzi, the second brand, very clear. The veteran actor is a devoted fan of its pizzas, to the point where it has become a weekly ritual. “My dad loves the pizzas from Scuzi. Every Sunday he keeps calling me up and saying, what new pizzas do you have? Send me some over,” Naga Chaitanya said, laughing.

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Shoyu now operates cloud kitchens in Bangalore and Delhi in addition to its Hyderabad presence and airport outlet. Scuzi, a comfort food brand built around bread and cheese, is going further still, with a physical cafe expected to open in Madhapur around July. Both brands remain entirely bootstrapped. “The founders are still pushing it,” the actor said. He draws a direct parallel between food and film. “It’s like movies for me. You get a script, you make it your own, you bring it to the screen and the audience judges you for it. The whole process of the craft is sort of similar.”

From racetrack weekends to owning a team

Long before cloud kitchens, there were cars. Fast ones, going around circuits in Chennai, watched by a schoolboy who kept coming back without quite knowing why. “Racing has been a hobby from a very young age. During my school days, I used to go almost every other weekend to Sri Perambadur racetrack and watch the local national championships. A lot of the racing inspiration came from there.”

Those weekends eventually led to something larger. Naga Chaitanya is now co-owner of Hyderabad Blackbirds in the Indian Racing League, founded by Akhilesh Reddy, for whom he has clear admiration. “I would totally give credit to him for taking this daring step and investing so much in motorsport. It’s almost like a dream come true to be up close with motorsport, with these open seater formula cars.” The street circuit format, he says, is what makes the league special. “It happens on roads that everyone relates to. Suddenly when they close down and you see these fast cars going around, it’s a totally different experience. The adrenaline is much higher.”

Tandel, the award and what comes next

Naga Chaitanya during the making of his upcoming film Vrushakarma.

Earlier this year, Naga Chaitanya received the Gaddar State Award from the Government of Telangana for Tandel, a film rooted in the true story of fishermen from Srikakulam. “It’s been such a close film to my heart. It was such a heroic journey, the struggle they went through and how they came out of it. When your true efforts are recognized, it’s something you’ll cherish for all your life.”

His upcoming release Vrushakarma is a sharp departure, as it is an action-mythology thriller which is “larger than life in every frame.” He is particularly excited about the ending. “The last 25 minutes of the film is something everyone should look forward to. It’s going to be very fresh, the way Karthik has put together the climax. I believe you’ve not seen anything like it before in Indian cinema.” He also confirmed that Dootha 2 is in the works, saying, “Work is going on.”

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At Annapurna Studios, he has focused on post-production, closely involved in setting up what he calls South India’s only Dolby Atmos mix studio. Building the production vertical further, he says, is a clear priority going forward.

Asked what advice he would offer fans looking to build something beyond a single career, his answer was patient and direct. “Don’t aim for overnight results. Plan it for a three to five year horizon. All good things take time. It’s baby steps to success. Be as original as possible and don’t try to find shortcuts. Take the real way there, the organic way.”