This Bollywood actor was once rejected for being ‘too good looking', now runs ₹100 cr skincare brand, fitness studios
However, success didn't come to her easily. After facing several rejections, including ones where she was told she was 'too good-looking' to be an actor, she braved it all and eventually bagged a National Award. Today, she is the proud owner of a ₹ 100 crore skincare brand and manages several fitness studios.
The outsider in Bollywood who defied all odds is Kriti Sanon.
Today, Kriti is one of the most popular female actors in the industry, who has worked alongside industry legends like Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol in Dilwale (2015). Over the years, she delivered multiple box office hits such as Bareilly Ki Barfi, Luka Chuppi, and Housefull 4. She won the prestigious National Film Award for her acclaimed performance in Mimi (2021).
She was last seen in Do Patti.
While Kriti's journey is truly commendable, she had to audition multiple times before landing her debut role. Talking about rejections, she once told Hindustan Times in 2017, "There were days when I was annoyed and irritated. On some days, I used to cry, because there was nothing to keep me busy. There were also times when I met a few people who told me that something was not right about me — someone told me, 'You're too good-looking. There has to be some sort of imperfection in you to look real on screen.' I think I did feel low, but at the same time, I did have people who believed in me a lot. That's what you need. I think that gave me a little more confidence.'
Not just films, Kriti is also a smart investor and among the new businesswomen in town.
Kriti launched her own skincare brand, Hyphen, in 2023.
Being an actor, Kriti, who is surrounded by makeup and beauty products, once told NDTV, "I'm a skin nerd; I really got into skincare during the Covid lockdown.'
She co-founded the brand with PEP Technologies, the company behind the popular brand mCaffeine. Hyphen earned ₹ 100 crore in just its first years, as per Forbes.
Hyphen is clashing big with other celebrity brands like Katrina Kaif's Kay Beauty, Mira Rajput's Akind and more.
While many might think that Kriti entered her entrepreneurial era with Hyphen, she was already into business with her fitness venture, The Tribe.
Launched in 2022, The Tribe was inspired by the role in Mimi, where she portrayed a pregnant woman. For the role, Kriti had gained around 15 kg. With gyms shut during COVID, Kriti struggled to return to her shape.
'I gained 15 kgs and I didn't know what to do,' she told Raj Shamani.
Later, she connected with four trainers and managed to lose all the weight by working out virtually in her room. Her experience sparked the idea of creating a fitness brand, which we know now as The Tribe. Kriti opened the first The Tribe fitness studio in 2022 in Mumbai's Juhu area. Following its success, she launched a second studio in Bandra in 2024, further expanding her brand.
Besides this, Kriti also has her own production house, Blue Butterfly Films, which she launched in 2023. In fact, her last film was backed by her production banner.
Kriti Sanon has also made some major investments in real estate. As per a Moneycontrol report, the actor has moved into a lavish apartment in Sandhu Palace, a premium building located in Mumbai's Bandra area. She is reportedly paying a monthly rent of ₹ 17 lakh, which totals nearly ₹ 2 crore annually.
She recently purchased a 2,000 sq ft plot in Alibaug in 2024, worth over ₹ 2 crore. It is a seaside property, a part of a high-end project that also includes a 10,000 sq. ft. plot owned by Amitabh Bachchan.
According to multiple reports, Kriti Sanon's net worth is currently estimated to be around ₹ 82 crore as of last year.
She will be next seen in the upcoming film, Tere Ishk Mein.
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Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
I don't want to break away, I just want space to breathe, says flautist Ritik Chaurasia
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Its wood worn with time, it still hums with dreams. 'It watches me,' Ritik half-jests. 'Some days it comforts me, while on others it reminds me to breathe slower. And some days it intimidates me, reminding me of the mountain of a musician in whose footsteps I must follow.' 'People don't just listen to me—they listen for echoes. Of guruji. Of papa. Of a sound that shaped a generation,' he says. 'But, while I am a Chaurasia, I am also Ritik—a 25-year-old still finding his phrasing.' And therein lies the paradox: the burden of legacy isn't always felt in performance halls—it's felt in the quiet of riyaaz, in the hush before the first note, in the impossibly long shadow of two legends. Raga-tuned childhood 'He was born into breath,' Rakesh Chaurasia, says, with a soft chuckle. 'There was not one moment when he chose the flute—it had already chosen him.' Ritik's earliest memories aren't of toys or cartoons—they're of early morning alaaps, of the soft hum of the tanpura coming from a closed room, of his grandfather's eyes closing just before the first note. 'His lullabies weren't nursery rhymes,' says Rakesh. 'They were ragas. The flute was and is omniscient in our household.' No surprise then that music wasn't taught to him—it seeped in, 'like monsoon rain through cracks in an old window'. There was no pressure. Just presence. The bansuri rested on tables, leaned against walls, breathed through the house. And somewhere, Ritik began to breathe with it. His maternal grandfather Harsh Vardhan—a revered flute-maker—once crafted a tiny bansuri for Ritik's five-year-old hands. 'He held it all wrong,' Rakesh laughs. 'But he blew into it. And the sound came. That was all we needed.' Still, Rakesh held back from becoming his teacher too soon. 'You can't rush music. It's like waiting for fruit to ripen.' During school holidays in Delhi, Ritik's first real lessons came from his maternal grandfather. 'He was patient,' Ritik remembers. 'By the time I was in Grade V, I could play Raga Bhoop. I'd play it for relatives like a party trick.' Even then, the burden wasn't far behind. 'Everyone smiled, but they listened with that look,' he recalls. 'The look that said, 'Let's see if he's like his father or grandfather.'' Rakesh remembers hoping Ritik would take to the bansuri, though he never pushed. 'Incidentally, we got a tabla teacher for my younger son Pratik when he showed interest—but the moment lessons began, he lost all desire,' he points out, recalling how he waited. He saw and heard of Ritik playing bhajans and the national anthem at school, but he wasn't sure yet. Until one summer, just after Ritik's Class X exams, the boy simply began asking, 'Papa are you free today? Will you teach me?' 'That's when I knew,' says Rakesh. 'The music wasn't just around him. It had taken root.' The sweet weight of inheritance To inherit is to carry both blessing and burden. Ritik walks that tightrope with grace. 'There's always that quiet comparison,' he says. 'Sometimes it feels like I'm auditioning to be myself.' It's a quiet rebellion—tempered by reverence. 'I don't want to break away. I just want space to breathe,' he says. 'Guruji always said—the flute isn't an instrument. It's a companion. You don't master it. You speak to it. You listen to it.' Legacy, for Ritik, isn't something to mimic. It's something to remember. He could have taken the easy path. Mimicry of a legendary style can earn instant adulation. But Ritik chose restraint. 'He doesn't try to impress,' says Mahesh Babu of Banyan Tree. 'He doesn't play to dazzle. He plays to dwell.' At a Shishya's Collective concert last year, where third-generation musicians gathered, Ritik performed Raga Megh. 'There was a hush in the room,' Babu recalls. 'Not because of what he played—but because of what he didn't. He let the music breathe. That takes courage.' Even when he ventures beyond classical confines—collaborating with jazz pianists, experimenting with spoken word, or composing for short films—he remains rooted in raag-ras. 'You can wear different colours, but you don't forget your skin,' he says. His Instagram snippets—sometimes just two minutes of Raag Yaman—aren't meant to chase likes. 'Maybe someone needs it on a rushed morning,' he shrugs. Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, now in his 80s, watches Ritik with quiet pride. 'He has that bhaav,' he says. 'You can teach notes. You can't teach emotion. That has to come from inside.' Then, with a playful glint, he adds, 'I fought to make the flute a concert instrument. Rakesh made it global. Now Ritik must make it eternal.' After a recent dusk recital—Raag Marwa unfurling like twilight—someone whispered, 'He doesn't sound like his grandfather. But he sounds like someone who remembers.' 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Hindustan Times
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