Bollywood actress Genelia D’Souza turns entrepreneur, ventures into food business

Her Twitter bio says ‘actor-producer’, but Genelia D’Souza Deshmukh can now add entrepreneur to her title as the star ventures into the food business.

Genelia has teamed up with her husband, actor-architect Riteish Deshmukh to launch a new plant-based meat brand called Imagine Meats. The actress made the announcement on social media, sharing her enthusiasm about the venture with her fans.

“For over 3 years Riteish and I have nurtured a dream to work towards food choices that are good for you, the animals and our planet. After endless discussions, countless reworks with our food scientists and technologists from America, Germany and India, we are happy to launch our Plant Meat Based Venture @ImagineMeats, on the auspicious occasion of ‘Ganesh Chaturthi’. Hope you like the meals we have cooked for you,” she posted.

Their venture also got the backing from Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan who also took to his social media to give them a boost. “My friends @geneliad & @Riteishd were discussing who would launch their Plant-Based Meats Venture. I opened my arms wide and said Main Hoon Naa,” he tweeted, playing on the name of his film, which translates to ‘I am here’.

While details of the brand are still being unveiled, the couple appear to have tapped into a market that follows the same mantra as the Beyond Meat company, which is available here in the UAE.

Genlia and Riteish are one of the most loved couples in Bollywood, having secretly dated for years before tying the knot in 2012. The couple have two sons, Riaan and Rahyl. While Genelia was last seen in ‘It’s My Life’ last year, Riteish had ‘Baaghi 3’ release in 2020. The actor has the Netflix film ‘Plan A Plan B’ in the pipeline.

Lately, we have seen other Bollywood stars diversify from acting with Deepika Padukone launching a lifestyle and beauty brand earlier this month, while Malaika Arora recently launched her own food bowl brand called Nude Bowls.