EXCLUSIVE: Riteish Deshmukh thanks Shah Rukh Khan for launching his food brand: We are extremely indebted

Riteish Deshmukh and Genelia Deshmukh are one of the funniest and most loved couples from the Indian film Industry. Their love story is one for the ages and apart from being friends, partners and co-actors, Riteish and Genelia are each other’s business partners as well. During the pandemic, the couple adopted a vegan lifestyle, and soon after, they started their own line of plant-based meat products that has been running quite successfully. On the occasion of World Vegan Day today, the couple indulged in an exclusive conversation with Bollywood Bubble where they opened up about their lifestyle and business, and the contribution of Shah Rukh Khan in it.

 

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A post shared by Riteish Deshmukh (@riteishd)

What made Riteish and Genelia’s business idea quite popular from the beginning was Shah Rukh Khan and his involvement in it. The Badshah launched their brand with a quirky poster of his in the signature pose that he is known for, the open arms, with a packet of their brand’s food in each hand. When mentioned that, Riteish immediately jumps in to thank SRK for his kindness and gesture. He said, “We are extremely indebted to Shah Rukh Khan. He is a dear fan, a large-hearted person who, when I requested him that I am doing something like this and will you launch it for us, he didn’t even take a second. He said, Riteish kya karna hai bol mujhe and that’s the grace he has shown to us.”

 

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A post shared by Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk)

The couple also shed light on how is it being in business with each other. Riteish insisted, “First of all, we started off as good friends, then we started dating each other and then we got married. Of course we were co-actors. Working as actors, when you are dating someone is different. Post marriage, there is certain kind of experience. Every day you act with different people, as actors you change because films around you change, your experiences change. There is a sense of maturity, so the way you approached a scene 10 years ago, probably today I won’t approach it in the similar way. So there are certain changes that are adaptive. But irrespective of whatever we do, be it films, be it Imagine Meats or be it anything that we do, what is a priority for us is each other, above what we do. That is very important and we do what we love.”

 

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A post shared by Riteish Deshmukh (@riteishd)

Genelia went on to add, “I think there is nothing better than having someone that you trust because when you have different people, it’s a little bit of a trust factor that has to build up. Of course these are pros and cons and many people can’t work so close to their spouses. But I think with us, we are great partners and we work very closely. Honestly, with Imagine Meats, this was a brand we built with our personal experiences, so it’s not that we are just brand ambassadors. We put in a lot of our personal experience into it. And more so, because we were like if we carnivores who ate meat from Monday to Sunday, if we could make that switch, we can share our experience. And that kind of business model eventually, when the basics are right, I feel like it’s a good place to be in. “

You can watch the entire interview with Riteish and Genelia here:

Also Read: EXCLUSIVE: Riteish Deshmukh and Genelia Deshmukh open up on adapting to a vegan lifestyle