Ranveer Singh’s Dhurandhar money story: With GIFs, guts and grit he turned energy into equity

Bayani later told Startupfox what happened next. “During this one basketball game, I told him, ‘I’m going to make you an offer you can’t refuse.'”

And that offer? Bayani revealed, it was just GIFs, without any complicated decks or numbers. His vision was “Ranveer Singh = Energy” and how it would make for a great partnership, while the third slide said, “Let’s ball.”

By the time the game was over, Ranveer Singh had agreed to become a 50% equity partner in SuperYou, a protein snacking brand that would go on to clock close to Rs 8.5 cr revenue in FY25, as per public records.

No other Bollywood star would close a deal like that. Because the deal did not require convincing, but the person on the other side of the table to already be the brand. And that, in the end, is the Ranveer Singh story.

Not just a Bollywood actor who endorses products, but a crowd puller who turned himself into one.

The Copywriter Who Would Not Wait

“Hero banne ke liye jigar ki zaroorat padti hai,” said his character Ram in Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram-Leela in 2013. In Ranveer Singh‘s case it became his autobiography.

He was just another student who graduated from Indiana University, a degree in telecommunications on one hand, a dream in the other. He returned to India and took a job as an ad copywriter in Mumbai, but his heart was set on acting.

In 2018, in one of his most candid interviews, Singh shared that he didn’t have a “direct connection” with Bollywood. It was his parents who stuck by him through the decision to change paths. But the shift did not come easy. Waiting, auditioning, and waiting some more, it took three and a half years for the break to arrive.

When it did, it arrived through Yash Raj Films. In 2010, Ranveer Singh immortalised Bittoo Sharma in Band Baaja Baaraat, a quirky wedding planner, a small-town boy who dreamt big. The Sindhi boy of Mumbai was now a poster boy of Bollywood, ruling award functions and collecting accolades.

But Bollywood does not hand you a career after one hit. It hands you a test.

The Test, and the Man Who Passed It

The fame did not translate as generously in 2011. Ladies vs Ricky Bahl, the rom-con of the year, was made with a budget of Rs 50 crore and grossed just over Rs 32 crore at the box office, as per IMDb. In 2013, Lootera, with Sonakshi Sinha, was declared a flop. Two underwhelming outings in a row is enough to bury most newcomers.

What saved him was Sanjay Leela Bhansali.

Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram-Leela skyrocketed his fame. The heated chemistry between Singh and Deepika Padukone, already an acclaimed star and now his wife, filled gossip columns every week. In 2015 came Bajirao Mastani that set the tone for his role in the much-debated Padmaavat in 2018. Recalling how his agent couldn’t recognise him on screen, a teary-eyed Singh told IndiaTV how Alauddin Khilji was the character that transformed his persona into that of a method actor.

On the red carpet, meanwhile, came the ear cuffs, the neon attire, the outfits that made fashion editors reach for adjectives they had never used for a Hindi film hero. He became not just a fashion icon, but one of the few Bollywood stars questioning conventional norms of masculinity.

Then came Rohit Shetty’s cop universe, Simmba in 2018, alongside Ajay Devgn’s Singham, opposite Sara Ali Khan. Singh was now a louder household name than ever.

But it was Dhurandhar that changed everything.

Ranveer Singh’s groundbreaking performance in Dhurandhar (2025) and its sequel shattered every binary Bollywood clings to, outsider or insider, blockbuster or flop. The franchise grossed over Rs 1,700 crore worldwide, without showing any signs of slowing down.

At the centre of it all lies Hamza, “ghayal and ghatak [wounded and deadly]” combined in one. It took Singh from West Delhi’s Rocky Randhawa to Indian spy Jaskirat Singh Rangi in Aditya Dhar’s spy universe, with no flashy brands, quirky traits, or female leads to woo him on screen. Just a man, a mission, and a performance that announced: the boy from the bus stop had become the biggest brand in Bollywood.

An Actor by Day, an Investor by Night

A career in front of the camera is finite. Short-lived for some, decades-long for others, but the struggle to stay relevant is common across the board. Ranveer Singh seems to have understood this earlier than most of his peers.

The instinct mirrors a playbook that Hollywood’s Ryan Reynolds made famous, turning visibility into equity, becoming not just the face of a brand but its co-owner. Reynolds earned an estimated $300 million from his Mint Mobile stake when T-Mobile acquired it for $1.35 billion, as per Fortune, and built a stake worth nearly $610 million in Aviation American Gin. Closer to home, Shah Rukh Khan followed a more traditional but equally deliberate path, IPL franchise ownership, production house equity, real estate, and debuted on the Hurun Global Rich List in March 2026 at an estimated $1.3 billion.

Singh is not the first to follow either blueprint. But he may be the first to merge them, Reynolds’s instinct to become the product, and Khan’s patience in letting wealth compound, while stamping every venture with something unmistakably his own.

Co-founder of three companies, Boldcare, SuperYou, and ABD Maestros, confirmed a source close to the matter to financialexpress.com, these investments are a direct extension of his persona. Not endorsements at arm’s length. Businesses with his equity in them.

Boldcare: The Sexual Wellness Bet

While ad-makers had long predicted Singh would endorse a sexual wellness brand, during Nikhil Kamath’s podcast, he did just that.

With co-founders Rajat Jadhav, Mohit Yadav, and Rahul Krishnan, who founded the D2C brand in 2020, Boldcare raised $5 million in its Series A funding in February 2025 with an annual revenue of Rs 79.9cr as on FY 2024-25

Part of a historic brand campaign, Singh was one of the few Bollywood actors to participate in a contraceptive advertisement, starring adult film actor Steven Wolfe.

SuperYou: Not a Face on the Packaging, but the Brand

SuperYou, the protein snacking D2C brand owned by Elite Mindset and founded by Bayani, gave Singh something most celebrity endorsements never offer: real ownership. A 50% equity stake. Entering the FMCG segment, the Bollywood actor was no longer just a face on the packaging or the voice behind an ad, he was the brand.

Rangeela: The Colourful Spirit

Synonymous with his persona, his vodka brand Rangeela, which directly translates to “colourful”, is perhaps the most Ranveer Singh product imaginable.

Allied Blenders & Distillers created a luxury arm, ABD Maestros Pvt. Ltd, to cater to the growing segment of luxury spirits, and in February 2025 completed a nearly 80% takeover of Singh’s vodka label. Welcomed on board as the minority co-founder and creative contributor, Singh not only remained true to his “spirit” but carried the “homegrown” tag with pride.

The Wider Portfolio

Some of his earlier investments include a stake in Shark Tank India judge Vineeta Singh‘s Sugar Cosmetics and endorsements of Aman Gupta‘s audio brand boAt. While he no longer remains an investor in Sugar Cosmetics or Epigamia, the yoghurt brand, the source close to Singh also told financialexpress.com that he holds an undisclosed stake in Cult Fitness, a wellness and fitness platform.

Entering his post-Dhurandhar era, global sportswear brand Adidas dropped a sneaker collaboration with Singh, capturing his street-style aesthetic and maximalist persona.

What the Ranveer Singh Playbook Tells Us

During a 2018 media interaction, Singh recalled what his mentor Aditya Chopra once told him: “Never change.”

He seems to have taken the advice literally — and turned it into a business strategy.

At 40, Ranveer Singh may be farther from the billionaire mark than it seems. But his methodology is unlike anything Bollywood has produced before. Where Khan preserved capital and built institutions, Singh used his investments to reflect his own personality. Boldcare is bold because he is. SuperYou is energy because he is. Rangeela is colourful because he is.