6 Bollywood Actors With MBA You Didn’t Know About!

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6 Bollywood Actors With MBA You Didn’t Know About!

A wise man had once said after a lot of thought that “all that glitters is not gold.” But he probably forgot to mention that sometimes things that glitter might actually be gold.

You don’t have to be a Bollywood fan to know that there is always a lot of glitters and shine around the lives of B’town celebrities. Like normal Indians, their relatives (or anyone for that matter) don’t ask what degrees they have!

Hell, I don’t need to tell you that, right?

However, even Bollywood stars were normal people before they became famous, and their lives were not different from ours then. Like so many of us, many present-day Bollywood stars took the bet of doing an MBA, even though life had different plans for them!

Want to know who they are? Check out the list below!

1. Mayuri Kango

Remember Mayuri Kango from Mahesh Bhatt’s not-so-famous film Papa Kehte Hai? Ummm… probably not? Yes, chances are that you probably don’t remember Mayuri Kango. Her last film came out in 2003 when Karishma Kapoor was still a star and she played her daughter in Karishma- The Miracles of Destiny. Since then, people have not seen her on-screen and have all but forgotten her.

She, however, gave them a deja-vu in 2019 when the news of her becoming Google’s Industry Head in India started trending! How did she do it? After moving to New York with her husband she got an MBA from New York-Baruch College - Zicklin School of Business. She worked for Publicis and Performics before joining Google as the Industry head of Google.

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2. Mallika Sarabhai

Mallika Sarabhai is a renowned name in the art-film circles of India. Along with films, she has worked extensively in theater and also worked as an activist. She is the daughter of famous Indian scientist Vikram Sarabhai and classical dancer Mrinalini Sarabhai. In fact, Mallika Sarabhai is also a trained classical dancer.

Even though her films are well-known, what is not known is the fact that she has completed her MBA from IIM Ahmedabad. Just after she graduated in 1974, she started work on her first film - Himalaya Se Ucha, which was released in 1975. Her most famous film was Basu Chatterji’s Sheesha where she was cast opposite superstar Mithun Chakraborty.

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3. K.K. Menon

Kay Kay Menon is a legendary name among cinema lovers who melts at the sight of excellent acting. While Mr. Menon's method-acting has won the hearts of Indians everywhere, the fact that he has an MBA degree from the University Of Pune (PUMBA) with a Major In Marketing in 1988 is hardly known to the fans.

After his MBA, Menon started his career in the advertising industry where he appeared in the adverts of Honda and Marlboro cigarettes. After that, Menon worked briefly in television before breaking into movies. His latest role is as R&AW officer Himmat Singh in the television series Special Ops.

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4. Fardeen Khan

Son of film personality Feroz Khan, Fardeen Khan’s film career took off in the early 2000s, and after that, he did at least two films every year between 2000 to 2009. Since 2010, however, Fardeen Khan has become less prolific in the film industry with no major roles against his name.

However, Fardeen Khan's academic qualifications have by and large ebbed from the public eye. Fardeen Khan holds an MBA from one of the top US universities - the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He didn’t work in the corporate sector but took up acting classes to break into Bollywood.

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5. Randeep Hooda

Randeep Hooda Randeep Hooda is a symbol of Bollywood oomph - entertaining his audience with a combination of glamour and acting. However, not many know that Randeep also holds an MBA from a University in Melbourne, Australia.

Not just an MBA and a professional actor, Hooda is also a passionate equestrian (a rider or performer on horseback) with years of training and experience. He regularly participates in events and sports and has made a name for himself there side-by-side with his acting career.

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6. John Abraham

Kerala-born Bollywood actor John Abraham is known for his acting skills that seamlessly work in both mainstream and critical arthouse films. The actor holds an MBA degree from Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) in Mumbai.

He is also passionate about martial arts and motorcycling. His bike collection is worth nearly 3 Crore, with beasts like Ducati Panigale V4 and BMW S1000 RR featuring prominently in it. Abraham is also a supporter of UNHCR India and advocates for the global refugee crisis.

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Conclusion

The glamour and shine of Bollywood are often so overbearing that we often don't get a glance of who these personalities are beyond the screen and the prying eyes of the paparazzi. Yet, when we look deeper, we see that their lives were not very different from normal Indians before they made their name in Bollywood.

Kudos to them for nurturing their talent, even as they dealt with the concerns of everyday life, and taking the chance to showcase it when the time finally came!

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