Being in the enviable position that she is as a popular actor, Bhumi Pednekar recently made sure that she used it to empower her spotboy, Upendra Singh. She has helped him start his own vanity van business, which he wanted to for a long time. And of course, the first one he made was for her!
When we reach out to Bhumi to know more about this sweet gesture, she reveals, “Upender ji has been with me since the last 4 years. I literally started my career with him and he is like family. When we were shooting for Saand Ki Aankh and travelling, we were discussing things and I asked him why doesn’t be start his own business? He said he had considered building vanity vans as an option, but he wasn’t sure how to begin this. He always wanted to start something of his own for his children. I gave him a pep talk about it and asked him to think it through, and see what can we do to work towards it,” says Bhumi, who gave Upendra both emotional and financial support.
Upendra says, “Maine vanity van ke business ke baare mein kaafi time se socha hua tha, par jab Bhumi didi ne mujhe motivate kiya iss idea ke baare mein tab maine apni company shuru karne ka decision liya. That’s what I have thought to do in the future. Main hamesha didi ka naam lunga ki unke support se maine apna business, apni pehli van taiyaar ki. I thank her from the bottom of my heart, and pray to God that whichever film she does, becomes a super hit.”
The colorful van, with stained glass and pink walls, has been customised with Bhumi’s initials, who adds, “I honestly feel that everyone should get opportunities in life. And Upendra is someone I cannot survive without and whatever little I can do for him I’ll keep doing. He has now started a company called Akash Vanity (Akash is his son’s name). I am proud of him and hope that it started off with one van, and goes up to 100 because he is such a genuine guy and always been there for me. It feels like a personal victory to see him grow in life. I have supported him in whatever way I can. He will be working on more vans and is looking at renting them out to production houses.”
