Shashank Khaitan's Bollywood Playbook
The filmmaker behind Badrinath Ki Dulhania reveals how instinct, storytelling, and systems thinking power both cinema and sports entrepreneurship
At 24, Shashank Khaitan sat in his family’s wire mesh factory in Nashik, facing a choice that would define his life. The business was stable, manufacturing industrial wire for the paper pulp industry with exports across the globe. But stability felt like suffocation.
I can’t be sitting in an office desk doing business. It’s not working out for me. I need to find something which can make me move around, travel around.
That restlessness led him to Whistling Woods International, Subhash Ghai’s new film school in Mumbai. He chose it over MBA coaching classes, trading the predictable path for an uncertain dream. Fifteen years later, Shashank has directed five films including the commercially successful Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania and Badrinath Ki Dulhania, produced over ten projects for theatrical and OTT release, and is now building Global Sports Pickleball, India’s fastest-growing racket sport venture.
Check out the video of the conversation here or read on for insights.
From Tennis Courts to Film Sets
Before Bollywood, there was tennis. Shashank played on the junior international circuit, competed at university level in multiple sports, and harbored serious ambitions. He faced future Indian stars like Rohan Bopanna on court and lost decisively. But he refuses to call it struggle.
I’ve never ever called it a struggle because I’m like, it’s my own choice. If I’m really finding it a struggle, I should just go back home and do other things. But the very fact that I want to continue being in Mumbai, pursuing the film industry, I always looked at it as experiences.
That reframe, from struggle to experience, became his operating philosophy. It’s visible in how he describes the five years between film school graduation in 2008 and his first theatrical release in 2013. He worked as a post-production assistant at Mirchi Movies, spent two years in advertising, even financed and directed his own feature film Sherwani Kaha Hai that never released.
It gave me all the learnings of business that I wanted, all the different challenges as a young filmmaker can face. One is, of course, writing, direction, production, which is making movies. But then is the business side of it, which is the exhibition, the distribution, the marketing.
The Business Mechanics of Bollywood
Shashank is part of the 60% of Bollywood directors who write their own scripts. His first breakthrough, Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania, started as a con drama before morphing into a small-town reimagining of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge.
The business mechanics are precise. For an average rom-com, pre-production takes 4-6 months. Shooting spans 50-65 days. Production budgets vary widely, with rom-coms ranging from ₹20 crores to ₹150 crores depending on star power.
The two decision makers for a movie is an actor and a producer. If an actor is interested, chances are the movie will be made. And if the producer is interested, chances are the movie will be made.
Revenue streams are diverse. Theatrical collections split roughly 45-55% (producer-exhibitor) in the first week, then 50-50% thereafter. OTT platforms pay ₹25-90 crores for rom-coms depending on star power, with top-tier actor-director combinations commanding up to ₹130 crores. Music rights typically split 50-50 with music companies.
The most revealing insight concerns profit participation. First-time directors rarely get equity. By the third or fourth film, established directors negotiate 10-30% ownership plus perpetuity rights.
Till the time this film is making money, either me or my family will continue to make money on it.
The director’s primary job isn’t technical mastery but communication and what Shashank calls “ego management.”
A lot of our director job is ego management. Even to get a film made, you sometimes have to just ensure that everyone’s being able to see the film the way you are explaining it.
Why Data Can Kill Creativity
Shashank holds a contrarian view on bringing corporate management practices to creative industries.
The word professional management really is overrated in multiple industries, but definitely in Bollywood. We are such an instinct-driven industry and emotion industry. The minute you start building data points, you have removed all creativity from the movie business.
What’s needed instead?
Basic discipline and integrity. That I think is a cornerstone for everybody.
He points to Jurassic Park as proof. Despite decades of sequels with massive VFX budgets, the 1993 original remains the most beloved, built largely on robotics rather than animation. The lesson: technology and systems can’t replace storytelling at the core.
For Shashank, 20% of every film requires improvisation. Scripts evolve by roughly 20% from approval to shooting. Location atmosphere can change a scene’s emotional tone. A crocodile in the water can spark an unscripted moment.
You’re constantly adapting. You’re constantly kind of visualizing your film as you keep shooting. But you need to be open to this 20% of improvisations, letting instinct kick in because ultimately movies is an instinct business.
The Second Act: Building Pickleball’s Future
In 2024, Shashank invested in Global Sports Pickleball, applying his Bollywood playbook to India’s emerging racket sport boom. The company operates 40+ courts in Mumbai alone, with presence across Ahmedabad, Nashik, Gurgaon, Delhi, Navi Mumbai, and Dubai.
The numbers tell a compelling story. Indian pickleball participation is projected to jump from 60,000 players in 2024 to 1 million by 2028. Court numbers have grown from 200 in early 2024 to over 1,200 by mid-2025. Setup costs are remarkably low at ₹3-5 lakhs per court, with potential monthly profits of ₹50,000 and break-even as fast as three months in major cities.
Global Sports employs the same ecosystem thinking visible in Dharma Productions or Yash Raj Films. They build courts (infrastructure), organize tournaments and coaching (community), and run professional leagues (aspiration). Strategic partnerships with the PPA Tour, Major League Pickleball, and APP position them as the exclusive gateway between Indian and global professional circuits.
The founding team blends real estate and construction expertise with Bollywood’s cultural influence. Filmmaker Karan Johar serves as brand ambassador, deliberately positioning pickleball as “pop culture, not just sport.” The target is ₹1,000 crores by end of 2026 or 2027.
Why pickleball? Shashank’s reasoning is simple.
We are good TT players. We are good baddie players. We are good cricket players. We are good tennis players. So, the racket sport universe has already been set for us.
The sport’s accessibility seals the deal.
Husband and wife can play together, siblings can play together, 40-year-olds can play together, 50-year-olds can play, a 30-year-old and a 50-year-old can play together.
The Self-Aware Founder
When asked about his success, Shashank points to self-awareness as his secret weapon.
I know myself very well and I have no false illusions about myself. I’m not delusional. I do not go into a room thinking I’m a very big Bollywood celebrity. I go in looking to create value in my life and in the lives of people.
His sports background instilled a process-driven mindset. Daily execution matters more than outcome obsession. From Nashik’s wire mesh factory to Bollywood’s ₹150 crore productions to building the infrastructure for India’s Olympic pickleball dreams, Shashank’s journey runs on one constant: instinct disciplined by process, storytelling amplified by systems, and the refusal to call challenges anything other than experiences worth having.
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