The walls between two different worlds – film and corporate – have really broken down in the recent times. A handful of Bollywood actors besides doing films are also trying their hands at making money away from films.

Let’s start with superstar Shah Rukh Khan, bubbly Preity Zinta and smiling Juhi Chawla, who had recently placed bid for different IPL teams. Eight teams of the Twenty20 format IPL promoted by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) raked in $723.6 million or a shade above Rs 2,800 crore, with the ownership rights going to top business houses like Ambanis’ Reliance Industries and Vijay Mallya’s UB Group.

SRK, through his Red Chillies, is part of the consortium that included industrialist Jay Mehta and his actress wife Juhi Chawla that won the ownership of the Kolkata IPL team for $75.09 million. Mohali went to another consortium formed by Preity Zinta, his boyfriend Bombay Dyeing's Ness Wadia, Apeejay Surendra's Karan Paul and Mohit Burman of Dabur India. Their bid was $76 million.

Fardeen Khan is yet another ambitious guy from Bollywood who is looking forward to start a couple of businesses other than films. He is all set to launch his own clothesline, and he himself will be the face of the brand. Speaking about his new venture, Fardeen says, "I am planning to come out with two clotheslines along with my brother in law. We have decided to open three stores in Delhi and one in Punjab. The stores will have western wear designed by me and some known designers."

It is also reported that the actor has teamed up with his father to foray in real estate business, too. Their first project will be high-end villas for India’s rich and famous in Bangalore. He explained that they are building a kind of a ‘gated’ community in Bangalore. He also informed that there will be about 27 to 28 extremely high-end villas along with club houses and all facilities.

Bollywood’s sexiest man John Abraham too isn’t behind in the business marathon away from films. John wants to start a newspaper of his own. "It's just an idea right now. But I'm very serious about it," he says. So what does John wish to do in the publishing industry? "I don't think I want to publish a daily... Maybe a Sunday paper." That slot is vacant. "But one thing is for sure," Abraham says, "It will cater to a very, very niche readership. I don't want to do an all-purpose newspaper."

Will such a busy actor like John be able to retain his journalistic aspiration? Yes, because he himself says, "I'm dead serious about my newspaper. It's only the nitty-gritty that needs to be worked out. It can be about showbiz, or a judicious mix of show-world and the real world... or it can show the show-world as real as it gets." He goes on to say, “I'll probably have a clearer picture of what kind of a paper I want to publish once I have a team in place.

"One thing is for sure. Lack of time won't stop me from going ahead with this idea. Look at how many things Mr. Bachchan manages at the same time," says the big fan of Big B.

Despite the loads of money that can be made in business, it's still seen somewhat as a step down for these big movie stars, because the moviegoers who’re their big admirers have nothing to do with the business that’ll lead them astray.