Why do some Bollywood stars prefer renting apartments in Mumbai rather than buying them?

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The Mumbai real estate market is the costliest in India and some of the priciest homes are owned by Bollywood stars, but many upcoming actors prefer renting an apartment rather than purchasing one.

Moneycontrol spoke to real estate brokers to understand why those starting out in Bollywood prefer the renting option.

While Mumbai is famous for several actors like Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan owning and staying in swanky seaside bungalows in micro markets like Juhu and Bandra, it is also a city where Madhuri Dixit at one point in time rented an apartment.

A more recent example is of tenant Mala Tiwari, mother of relative newbie actor Kartik Aryan, who rented a 3,681 sq ft apartment from Shahid Kapoor, also an actor, in January 2023. The apartment came for Rs 7.5 lakh monthly rent and a security deposit of Rs 45 lakh for 36 months, according to Zapkey.com

In another deal of February 2023, actress Aditi Rao Hydari had taken an apartment on rent from actress Malaika Arora at a monthly rent of Rs 2.31 lakh and a deposit of Rs 20 lakh for three years, according to Zapkey.com

In 2021, Bachchan rented his duplex unit in Mumbai for Rs 10 lakh per month for two years to actress Kriti Sanon in 2021. Sanon had paid a security deposit of Rs 60 lakh.

So, why do Bollywood stars rent apartments?

According to real estate brokers, film stars and Bollywood celebrities have to maintain a certain type of lifestyle and hence they prefer renting and shifting into newer apartments periodically, which saves a lot of cost for them and helps them remain light when it comes to blocking capital.

"I have had quite a few clients who are working in Bollywood including TV serial actors as well as actresses, movie stars or movie directors. First in this are A-listers, A+ listers. The majority of these come to Mumbai from their hometowns where they own property, but they prefer to rent over here in Mumbai because of the lifestyle they have," said Ravi Kewalramani, director of RK Mumbai Realtors.

"Most of these A and A+ lister stars want a sea-view apartment or a luxury property, which costs Rs 25-30 crore or even Rs 40-50 crore, and that may not be something they are unable to pay in one go. Whereas in renting, they can rent it at Rs 5-6 lakh or Rs 8-10 lakh per month, which they can still afford," he added.

What about TV stars and newcomers?

"Further, there are a lot of TV serial actors and actresses, who earn good money and they are able to rent out luxury properties, but many here also own a house but, say, 1BHK, 2BHK or a 3BHK max. They do buy and also rent because one, they are coming from outside Mumbai and they maybe they are not sure about the workflow, hence, rather than putting huge capital into buying an apartment, they would rent it out for, say, two, three or five years and test the waters in Mumbai," Kewalramani said.

Also read: Real estate developers charge Rs 10-30 per sq ft per month of advance maintenance at the time of possession in Mumbai: Report

He added, "The people who rent apartments also include strugglers, who are experimenting. They are usually financed by their parents and hence they keep themselves limited to renting out apartments and in that too the rent is kept to the minimum."