In 2021, several Bollywood and sports celebrities launched digital memorabilia through non-fungible tokens (NFT).
NFTs are a type of digital asset which use blockchain to record the ownership of items such as images, videos and other collectibles. Their roaring popularity has baffled many but the explosive growth shows no sign of abating.
Check out the Indian celebrities who joined the NFT club this year, hoping to rake in crores by cashing in on growing interest in such assets.
1. Amitabh Bachchan
The veteran actor was probably the first from Bollywood to jump onto the NFT bandwagon. In November, Bachchan sold his NFT collection for about Rs 7.18 crore. The collectable series included his father’s famous poem “Madhushala”, autographed vintage posters of himself, along with his other works.
According to the bidding website Beyondlifeclub, Bachchan’s Madhushala poem recital was sold for $7,56,000 and physical posters of Sholay and other movies that were personally autographed by him were sold for $94,052.
2. Salman Khan
Khan tied up with Bollycoin, a Bollywood NFT marketplace. BollyCoin had announced its partnership with prominent production houses including Salman Khan Films, Arbaaz Khan Production, Sohail Khan Productionz, Reel Life Production Pvt. Ltd.
In November, it closed its pre-sale round of 20 million tokens worth $2 million within a month. By buying the tokens, the holders can reap real-world benefits each time they sell the NFTs on the BollyCoin platform, the company said.
3. Rajinikanth
In July, a Singapore-based NFT marketplace, Diginoor.io signed a deal with movie production company AVM Studios to launch movie collectibles in NFT form the Rajinikanth-starrer 'Sivaji: The Boss'. Seventeen NFTs of the film offered the price range of $99-1,500 were sold out.
4. Kamal Haasan
NFT marketplace Fantico recently announced that Tamil actor Kamal Haasan will be offering 100-1,000 NFTs, including customised posters, avatars, among others. "...We are working on concept of metaverse and this will be exclusive where real connoisseurs can get in," Dhruv Saxena, chief strategy officer of Singapore-based Vistas Media that owns Fantico, had told Moneycontrol. Saxena said that the actual NFT drop might be launched by end December or early January.
5. Sunny Leone
In November, actor Sunny Leone’s NFT collection--with has 9,600 NFTs that are “completely unique, minted on the ethereum blockchain”--were “sold and minted”, NFT platform Mintdropz tweeted.
“MEET the MISFTIZ! This is misfitz HONEY! She loves the color pink…boys with tattoos…and then eats them for lunch. What the world has been waiting for!!! #SUNNYLEONENFT collectibles,” Leone had tweeted.
6. Manish Malhotra
One of the country's top fashion designers, Manish Malhotra, recently sold NFTs of digital sketches of some of his most famous creations for $4,000 a piece. His website shows one can purchase some of his bridal wear outfits at a lower price range of $2,500-$3,500.
7. Sunil Gavaskar
Gavaskar was the first Indian sports star to endorse multiple brands and fructify his commercial potential beyond the field. Now, at 72, he continues to be a trendsetter. On October 11, the former Indian captain-turned-commentator announced a non-fungible tokens (NFTs) drop of the "Sunil Gavaskar collection" on his Instagram account.
8. Yuvraj Singh
Former cricketer Yuvraj Singh made the announcement of entering the NFT space on his 40th birthday on December 12. The World Cup-winning former India all-rounder said he is giving his fans “a big present” with the collection. The Yuvraj Singh NFT collection will be launched on December 25 on NFT platform Colexion.
