Home away from home doesn’t hold much water when you are a bona fide celebrity in Bollywood. Shah Rukh Khan, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Priyanka Chopra and other stars spend more than a few man hours on the road, and they adjust by building an equally plush home base wherever they go. Of course, there’s the very real concern of wanting a quick getaway from the paps. Shah Rukh Khan brought in his 51st birthday in his multi-crore hideout in Alibaug, while Saifeena prefer to spend their downtime surrounded by the gardens of their century-old heritage palace in Pataudi.
If you thought their homes were luxurious, get your jaw off the floor and check out the swanky holiday homes that are keeping Bollywood’s best cosy and warm at night.
Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan, Pataudi
A lot has been said about the couple’s love for exclusive chalets in Switzerland, but train the microscope a little closer home, and the Pataudi Palace isn’t too shabby either. Built in the early 1900s, the palace then fell into the hands of the Neemrana Group that ran it as a heritage luxury hotel until Saif repossessed it in 2014. The place has since been restored to its former colonial glory, and has turned into a sanctuary for wife Kareena, who regularly heads there for a break from the city with her girl squad.
Shah Rukh Khan, Dubai
The specs sheet of Shah Rukh Khan’s plush villa in the Palm Jumeirah reads like the bucketlist you made for yourself at the age of eight: Spread over 8,500 square feet, the luxury villa houses six bedrooms and is enveloped by a 14,000 square feet plot including an independent beach area and a private pool. And well, at Rs 17 crore, we’d ask for nothing less.
Shah Rukh Khan, Alibaug
And for those days when he isn’t up for the commute to Dubai, SRK just rounds up his family and heads to his multi-crore villa in Alibaug instead. The sprawling one-acre property played host to his 51st birthday last year, with Ranbir Kapoor, Karan Johar and the who’s who of Bollywood flown in on his private chopper. Apart from a handy helipad, Shah Rukh also had his property fitted out with a state-of-the-art tree house for his little one, AbRam.
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Abhishek and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Dubai
The Bachchans couldn’t quite resist the allure of Dubai either, and booked themselves a sweet crib in Jumeirah Golf Estates. The luxe villa comes equipped with a Scavolini-designer kitchen kitted out with Miele appliances and a walk-in Nolte wardrobe. If it were up to us, we’d hole ourselves in the jacuzzi and never return. But, we guess, the promise of a glittering Cannes red carpet career serves as motivation enough.
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Athiya Shetty, Khandala
Given how chaotic life in Mumbai can get, daddy Suniel Shetty saw fit to invest in a second home nearby. Say hello to the Shetty clan’s fancy Khandala outpost. The sprawling villa has been decorated with vintage furniture and artefacts from their travels around the world. And while he was at it, Suniel threw in a man-made pond and a bridge for some major Insta cred.
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Image courtesy: Grabhouse
Priyanka Chopra, Goa
When she isn’t racking up frequent flier miles, Priyanka Chopra likes to whisk her mother away to the haven that is her Goan beach villa. Located on the tourist-heavy Baga Beach, Priyanka shelled out some of her hard-earned dough to fulfill her lifelong dream of living by the ocean. “The bungalow has been the Chopras’ holiday home for a while now. Priyanka loves the idea of getting up in the morning and soaking in the sea breeze,” reports a leading news portal.
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Aamir Khan, Panchgani
Aamir Khan’s dedication to his craft means that his holidays are far and few between, but he makes the most of his time-outs in his Panchgani property. Spread over two acres, Aamir bought the property off director Homi Adajania for a whopping Rs 7 crore, back in 2006. He has since had his hill station outpost refurbished, and it now serves as a quick getaway for him and wife Kiran Rao when his work schedule allows it.
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Akshay Kumar and Twinkle Khanna, Canada
You’d have thought that the holiday-happy couple would have trouble selecting any one spot to build a second home, but Twinkle has always been partial to Canada. Akshay went to the extent of buying a hill, (yes, he paid money to buy a stack of rubble and stone) and plans on building a villa there. In the meantime, he owns a slew of pads across Toronto to come home to when his work takes him to North America.
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