Why Abhishek Bachchan chose Jaipur Pink Panthers team: 'Aishwarya and I started dating there'

In 2014, Abhishek Bachchan delved into the Pro Kabaddi League not just for its business potential, but also as a deeply personal venture. The franchise's home city, Jaipur, held special significance for him. It was in Jaipur where his first film, Refugee, was filmed and where his romance with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan began. Abhishek's decision to choose the Jaipur Pink Panthers team was thus steeped in personal history.

He told PwC India chairperson Sanjeev Krishnan on the podcast Future Unplugged: "I picked up the Jaipur team. Jaipur is where I shot a part of my first film. It was an auspicious thing to start something new. It was also a city where Aishwarya and I started dating, it has an emotional part." The team's name, Pink Panthers, further reflected Abhishek's sentiments.

Pink honored his daughter's favorite color at the time, and Panther paid tribute to Aishwarya's role in The Pink Panther 2 (2009). Even the team's mascot, a panther, was designed with eyes that matched his wife's blue-green eyes, adding another layer of personal significance. Since launching the Jaipur Pink Panthers in 2014, Abhishek has expanded his sporting interests to include Chennaiyin FC in the Indian Super League and co-founding the European T20 Premier League, set to debut in August 2026.

Off the field, Abhishek is set to appear in the film King, alongside Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Jackie Shroff, Suhana Khan, Anil Kapoor, Arshad Warsi, and Raghav Juyal, with a release date slated for Christmas 2026.