From Modelling To Investing, Dino Morea Talks Art Of 'Pivoting'

Dino Morea is not just a familiar face from your early 2000s movie marathons — he's a pro at reinvention. From being spotted in Bengaluru to becoming a supermodel, then an actor, a cafe owner, a failed (and then successful) entrepreneur and even a stock market investor — he has done it all.

In conversation with NDTV Profit, Morea unpacked his journey from strutting down ramps to breaking into Bollywood, and now, diving head-first into business and entrepreneurship.

"I disrupted my own thought process of what I wanted to be," Morea said, reflecting on a career that's seen multiple pivots. "I kept changing different avatars and doing different things...In my life, I would be my own disruptor."

From Bengaluru Boy To Bollywood

The first pivot came when he was spotted to be a model. "I got spotted by a photographer in Bengaluru. There was an opportunity to be part of an advertisement — I was told I'd be paid Rs 500. That was a big amount back then. I wasn't even making Rs 10 at the time!" said Morea.

Within 18 months, Morea was already working in Mumbai, representing India at an international competition in Singapore, and soon after, the film offers started rolling in. "2001–02 was the supermodel era—we were at par with actors and cricketers," he recalled.

Then, The Learning Curve

His Bollywood journey may have seemed effortless on the outside, but Morea admits he had no idea how the industry worked. "I didn't think about film as a career — it just happened. But staying in the industry was the tough part."

By the 2010s, the offers started drying up. But in true Morea style, he pivoted again.

Enter: Entrepreneur Era

"My family already had their own cafe, so Crepe Station Cafe in 2004 was my first indulgence in business," he said.

But the real leap came when he co-founded 'Cool Maal', a celebrity merchandise brand that roped in none other than Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh. "But it was inventory heavy, and we needed deep pockets. That was my first slap at entrepreneurship."

"Cool Maal was my first failure, and then I had more," he said with a chuckle.

Betting On Fresh Press, Pet Fed And Stock Market

Now, Morea is all in on his entrepreneurial avatar. His cold-pressed juice brand Fresh Press is eyeing 250–300 stores. "I want to do something like Jamba Juice or Joe & the Juice," he said, adding they're already getting into food.

Another venture, Pet Fed, is entering the pet food space. "We're leveraging data from our pet carnivals," he said.

And then there's the stock market.

"An actor's career is like the stock market: sometimes low, sometimes no one's buying, but if someone sees value, they invest. OTT helped raise my stock again," he said.

He began investing in 2014, following the likes of Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, Radhakishan Damani, and Ashish Kacholia. "Everything you need to know about a listed company is public information. I try my best to analyse the market," he said.

He's long-term focused but admits to keeping a small chunk aside for calculated bets. "Some pay off, some don't. Market volatility is scary, but if you invest long, good things happen."

With two film productions under his belt and OTT boosting his visibility, Morea is also not ruling out more work in cinema. But he's clear about one thing: "You need to have a better sense of self to pivot. If you don't pivot in time, you'll be finished."