For some parents, building a business is not just about earning money. It is about creating something their children can inherit, understand and perhaps take further. Addressing the growing desire among young people to carve out an identity completely separate from their parents’ work, Actor Suniel Shetty said he believes there is another way to look at family businesses.Shetty recently spoke about this idea while discussing children, careers and family legacy on Figuring Out with Raj Shamani. “When kids today say, ‘Family business, I don’t want to, I want to do something on my own,’” Shetty said, “No, that family business has been set beautifully. Manage it and then do something else.”
10 Sept 2026 | 12:19
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For him, taking over a family enterprise does not necessarily mean giving up one’s own ambitions. Instead, he believes the next generation can preserve what has already been built while pursuing something of its own. “But manage that legacy of yours. Don’t let it go,” he said, adding, “Because legacy just doesn’t come that way.”
‘People might call it nepotism, but for me that word doesn’t exist’
The actor believes building your own path and carrying forward a family legacy can go hand in hand.
Shetty’s comments also touched on the larger conversation around privilege and opportunities passed down within families. “People might call it nepotism,” he said. “But for me that word doesn’t exist.” He then put his argument in the context of parenthood: “Har baap apne bachche ke liye hi karta hai.” (“Every father only does it for his child”).The actor’s own understanding of family business comes from personal experience. In an earlier conversation, Shetty recalled that his father had started working at a South Indian restaurant as a child after coming to Mumbai. His father eventually started his own restaurant and built a business that became the foundation for the family.Shetty has also spoken about how the same family background was once used against him when he entered Bollywood. After his debut in Balwaan in 1992, he recalled being harshly criticised for his acting. Some critics, he said, called him a “doorknob” and suggested that he return to his family restaurant to sell idlis and vadas.But Shetty did not see the restaurant as something to be ashamed of.“They treated selling idli-vadas as something derogatory. But that family business ran my house,” he said, according to The Indian Express. “In fact, it’s because of that background that even today, I feel no shame in doing any kind of work.”He has also recalled his father’s early struggles, saying his father began working at a very young age, cleaning tables and sleeping in a rice sack before eventually building his own business and property. Shetty said the family’s journey began with those years of hard work.
‘You always have your children’s comfort in the back of your mind’
His views on legacy also come against the backdrop of how openly he has spoken about his own children, Athiya and Ahan Shetty.In an interview with Hindustan Times, Shetty said parenthood changes the way one thinks about almost every decision.“As a parent, you always have your children’s comfort in the back of your mind driving your decisions,” he said. “So whether it’s career, health, or parenting, that is something that will always be a concern and that is the beauty of parenthood.”Speaking about Athiya and Ahan, he said he was happy with how they had conducted themselves and the paths they had chosen.“But that concern, love, and that feeling of wanting everything to be fairy tale-like for your children, that is something that’ll never change,” he said.Ahan followed his father into acting, making his debut with Tadap in 2021, while Athiya also pursued a career in films before stepping back from acting after her marriage to cricketer KL Rahul. Hindustan Times reported that Shetty has expressed pride in the paths both his children have chosen.
For Shetty, legacy is not just about money
His latest comments suggest that when Shetty talks about legacy, he is referring to more than simply passing an established company or assets from one generation to another.His own story began with a family that worked in the restaurant business, while his career eventually took him into films, fitness and entrepreneurship. The lesson he appears to draw from that journey is that children can build something of their own without necessarily discarding what their parents spent years creating.