Abhishek Bachchan turned entrepreneur in 2014, when he acquired the Jaipur team ahead of the inaugural season of Pro Kabaddi League. That proved lucky for the actor, as the team he christened the Jaipur Pink Panthers went on to win the inaugural and ninth seasons of the sporting league.

On the podcast Future Unplugged, Abhishek revealed why he chose Jaipur, out of all cities, for his maiden kabaddi team. “Jaipur is where I shot a part of my first film. It was an auspicious thing to start something new,” said Abhishek. He made his Bollywood debut with JP Dutta’s 2000 romantic drama Refugee, primarily shot in Kutch, Gujarat, also had certain key portions in Jaipur and a Mumbai studio.

“It was also a city where Aishwarya and I started dating. It has an emotional part,” the actor added. Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachcahn began dating while working on JP Dutta’s 2006 period musical romance Umrao Jaan, parts of which were shot in Jaipur.

Abhishek Bachchan not only picked Jaipur as the city his team would represent but also named the team out of his love for his family. He revealed that the ‘pink’ in Jaipur Pink Panthers has more to do with just Jaipur being known as the Pink City. “It was my daughter’s favourite colour at that point of time,” said Abhishek, who along with Aishwarya, became parents to Aaradhya Bachchan in 2011.

The actor also pointed out that Pink Panther also has a special connection to his family, as Aishwarya played Sonia, the chief antagonist, in Harald Zwart’s 2009 Hollywood mystery comedy The Pink Panther 2. “If you see, our Pink Panther has blue-green eyes which are the same as my wife’s. So, there is a personal connect to everything about Jaipur Pink Panthers,” added Abhishek.

Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai first worked together in Raj Kanwar’s 2000 romantic drama Dhaai Akshar Prem Ke, months after the release of Abhishek’s debut film Refugee. They reunited for Rohan Sippy’s 2003 romantic comedy Kuch Naa Kaho, before appearing together in the popular dance song “Kajra Re” alongside Abhishek’s father Amitabh Bachchan in Shaad Ali’s 2005 hit heist rom-com Bunty Aur Babli.

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After Umrao Jaan, Abhishek and Aishwarya also starred together in Sanjay Gadhvi’s 2006 blockbuster heist action thriller Dhoom 2. They then united for Mani Ratnam’s 2007 period drama Guru. Ahead of that film’s release, they also announced their engagement, and tied the knot later that year. Post their marriage, the duo appeared Ram Gopal Varma’s 2008 political drama Sarkar Raj.