Media365
Although Dr Shriram Madhav Nene, the husband of renowned Bollywood actor Madhuri Dixit, is the son of Indian immigrants, he had little connection to India for a long time, having been born in London and raised in the United States. As his passion lay in science, technology, and medicine, Dr Nene didn’t even know just how popular Madhuri was back in India at the time of their marriage.
However, with the goal of scaling medicine, he arrived in India in 2011. He left behind his lucrative and successful career as a cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon in the US to become an entrepreneur. During a recent interview, he opened up about switching careers while he was thriving as a surgeon. He also revealed that local doctors in India were initially threatened by him and even tried to block his entry.
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Why Dr Shriram Nene gave up his US career to move to India
“I came to India with the idea of ‘could we democratise healthcare by using a combination of media, tech and smart services?’ However, everyone thought, ‘You’re the head of a hospital, you’re a partner in a group, you do 500 open-heart cases — robotics and minimally invasive — and you’re a cash cow for the hospital.’ Every industrialist was asking me to be on their panel and operate. However, I told them, ‘My vision’s different. By the time I’m done, I’ll own you,’” Dr Shriram Nene said during a session at Masters’ Union University.
He continued, “I want to help people get the care they need when they need it, where they need it. Somehow, I convinced the [Indian] Parliament to issue licenses because, back then, they had no way to license a doctor trained abroad. However, they recognised that there was a gap: we don’t have enough medical schools to produce enough doctors.”
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‘Indigenous heart surgeons were threatened’
Discussing the initial pushback he faced from local doctors, Dr Shriram Nene said, “The biggest thing was, I was a threat to the indigenous heart surgeons. So, they were blocking it a little bit. But I told them, ‘I’m not here to turn a quick buck. I’m here to make a difference.’ By the time that happened, I became an entrepreneur. I started my first company, RnM Moving Pictures, and we produced our first film for Netflix and our second for theatres. Then we produced something where we tried to educate people.”
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According to his official website, Dr Nene is currently developing a medical platform named Pathfinder Health Sciences, “which is committed to improving lifestyles and lifespans through precision, personalised health approaches using a combination of media, apps, wearable technology and a smart services marketplace.”
Madhuri Dixit and Dr Shriram Nene tied the knot in 1999, after which the actor moved to the US to begin their life together. The couple went on to welcome two sons, Arin and Ryan. They eventually returned to India and now reside in Mumbai.
