Sachiin J. Joshi

Sachin Joshi was born in Pune to second wife of Jagdish Joshi, the owner and creator of the JMJ group of Industries.[3] He was unsuccessful in establishing himself in Telugu films, but later began working as an actor in Bollywood to mixed reception.[4] Joshi made his debut in the 2002 Telugu film Mounamelanoyi and went on to star in two more Telugu films, Ninu Chudaka Nenundalenu (2002) and Orey Pandu (2005). He did not star in films again until 2011, when he performed as the titular lead character in the Hindi film Aazaan, which he also co-produced. This marked his debut in Hindi film. Joshi returned to Tollywood with the remake of Aashiqui 2 and reprised the role played by Aditya Roy Kapur in the Hindi version.[5] He co-starred with Nazia Hussain, who made her debut with Aashiqui 2.[6] Joshi was also a lead in the 2013 film Jackpot, in which he starred opposite Sunny Leone and Naseeruddin Shah.[7][8]

His most recent film, 'Amavas', which he self-financed and co stars Nagris Fakhri, opened to extremely poor reviews, has been widely panned by critics for its "mediocre performances and direction." [9][10][11]

In February 2012 Joshi married model and actress Urvashi Sharma.[12][13] Sharma later changed her name to Raina Joshi.[14] The couple has Three children.[15]

In 2015 Sachiin Joshi-led Viiking Ventures acquired King’s beer for Rs 90 crore from Impala Distillery and Brewery and will be rebranded Goa Kings. With this acquisition, the company now has two beer brands in its portfolio – Goa Beer, the brand developed by Viiking Ventures, and Goa Kings, the acquired brand.[16]

In 2017, he bought the Kingfisher Villa in Goa for about Rs 73 crores which was previously owned by multi-millionaire Vijay Mallya.[17] The villa, spread over 12,350 square feet or three acres at Candolim (on the way to Fort Aguada), was legally owned by United Breweries Holdings, the parent of the airline.[18]

In January 2018 it was widely reported that Joshi bounced a cheque for Rs 40 lakh on business partner Raj Kundra, husband of Bollywood actress and winner of UK TV reality show, Shilpa Shetty. Kundra has since issued legal proceedings against Joshi for defamation, But according to media report Mr. Manoj Asrani Group CMO of Viiking ventures released a statement stating that the commitments made while forming of the poker league weren't delivered and Viiking ventures had withdrawn their name and had not signed an agreement with Mr. Kundra. It was also claimed by Viiking ventures  that the tournament was rigged because of which Sachiin Joshi’s Vikiing Ventures backed out[19][20][21][22]

In April 2018, Joshi placed his Viiking Ventures UK company in voluntary liquidation with debts of more than £1m. It was reported that his London-based staff resigned en masse, claiming to be owed 3 months' salary. The company distributed his Goa Premium Beer brand, brewed in Goa by his Impala Brewery, which produced Kings Beer.[23]

Between May 2002 and 2019, Sachiin Joshi again failed to pay salaries totaling over Rs owed to 30 employees at his Viiking Ventures company and his media arm, Think Tank. At the same time Joshi was pledging charitable donations of Rs 3 crore for Covid-19 relief. In response, Joshi - who earlier claimed a lack of funds - accused the 30 staff of fraud. Evidence of the charity gift having been paid, has yet to come to light.[24][25][26]

In 2020 during the Covid-19 Pandemic Sachiin Joshi offered his Beatle Hotel in Powai to the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for quarantine facility to COVID-19 positive patients coming from abroad. He had also donated nutritious food boxes to policemen and municipal workers fighting the COVID-19 outbreak in India through his Big Brother Foundation.[27]

In November 2020, it was revealed that Joshi had bought the ownership of Dambulla Viiking franchise for the upcoming 2020 Lanka Premier League.[28][29] The franchise was initially named as Dambulla Lions but was later renamed to Dambulla Viiking as it was bought by Sachin Joshi's Viiking Ventures.[30][31]

• Sachiin J. Joshi at IMDb