One of Bollywood’s most well-respected and famous actors, Jackie Shroff and his family turned a party into a megadeal opportunity when they cracked an investment opportunity to put their money in the Sony Entertainment Television channel in India.
The returns from the investment were in the tune of a growth rate of supposedly turning ₹1 lakh into ₹100 crore over a period of 15 years, a megadeal for the Shroff family. However, the family bagging this megadeal was a journey on its own.
“It was much more than that, and if you apply that concept to the deal, it was like ₹1 lakh to ₹100 crore back then,” said Ayesha Shroff, popular producer and Jackie Shroff’s wife.
How did Jackie Shroff’s family bag the Sony deal?
Jackie Shroff’s wife, Ayesha Shroff, in a recent interview with the online brokerage firm Zerodha-backed YouTube channel – Zero1 Hustle by Zerodha, said that it was a tough nut to crack.
Shroff recalled how it took more than one year and how a group of seven friends decided to go after the entertainment giant in their first-ever corporate deal setup.
“Each one had a specific skill that we brought to the group, my husband was the mega star, he brought in the entertainment face, there was one banker, there was another guy in television, another guy in computers – a very diverse group, but somehow the synergy happened,” said Ayesha Shroff.
Jackie Shroff’s wife also highlighted that they were highly competitive with big Indian business houses to get this investment opportunity from Sony India.
“We wooed Sony for one year. The back-and-forth negotiations were so fun, all that paperwork and due diligence and of course, there were many big business houses who were after them (Sony) to do this,” said Shroff, explaining the moments up to the deal.
The Party Idea
One night, Ayesha Shroff had the idea of hosting a party without reaching a conclusion on the Sony deal. Sony was planning to set up its television channel in India, and the deal was for the Shroff family to become an investor in the venture.
“We decided one night, it (Sony deal) was just not closing, and then one night, I suggested to my husband that let’s have a party and call everybody, for it’s either we celebrate or it’s bye-bye,” said Ayesha Shroff in the interview.
The family hosted a party at Archie’s on Marine Drive, and the entire Mumbai film industry attended at the family’s invitation.
“We’re not the party kind, so when we have a party, everybody turns out. So the entire film industry showed up, and it was a wild party. There was this club called Archies on Marine Drive back in the day,” said Shroff.
Later after the party was over, the Sony head who was invited at the event after coming down from Los Angeles, looking at the family’s influence in Bollywood decided to sign them as their investors.
“At 6 a.m., the party wound up, and the Sony boss who came down from Los Angeles (LA) said f**k this s**t, we are doing it with this group. And we signed the deal the next day,” she said.
Both partners completed their agreement term with a successful exit after 15 years in 2005 from the entertainment giant’s India television arm.
Jackie Shroff’s net worth
According to multiple media reports, Bollywood actor Jackie Shroff’s net worth was close to ₹400 crore as of 22 August 2025. The veteran actor continues to perform in movies like Housefull 5, Good Bad Ugly, and Tanvi The Great.
According to a CRISIL Ratings report, Sony TV India’s net worth stood at around ₹770 crore as of the financial year ended 31 March 2025.