If his work is to party, then how does he party? “I party harder!” quips a smiling Rishi Acharya, the man instrumental in infusing Mumbai with a nightlife to boast of.
Rishi started out in the early 90s, when he was all of just 21 years old, with his friends Jeetu Navlani, Timmy Narang (now Eesha Koppikar’s husband) and Ness Wadia. “The four of us decided to start a fun event management company which would be brimming with youthful energy and provide a lot of excitement to our lives. But the project never really took off. Ness became absorbed in his family business and the excitement died down. Then in 2001, Vikrant Chougule approached us to help him with setting up Athena, which proved to be a turning point,” says Rishi.
Athena went on to become the most sought after destination for club hoppers and its resounding success prompted Rishi and his friends Timmy and Jeetu to try out something similar on their own. “That’s how Lush was born in 2003 and then we moved on to Ra which underwent a series of renovations in both décor and music. Finally we perfected our act with Tryst, which we launched in 2010,” says Rishi.
It doesn’t take long to figure out that Tryst has been by far his favourite accomplishment. “I keep saying this: Tryst is not 2010. It’s 2012. We have worked very hard to get the music and ambience right and the results have paid off. My brief to my staff from day one has been to make everybody feel welcomed,” he adds. The entry of the internationally acclaimed DJ Bunty through a third co-owner Plan B has furthered the prospects of Tryst. “Music is everything in a club. We do have an occasional Hindi track thrown in, but we don’t overdo it. We like to keep the feel largely international,” says Rishi, whose favourite nightclubs include Tramp in London and Jimmyz in Monte Carlo.
Rishi, who is known to throw the best parties in Mumbai, says that there’s no real secret of being a great host. “Be yourself and treat others as you’d like to be treated,” he says. When asked about his favourite hosts, he says, “If I had to pick then it would be my dear friends Smriti (Essar Vice-Chairman Ravi Ruia’s daughter) and Nishant Kanodia.”
But when it comes to partying he’s not the one to separate business from pleasure. “If I’m in India, I would rather party at my own club. That’s where I feel the most comfortable with all my friends,” says Rishi who plans to branch out Tryst in the cities of Delhi and Pune.