Sachin Joab

Sachin Joab is an Australian actor. He took an interest in acting during primary school and attended various acting schools and workshops. Since graduating from the National Theatre, Joab has appeared in several films and television, including City Homicide, Rush, My Year Without Sex, 10 Terrorists, and Conspiracy 365. In 2011, Joab successfully auditioned for the recurring role of Ajay Kapoor in the soap opera Neighbours. He was later promoted to the main cast. Joab left the show in May 2013. The actor has since appeared in SBS miniseries Better Man, feature films Lion (2016) and Hotel Mumbai (2018), and television series Pine Gap, The Hunting, Upright, and Jack Irish.

Joab was born in Melbourne, Victoria. His parents divorced when he was five years old. Joab became interested in acting during primary school when he was around seven or eight. He told Tanu Kallivayalil from the Indus Age, "My parents like a lot of Indian parents wanted me to do something credible. But I did not want to become a lawyer or doctor or something like that. I wanted to do something that I was passionate about. In fact, I just finished high school because I did not want to make my mum sad."

Joab then attended various acting schools and workshops, before he moved to New York to study at the Actors Studio. Joab, who spent his childhood imitating the voices of characters he watched on television, did not need to undergo accent training. On his return to Australia, Joab joined the National Theatre, graduating three years later. He then began appearing in films and theatre productions, before being signed to an agent.

In 2008, Joab made a guest appearance as Raj in the City Homicide episode "Examination Day". Joab had to put on an Indian accent for the part. The following year, he appeared in an episode of Rush and in the film My Year Without Sex. 2011 saw Joab cast in Big Mamma's Boy and Winston Furlong's Taj, alongside his future Neighbours co-star Coco Cherian. Joab was also cast as Judge Miki Miraj in Dee McLachlan's black comedy 10 Terrorists.

Joab joined the cast of Neighbours as Ajay Kapoor in 2011 following a successful audition. On 7 December 2011, it was announced that Joab had been promoted to the regular cast and his on-screen family were being introduced. Following the announcement, several racist posts left on the Neighbours website had to be removed. Speaking to Paul Tatnell from the Herald Sun, Joab blamed the racism on a "lack of education".[10] He elaborated "There is various pockets that will say it is un-Australian to have an Indian or an Indian family on Ramsay St. Those Aussies who are saying it is un-Australian will be the same ones who pretty much supported the White Australia policy back in the day, you are never going to get away from that kind of stuff."[10] Joab left Neighbours at the end of his contract in May 2013 to pursue acting work in Los Angeles.[11]

In 2021, when actress Shareena Clanton revealed she had faced racism on the set of Neighbours, Joab, Remy Hii and Sharon Johal also made allegations about racism while they appeared on the show, which resulted in the production company launching an official investigation. In 2022, the investigation was closed and the findings were not made public. Joab revealed his displeasure at how the Kapoor family were written out and how they were subjected to the public's racism.[12][13]

Joab starred in the twelve-part series Conspiracy 365 as Bruno in 2012. He also appeared as Inspector Ramesh in the SBS four-part miniseries Better Man, which began airing from 25 July 2013.[14] That same year, he filmed a role in the 2014 film The Legend Maker. Joab made a guest appearance in US series Perception,[15] followed by a role in Childhood's End in 2015.[16] He was also cast in the drama film Lion, alongside Rooney Mara and Dev Patel.[17] In April 2016, Joab spoke out about having to put on an Indian accent when he attends auditions in Australia.[17] That same year, Joab played the lead role of Amir Kapoor in the Sydney Theatre Company (STC) production of Disgraced. He was invited to audition for the part after the STC director of programming saw him on Neighbours.[18]

Joab starred in the 2018 political thriller series Pine Gap, which was broadcast on Netflix and ABC.[19] That same year, he guested in Romper Stomper,[20] and had a supporting role on Jack Irish.[15] He also appeared in the feature films Upgrade directed by Leigh Whannell,[21] and Hotel Mumbai, alongside his Lion co-star Dev Patel.[15] In 2019, Joab appeared in the four-part SBS drama The Hunting, starring Asher Keddie and Richard Roxburgh.[22] He also appeared in Tim Minchin's Upright.[23] In 2021, Joab guested in the ABC TV anthology series Fires,[24] and the Paramount+ comedy Spreadsheet.[25] He went on to appear in Irreverent and Safe Home.[26]

On 21 November 2023, Sean Slatter of IF Magazine reported that Joab had been appointed to the board of the National Film and Sound Archive.[26] In 2024, Joab was named as part of the cast of the upcoming Australian series Population 11.[27]