Shazahn Padamsee is an Indian film and stage actress and former model. Daughter of the esteemed theatre personality Alyque Padamsee, nicknamed the "Ad Guru of India" and prominent pop singer Sharon Prabhakar, Shazahn made her stage debut alongside her father in his play "Unspoken Dialogues" with a subtle performance, which turned out to be very successful. She later made her feature film debut in the year 2009, with the Bollywood film "Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year", before garnering critical appraisal for her work in Telugu film "Orange", released in 2010. She was later seen in a prominent role in Madhur Bhandarkar"s "Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji", opposite Ajay Devgn in 2011.
Early Career of Shazahn Padamsee
Born on October 19, 1987 in Paris, France, Shazahn Padamsee started out assisting backstage in many theatre productions, before making her stage debut in her father"s successful play "Unspoken Dialogues". She went on to act in several stage performances and got noticed for advertisements in the process. She appeared in several national advertisements, for brands such as McDonalds, Ponds and 7 Up Lemon, whilst also auditioning for roles in Hindi films. She had also worked as a trainee copywriter in Bugs Bhargava"s company. She chose films over auditioning for Channel [V]"s "VJ Hunt".
Film Career of Shazahn Padamsee
After a film with Vivek Vaswani failed to materialise, Shazahn Padamsee successfully auditioned for a part in Yash Raj Films` "Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year", opposite Ranbir Kapoor. She finally made her debut with the film in 2009, playing the role of Sherena, the first customer who treats the titular character with respect during his job as a salesman. Although she played the lead female role, her screen time was minimal which led to critics claiming that her role had little scope. Though the film opened to positive critical reviews, the lack of publicity resulted in it becoming a commercial failure.
Shazahn subsequently went on to star in 2 non-Hindi films, the Tamil musical romance film "Kanimozhi" opposite Tamil Cinema actor Jai and the Telugu romantic comedy-drama "Orange", alongside Ram Charan and Genelia D"Souza. Both the films released on the same day in 2010. In "Kanimozhi", Shazahn played the female lead Anu, a girl in the neighbourhood to whom the character played by Jai is nervous to express his feelings. She had been approached for the film after the director Sripathi Rangasamy had looked through an online portfolio and signed her on only after consent from her father. Upon release, the film received mixed reviews and Shazahn`s portrayal of her character was criticised as that she "looked pretty and was photographed well" but could have "expressed more energy and expression" into her role, labelling her as a Barbie doll. However, the Telugu film "Orange" garnered more positive reviews as did Shazahn`s portrayal of her character. She played Rooba, a pivotal character in the film originally named after one of its songs, who appears in a flashback sequence as the girlfriend of the protagonist played by Ram Charan Teja. A critic from NDTV noted her performance as "a delight to watch" and added that "Padamsee looks set for a long innings down South". The Hindu reviewed that Shazahn "brings freshness to the screen".
In 2011, Shazahn appeared in her second Bollywood film, the romantic comedy "Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji" directed by Madhur Bhandarkar. The film saw her featuring as June Pinto, an intern in an office whom an older divorced man, played by Ajay Devgn, falls for. The film, which also featured Emraan Hashmi, Omi Vaidya, Shruti Haasan and Shraddha Das in other parallel roles, saw Shazahn indulge in heavy promotional work along with her co-stars.
The film received positive response from critics and became a box office success, but Shazahn`s performance was received with divided opinion, with a reviewer citing that she "looks like a doll and gets the character right" whilst another labelling hers as "the film`s worst performance". Shazahn was subsequently seen in Sajid Khan`s 2012 comedy film "Housefull 2", the sequel to the 2010 comedy "Housefull", featuring as Parul Patel alongside an ensemble cast of Akshay Kumar, John Abraham, Ritesh Deshmukh, Shreyas Talpade, Zarine Khan, Asin and Jacqueline Fernandez. The film, though became one of the biggest commercial successes of the year, opened to mixed reviews and Shazahn"s role was described as "merely eye candy". She was next seen in 2013 Telugu comedy drama "Masala", the remake of the successful 2012 Hindi film "Bol Bachchan", alongside Venkatesh, Ram Pothineni and Anjali. The film, upon worldwide release, received positive reviews from critics as did performances of the lead actors and the comedians.
In 2015, Shazahn was slated to appear in the Bollywood comedy film "Solid Patels", playing the Gujarati girl Hetal Joshi alongside Ali Asgar, Shiv Pandit, Kettan Singh and Vaishali Desai. Though the film"s trailer was launched in March 2015 with the release date scheduled later in May, it was indefinitely delayed. She is also slated to appear in two Hindi projects, "Disco Valley" directed by Sajit Warrier opposite Rajat Barmecha and "Siddhartha: Love, Lust, Peace" directed by Mukul Misra alongside Shivam Bhargava, Mahesh Bhatt and Pavitra Punia. As of 2016, Shazahn continues to perform in theatrical plays.
Filmography of Shazahn Padamsee
Shazahn Padamsee has thus far appeared in the following films, highlighted alongside her roles and the years of release.
| Year | Film | Role |
| 2009 | Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year | Sherena |
| 2010 | Kanimozhi (Tamil) | Anu |
| 2010 | Orange (Telugu) | Rooba |
| 2011 | Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji | June Pinto |
| 2012 | Housefull 2: The Dirty Dozen | Parul Patel |
| 2013 | Masala (Telugu) | Meenakshi |