Shazahn Padamsee

Shazahn Padamsee

Padamsee at Nokia APP party, July 2012.
Born 18 October 1987 (age 27)
Paris, France
Occupation Film actress, Theatre artist, model
Years active 2009–present
Parent(s) Alyque Padamsee, Sharon Prabhakar

Shazahn Padamsee (born 1987) is an Indian descent French film and stage actress, who has also worked as model. Daughter of noted actors Alyque Padamsee and Sharon Prabhakar, she made her first film appearance in the 2009 Hindi film Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year. After her début film, she went on to appear in two non-Hindi Indian films, gaining credit from critics for her performance, before featuring in Madhur Bhandarkar's Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji in a prominent role.

Career

After appearances in several stage performances including her father's play Unspoken Dialogues, Sanjay Gaur appeared in several national advertisements, whilst auditioning for roles in Hindi films. After a film with Vivek Vaswani failed to materialise, she successfully auditioned for the part in Yash Raj Studio's Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year opposite Ranbir Kapoor.[1] Shazhan played Sherena in the film, the first customer who treats the titular character with respect during his job as a salesman. Although she played the leading female role, her screen-time was minimal leading to critics claiming that her role had little scope.[2] The film opened to positive reviews, but the lack of publicity became a reason for it becoming a failure commercially at the box office.[3]

Shazahn at IIFA Fashion show.

Her second and third films were released on the same day, both being films in Tamil and Telugu respectively. In Kanimozhi, Shazahn played the role of Anu, a girl in the neighbourhood who the lead actor, played by Jai is nervous to express his feelings to. She had been approached after the director had looked through an online portfolio, and only signed after consent from her father.[4] Upon release, the film gained mixed reviews with Shazahn's portrayal of her character being criticised.[5] Critics claimed that she "looked pretty and was photographed well" but she could have "expressed more energy and expression" into her role, labelling her as a Barbie doll.[6] However her Telugu film Orange garnered more positive reviews and Shazahn's portrayal of her role was better received by critics.[7] Shazahn's character of Rooba, originally named after a song in the film, appeared in a flashback sequence as the girlfriend of the protagonist played by Ram Charan Teja. A critic from NDTV said her performance was "a delight to watch" and that "Padamsee looks set for a long innings down South",[8] whilst similar claims the critics from Sify and The Hindu claims that she "shines in her role" and that she "brings freshness to the screen".[9][10]

Shazahn's first release of 2011 was the romantic comedy Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji directed by Madhur Bhandarkar. The film portrayed her as June Pinto, an intern in an office whom an older divorced man, played by Ajay Devgn falls for.[11] 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.[12] Shazahn's performance gaining mixed responses from critics with a reviewer citing that "looks like a doll and gets the character right" whilst another labelled hers as "the film's worst performance";[13][14] the film went on to become a commercial success at the box office.[15] Shazahn's most recent release was Sajid Khan's Housefull 2, which featured her alongside an ensemble cast including Akshay Kumar, John Abraham, Zarine Khan, Asin and Jacqueline Fernandez. The film opened to mixed reviews with her role being described as "merely eye candy",[16] but Housefull 2 went on to becoming the tenth film in history to cross INR1 billion (US$16 million) and became one of the biggest commercial successes of 2012.[17] Shazahn Padamsee all set to play a Gujarati girl in her upcoming film "Meet The Patels".[18]

Personal life

Her father, Alyque Padamsee is a veteran theater actor, who was born into a traditional Khoja Muslim family from Kutch region of Gujarat.[19]

Filmography

Year Film Role Language Notes
2009 Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year Sherena Hindi
2010 Kanimozhi Anu Tamil
2010 Orange Rooba Telugu
2011 Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji June Pinto Hindi
2012 Housefull 2: The Dirty Dozen Parul Patel Hindi
2013 Masala Meenakshi Telugu

See also

References

  1. ↑ Kulkarni, Onkar (2010). "I play the love interest in Rocket Singh: Shazahn Padamsee". Mid-Day. Retrieved 3 January 2011.
  2. ↑ Kazmi, Nikhat (11 December 2009). "Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year". The Times of India.
  3. ↑ "Movie Review: Rocket Singh – Salesman of the Year". The Economic Times. 13 December 2009.
  4. ↑ Rangarajan, Malathi (23 July 2010). "A promising start". Chennai, India: The Hindu. Retrieved 23 July 2010.
  5. ↑ Moviebuzz (2010). "Kanimozhi". Sify. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
  6. ↑ "Kanimozhi". Top10Cinema.com. 2010. Retrieved 27 November 2010.
  7. ↑ "Orange girl gets a clap and a slap!". Supergoodmovies.com. 2010. Retrieved 28 November 2010.
  8. ↑ "Review: Orange leaves audiences groping in the dark". NDTV. 2010. Retrieved 28 November 2010.
  9. ↑ "'Orange' – High on style, low on substance". Sify. 2010. Retrieved 28 November 2010.
  10. ↑ Naniseeti, Serish (27 November 2010). "One colour of love". Chennai, India: The Hindu. Retrieved 28 November 2010.
  11. ↑ Kotwani, Hiren (2010). "‘I have no regrets'". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 3 January 2011.
  12. ↑ Gangul, Prithwish (29 December 2010). "The rollercoaster ride of love awaits them!". Times of India. Retrieved 3 January 2011.
  13. ↑ Crook: It's Good To Be Bad (2010) | Movie Review, Trailers, Music Videos, Songs, Wallpapers. Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved on 8 April 2013.
  14. ↑ Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji: Wannabe sex comedy – Rediff.com Movies. Rediff.com (28 January 2011). Retrieved on 8 April 2013.
  15. ↑ Tuteja, Joginder (3 February 2011) Team DTBHJ ecstatic with film's success. bollywoodhungama.com
  16. ↑ Housefull 2 (2012) | Hindi Movie Critic Review By Taran Adarsh. Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved on 8 April 2013.
  17. ↑ Housefull 2 Crossed Rs. 100 crore Mark At Box-Office In 17 Days. Koimoi.com (23 April 2012). Retrieved on 21 June 2012.
  18. ↑ Shazahn Padamsee to play Gujarati girl in Meet The Patels. blog.actresson.com (3 November 2014). Retrieved on 3 November 2014.
  19. ↑ "The Alyque Padamsee brand of life". The Times of India. Retrieved 23 January 2015. I was born into riches: Ours was a Kutchi business family. My father, Jafferseth, owned 10 buildings and also ran a glassware business. My mother, Kulsumbai Padamsee, ran a furniture business. Anything I wanted was there for the asking. We were eight children in all but I, being born after three daughters, was pampered most. Among Gujarati families, it was only the Padamsees and the royal house of Rajpipla. At school, I learnt to speak in English. Later, our parents learnt the language from us. All that I am today is because of what I learnt at school. Miss Murphy, who ran the school, was an inspirational figure for me.

External links

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