Shazahn Padamsee Kanakia (born 18 October 1987) is an Indian actress and model who primarily works in Hindi and Telugu films. 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. Padamsee's other notable roles were in the commercially successful films Orange (2010), Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji (2011), Housefull 2 (2012) and Masala (2013).
Contents
Early life and family
Padamsee's father Alyque Padamsee was a veteran theater actor who was born into a traditional family from the Kutch region of Gujarat. In 2011, Shahzahn revealed that she is inspired by Buddhism and is more spiritual than religious, adding, "I believe in God. But more so, I believe in all religions".
Career
After appearances in several stage performances including her father's play Unspoken Dialogues, Shazahn Padamsee 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 Films' Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year opposite Ranbir Kapoor. 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 a leading female role, her screen-time was minimal leading to critics claiming that her role had little scope. The film opened to positive reviews, but the lack of publicity became a reason for it becoming a failure commercially at the box office.