Shenaz Treasurywala (born 29 June 1981) is an Indian actress and travel vlogger.

Career

Discovered by a photographer during her first year in college, her first modeling assignment was for the soft drink

Gold Spot Gold Spot was an artificially orange-flavored carbonated soft drink created by Parle Products, introduced in 1952. It was named after the company's successful Parle Gold Star peppermint product and was popular with kids. Gold Spot went over to ...

. She also did

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a Product (business), product or Service (economics), service. Advertising aims to present a product or service in terms of utility, advantages, and qualities of int ...

work for

Akai Akai (, ) is a Japanese brand & former electronics manufacturer, established as Akai Electric Company Ltd in Tokyo in 1929. It was best known outside Japan for its tape recorders during the 1960s and 1970s. The company became bankrupt in 2000 ...

and

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), simply branded Philips, is a Dutch multinational health technology company that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, its world headquarters have been situated in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarter ...

before

MTV Networks Asia Paramount International Networks (PIN) is the international division of the Paramount Media Networks subsidiary of Paramount Global that oversees the production, broadcasting and promotion of its brands outside of the United States. These brands ...

hired her to work as a VJ on the ''

MTV's Most Wanted ''MTV's Most Wanted'' is a television series on MTV Europe which was broadcast from 1992 to 1995, based in London, England. It was presented by Ray Cokes. The series was broadcast live from MTV Studios in Camden and featured blends of viewer in ...

'' program. Her acting debut was in the 2001

Telugu film Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Telugu language, widely spoken in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Based in Film Nagar, Hyderabad, Telug ...

'' Eduruleni Manishi'', followed by the 2003

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

film '' Ishq Vishk'', which earned her a nomination for the best supporting actress award by the Filmfare Film Awards. With her lifelong love of travel, she wrote travel articles for ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Internationalism * World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship * Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community * Cosmopolitan ...

'', ''

Elle Elle may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Elle (magazine), ''Elle'' (magazine), a fashion publication ** Elle Style Awards * Elle (India), ''Elle'' (India), the Indian edition * Elle (film), ''Elle'' (film), a 2016 French film * ''Elle: ...

'', and '' Femina''. As of the early 2010s, Treasurywala resides in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

, India and serves as the host of ''Culture Shock'' on the

Travel Channel Travel Channel (stylized as Trvl Channel since 2018) is an American pay television television channel, channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, who previously owned the channel from 1997 to 2007. The channel is headquartered in Manhattan, with ...

. In 2011, she got a recurring role as Rama Patel on the American soap opera ''

One Life to Live ''One Life to Live'' (often abbreviated as ''OLTL'') is an American soap opera broadcast on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television network for more than 43 years, from July 15, 1968, to January 13, 2012, and then on the internet as ...

''. A few months later, she signed a contract with the show until its cancellation in 2012 and then returned as a contract player when the show started airing its webisodes in 2013. Treasury returned to India to visit her family and was offered a leading role in ''Ishq Vishk'' after meeting director

Ken Ghosh Ken Ghosh is an Indian director, producer and screenwriter. Filmography References External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ghosh, Ken 1966 births Living people Film directors from Mumbai 21st-century Indian people Hindi-language film di ...

at a Mumbai night club. In 2009, she appeared in the films ''Aagey Se Right'' and ''Radio''. She wrote the screenplay for and appeared in the 2011 movie ''

Luv Ka The End ''Luv Ka The End'' () is a 2011 Indian Hindi-language teen romantic comedy film directed by Bumpy in his feature directorial debut. Produced by Ashish Patil under Y-Films, a subsidiary of Yash Raj Films, the film stars Shraddha Kapoor and Ta ...

''. She also appeared in the movie '' Delhi Belly''. She is part of the film '' Main Aur Mr. Riight''. During 2015, she was a contributor and occasional panelist on ''

The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore ''The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore'' is an American late-night panel talk show hosted by Larry Wilmore that aired on Comedy Central from January 19, 2015, to August 18, 2016. The show was a spin-off of ''The Daily Show'', which featured Wi ...

'' on

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...

in the United States. In 2017, she appeared in the critically acclaimed indie film ''

The Big Sick ''The Big Sick'' is a 2017 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Michael Showalter and written by Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani. It stars Nanjiani, Zoe Kazan, Holly Hunter, Ray Romano, Adeel Akhtar, and Anupam Kher. Gord ...

'' where she played

Kumail Nanjiani Kumail Ali Nanjiani (; ; Urdu: کمیل علی نانجیانی; born May 2, 1978) is a Pakistani-American stand-up comedian and actor. He is known for his role as Dinesh in the HBO comedy series ''Silicon Valley'' (2014–2019) and for co-writi ...

's sister-in-law. She has also hosted All Women Special Wrestling Event "

WWE Evolution WWE Evolution is a periodic women's professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It is the company's only PPV and livestreaming event to consist solely of women's matches. The inaugural event was held in ...

" on 28 October 2018. In addition to acting, she has now started to share her travel vlogs on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

and Instagram.

Social activism

In December 2014, days before the release of her film '' Main Aur Mr. Riight'' (on 12 December), Shenaz Treasurywala wrote an open letter to the most powerful people of India including

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...

Sachin Tendulkar Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (; ; born 24 April 1973) is an Indian former international cricketer who List of India national cricket captains#Men's cricket, captained the Indian national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest cricketer ...

Amitabh Bachchan Amitabh Bachchan (; 11 October 1942) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi cinema. He is often considered one of the greatest, most accomplished and commercially successful actors in the history of Indian cinema.* * * * * With a cinemati ...

Salman Khan Abdul Rashid Salim Salman Khan (; born 27 December 1965) is an Indian actor, film producer, and television personality who predominantly works in Hindi films. In a career spanning over three decades, his awards include two National Film Awa ...

Shah Rukh Khan Shah Rukh Khan (; born 2 November 1965), also known by the initialism SRK, is an Indian actor and film producer who works in Hindi cinema. Referred to in the media as the "Padishah, Baadshah of Bollywood" and "King Khan", he has Shah Rukh K ...

Aamir Khan Mohammed Aamir Hussain Khan (; born 14 March 1965) is an Indian actor, filmmaker, and television personality who works in Bollywood, Hindi films. Referred to as "Mr. Perfectionist" in the media, he is known for his work in a variety of film g ...

and

Anil Ambani Anil Dhirubhai Ambani (born 4 June 1959) is an Indian billionaire, businessman, chairman, and managing director of Reliance Group (a.k.a. Reliance ADA Group). The Reliance Group was created in July 2006 following a demerger from Reliance Indus ...

on women's safety in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Personal life

Her father is a merchant marine engineer, and she was born in a

Parsi The Parsis or Parsees () are a Zoroastrian ethnic group in the Indian subcontinent. They are descended from Persian refugees who migrated to the Indian subcontinent during and after the Arab-Islamic conquest of Iran in the 7th century, w ...

family. Treasurywala attended school and college in Mumbai, St. Xavier's College. In 2001, she moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

where she studied

method acting Method acting, known as the Method, is a range of rehearsal techniques, as formulated by a number of different theatre practitioners, that seeks to encourage sincere and expressive performances through identifying with, understanding, and expe ...

at the

Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute (originally the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute) is an acting school founded in 1969 by the actor, director, and acting teacher Lee Strasberg. The Institute is located in Union Square on East 15th Str ...

. While in New York, she also took a writing course at

NYU New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a non-denominational all-male institutio ...

Filmography

Films

Television

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Treasurywala, Shenaz 1981 births Living people Indian film actresses Indian television actresses Actresses from Mumbai Female models from Mumbai Parsi people Parsi people from Mumbai Actresses in Hindi cinema Actresses in Telugu cinema St. Xavier's College, Mumbai alumni Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute alumni Indian expatriate actresses in the United States Indian video jockeys 21st-century Indian actresses