As one waits for her in a tastefully decorated living room, Shivani Wazir Pasrich enters, armed with her trademark dimpled smile and gives a giant hug. One immediately warms up to her! A theatre and television actress, model, compere and dancer, Shivani dons many hats. She has also been associated with the cause of women empowerment, girl child and conservation. The South African High Commissioner recently felicitated Shivani with the Universal Humanity Award 2013. Taking out time out of her busy all-India tour with her last production ‘I am the Tiger’ she tells us about the latest recognition, her production house, causes she espouses and more.
“We give our entire lives for what we believe in and we do need recognition. But at the moment one is actually awarded, one is so busy that it just becomes a tick in our list of tasks accomplished,” says Shivani.
Talking about the causes she is associated with, Shivani reveals, “It is not like I consciously think I have to associate with a certain cause. Living in a place that has forest lands in the precincts, I was horrified to see how the area was being mercilessly chopped down.” She further explains, “I just feel there is so much beauty in nature to appreciate. For instance, the dancing of the trees to the wind! And to think all that is getting destroyed due to reckless activity by humans.”
Her initiative ‘I am The Tiger’ (as the name suggests aims at saving the tigers) that includes a play and an art exhibition is not really something that was planned for a very long time. “My cousin lives in Kanha National Park in Madhya Pradesh. She was organising a camp for artists from all over the world. She asked me to prepare a VC on it a year ago. On her persistence I decided to prepare something a week prior to the time I had to perform,” shares Shivani.
Shivani is a vibrant persona as compere on quiz shows, company launches, special government occasions, music album releases, beauty pageants and fashion shows. She also compered the launch of the former Prime Minister’s poetry album, Samvedna. She has acted in a number of television serials like Mumkin, Muthi Bhar Sitare, Sigma, a telefilm called Hame Jahan Pyar Mile and the small but impactful role in Yash Chopra’s film Dil To Pagal Hai. With a kitty that is as diverse as that, how does she manage it all? “Every morning when I wake up, I have so many diverse ideas floating in my mind. And instead of thinking that I can’t possibly work on all of them, I think about how I can accommodate all of them. Probably that works for me,” she reveals.
From hosting events to performing classical dance and acting, Shivani has many claims to fame. She recalls how in her college days in LSR, she had done a play with B.V. Karanth and played the role of Vanamala, a woman who loves flora and fauna. So somewhere, the inherent conservationalist was always there.
Shivani has a degree in Economics from Lady Shri Ram College for Women and also has a degree in law from Delhi University. One of her closest friends from school and college days is a certain Gauri Khan (yes, you guessed it right, SRK’s wifey!). Recalling those times, she says, “We were a gang of four friends, Supriya, Rachna, Gauri and me. We were busy having fun most of the college years. Gauri used to call me BA (best actor) and I used to call her BD (best dancer).” She even acted in a play directed and scripted by Shah Rukh (Gauri’s boyfriend back then!)and even won an award for it.
Fast forward to the present, and Shivani is already busy ideating on her next production. “I hope to keep going on andaccomplish a lot,” she concludes.