Before she became an overnight star for her Netflix show of Bollywood Wives Vs Fabulous Lives, Shalini Passi was known in Delhi as an art collector, design and fashion patron, philanthropist, and artist.
She has been on the Khoj Studios Advisory Board since 2012 and is a long-time patron of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale. As the founder of MASH, a digital platform exploring the intersection of architecture, art, craft, design, and fashion, she also established the Shalini Passi Art Foundation. Her commitment to contemporary art is reflected in initiatives like the Young and Emerging Artists’ Award. In June 2023, she became a UNICEF Champion for Children, donating proceeds from the MASH Ball and her Netflix debut to support children’s rights and development programs.
1. When did your interest in art begin?
My interest in art came early in life as when I was a child I started painting and I really enjoyed it and spent hours doing that. I started painting when I was a child. My father also used to paint and he still paints. Also, growing up in Delhi, we had a lot of influences from arts, music, and theatre. Also, my teacher, Mr. Bhishambar Khanna, was friends with Manjit Bawa and BC Sanyal. So we often had those artists visit us. I thoroughly enjoyed my time. When I used to paint I would be transported to a different world.
2. What have your formally studied? What do you wish you had studied?
I studied psychology at Jesus and Mary I couldn’t go to art school simultaneously I was taking art classes at Triveni Kala Sangam with Mrs. Shobha Broota the eminent artist. I wish I had studied more English literature because I’ve started finding that very inspiring now. And I wanted to study architecture but I was not very good in math.
3. What are some experiences that are on your bucket list?
Well I always say it’s not really a bucket list it’s actually a lake because I have lots of things on that list which include traveling to Latin America, Greenland, and Iceland so it’s a really long list of experiences and places I would like to travel to. There are many other places in India that are left that I have not traveled across yet. I would like to extensively travel to those places. I would also love to learn a language. I found it very difficult to learn a new language like Spanish or German.
4. How has being a part of Bollywood Wives Vs Fabulous Lives impacted your life?
It was very impactful because it gave me an understanding of myself and my relationships with people, my relationship patterns, and my understanding of others. Also, it was, you know, cinema is a very powerful medium and I don’t know much about it. I don’t actually know anything about it. What impressed me was that the camera team worked very hard for it and I think that was a learning experience of how dedicated everyone is in Bollywood to make things successful.
5. How have you built self-love over the years?
To build self-love is like taking time for your passions and hobbies. Take care of your health and body, and exercise. Be mindful of the things that you put into your body and you say out loud. Being mindful is really important. Listen to music. Meet people who make you happy, who comfort you, who are the wind beneath your wings. Self-love the most important thing is to be sensitive to your own body and to your own needs of your body as well as how different things make you feel whether it’s food whether it’s the weather whether it’s your environment or your actions everything has a toll on your mental and physical being so one has to be very careful with what one exposes themselves to.
6. In the show – you come off as an extremely positive personality. How do you keep yourself feeling positive?
Well I meditate every day and I pray every day and also engage in various activities like sports dancing and singing that takes out the negative energy from the body and I do that every day so I think it’s really important to take out that time and in the mad rush we forget all these things, we forget to connect to nature and we forget forget to do things that we really enjoy. Giving to UNICEF philanthropy has really also helped me. And giving to UNICEF, I am the ambassador for UNICEF in India. The entire proceedings from my television debut in “Fabulous Lives VS Bollywood Wives” on Netflix were donated to UNICEF India to further their joint mission of enhancing childcare missions in Purnea, Bihar.
7. What is one relationship you are grateful for?
I am grateful for my relationship with God and the dialogue and understanding that I have with Him. My connection to the higher power and also my grandparents.
8. Since you are so into museums – which are some of your favourite museums?
My favorite museums would definitely be the Guggenheim Museum in New York and in Paris it would definitely be the Louvre and the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris is one of my favorites.
