Shalini Passi: Art collector, philanthropist and reality TV star

Born and married to privilege, she doesn’t deny the advantage she has, her long-time friends in the film industry or why hosting charity balls comes naturally to her. “I am a Lutyen’s child,” she admits. However, decades of ruling a self-created insular world in the power Capital may have given her status but not the fame that has now spotlighted the work of her foundation — a platform for emerging talent of arts, architecture, design and fashion as well as her role as UNICEF’s Champion for Children. “Bollywood is a powerful medium. That’s why all of us girls worked hard for the show. I’ve worked so much more for so many other things in my life. But post-show, the donations keep coming in, it amplified my work,” says Passi, who has given away her show earnings for her girl child education project in Bihar’s Purnea district. She has also got a lot of love from ordinary women,  for her unique brand of savoir foire.

As she toys with the idea of her best shot from the terrace that overlooks her 20,000 sq ft-home at Delhi’s Golf Links, Subodh Gupta’s brass and steel Buddha anchors her in the moment. She admits that she is a control freak. “But I am seeing a therapist and learning to let go, not micro-manage every aspect of my life,” she says. A thalassemic minor who also battles anaemia, she sticks to a largely raw fruit and vegetable diet and avoids dependence on iron supplements. She doesn’t have sugar, carbs or caffeine and eats home food by 6.30 pm, then goes out to meet friends. Except when she is hosting at home or a hotel, one doesn’t get to see much of Passi on the social circuit. “I flew to Mumbai to attend Manish Malhotra’s Diwali party, stayed awhile but took the 5 am flight to come back home,” she says.

It’s easy to call Passi a maximalist but there’s a part that’s grounded too. “Yes, I paint, dance, scuba dive and sing, but only as hobbies. I am not an expert driver but I trained in cold waters in Delhi to hone my skills for the show. I am not an artist extraordinaire but just a patron,” she says, having supported Khoj Studios and the Kochi Biennale. Although the works of MF Husain, Bharti Kher and S H Raza adorn her walls, she shuns art shows and fairs. “They are commercial places. You would find me in local museums where I can understand how an artist’s work is a comment on the society of their time.” As a collector, she goes to any extent — she once parked herself outside the studio of Belgian artist Ado Chale in blinding rain till he agreed to craft a table for her.

As a child, Passi had a sheltered life. Her grandfather came from Pakistan and took up the construction business. An Arya Samaji, he thought playing cards was equivalent to gambling. “I never learnt how to play cards. My mom and sister are amazing at it. But I was brought up by my grandparents mostly, hence the discipline. My grandfather built the Vayu Bhavan, the Doordarshan building and Palika Bazar among other landmarks. I went to Modern School Barakhamba, then Jesus and Mary College. We lived in Greater Kailash before moving to Jor Bagh. My uncle was an architect. Growing up with blueprints, materials, textures and visiting sites with my father and grandfather, I wanted to be one too. But I was poor in math, so I turned to art and design,” says Passi.

Keen on sports in her school years, she recalls her practice runs, from Barakhamba Road and around Connaught Place. “That’s how I began admiring buildings. I took up art classes at Triveni Kala Sangam under Rameshwar Broota and was influenced by the works of BC Sanyal and Manjit Bawa. I spent a lot of time at Lalit Kala Akademi. I was deeply influenced by Amrita Sher-Gil, would curl up my hair and dress like her,” says Passi.

But she never continued studies in fine art, whether at home or abroad, as her family thought that she wasn’t quite cut out for survival in an unpredictable creative universe. “My family didn’t like it when my photo appeared in a newspaper during a college protest,” she says. She came into her own after she married businessman Sanjay Passi at 20. Owner of the automobile dealership company Pasco, she chose him because he was grounded. “I wanted a partner with deep value systems who didn’t smoke, drink or gamble. His family saw me at a wedding and that’s how we got married. My first photo in the society pages appeared when he was honoured in 1999 for being the country’s highest tax payer,” she says.