Walk into your local Woolies, and a beautiful woman smiles down at you from posters in the aisles. Who is she? One Shashi Naidoo. (Along with heavyweight soccer stars such as Lucas Radebe and Luis Figo, she’s part of the retail chain’s 2010 soccer-inspired campaign.) The same Shashi Naidoo makes regular appearances in men’s mags SA Sports Illustrated and FHM (she’s on the FHM January 2010 cover), did a Cosmo cover last year, and recently weighed in at number 14 on heat magazine’s “Hot 100” list of SA’s most popular celebrities. If you watch local TV, you’ll know she’s done stints on Generations, SABC1 mini-series Society, M-Net’s Egoli and presented shows such as e.tv’s 20Something and Simunye’s EMS Volume 1.
Oh yes, and she’s been competing against nine other celebs in the second season of the Tropika Island of Treasure reality show currently airing on e.tv. Shashi calls the experience “a five-star Survivor”: the show set 10 celebs and their Ordinary Joe partners a series of physical challenges in super-luxurious conditions. Almost inevitably, for she does seem to have the Midas touch, Shashi and her partner won, taking home a cool R500 000 each in winnings.
It’s fair to think of Shashi as mostly an accomplished model, TV presenter, actress and professional celebrity – until she informs you that it’s her sideline these days. Two years ago she decided the South African modelling scene needed a different sort of modelling agency. So – in typical Shashi style – she started one. Those who write off models as ditzy airheads, underestimate this woman at your peril...
Shashi is comfortable behind her huge Apple Mac screen in the office part of her Norwood home as she talks about the 200-odd clients (models as well as “talent” – industry-speak for actors, presenters and the like) she has on her books. “I found there was a huge need for a credible, ethical modelling agency in South Africa,” she says. “One that treats models with respect, pays on time, and delivers a good service to clients. So I started Alushi.
“We’re a boutique agency on purpose. Some very young models don’t realise that the way they behave on set directly impacts on the model agency’s name. So I like to keep tabs on things personally. I counsel models if they’re not getting work or if the feedback is not good, and together we try to improve their performance. Models must realise they’re only ever as good as their last shoot.”
With a level-headedness unusual for the industry in which she works, Shashi claims, “I’m not the prettiest model out there, and I’m certainly not the tallest – but I bring hard work and reliability to the job. And I’ll be booked again and again because of that.” In fact, though this year was to be the one where Shashi moved “behind the cameras”, she acknowledges she’s had more modelling assignments than ever before. “Older models are doing well,” says Shashi, who is 29 – ancient in the modelling world where 22 was once seen as retirement age.
Shashi ascribes the success of “older” models (“think of Claudia Schiffer, Naomi Campbell – they’re still working!”) to the fact that brands are beginning to talk to women with buying power – which means the older ones. As a modelling “senior” herself, Shashi may have that power – but she doesn’t rate Jozi as a place to offload your dollars on clothing. “To be honest, I find clothes very expensive in Joburg – both high and low-end,” she complains. “I started buying one amazing, quality item such as a pair of shoes or a handbag on every international shoot. Now I have a collection that will last me a long time.” She rates Jenni Button and Hilton Weiner for local shopping though. “And my most extravagant fashion purchase ever was a pair of Jimmy Choos. I am too embarrassed to confess how much they cost!”
Shashi’s success in the modelling world is perhaps surprising considering she’s a qualified chiropractor. She came to Johannesburg from Port Elizabeth in 1999 to study chiropractic at the then Wits Technikon. “In every Indian family there’s a doctor, a lawyer and a teacher, and my dad’s been calling me ‘doctor’ since I was, like, three years old,” she laughs. “But I started doing acting and modelling work on the side, to make extra money to support my studies – or so I told myself!” she explains. Even the house she bought and the renovations she made to it were intended for a practice – but have since turned into Alushi’s swanky offices. “Modelling just took off, and after a while I thought I’d give it a proper try.”
Shashi’s father is a retired teacher and her mom an entrepreneur. (“She’s the hardest-working woman I know, and she’s spiritual, opinionated and driven – like me! And she makes the world’s best mutton curry. Bismillah’s in Mayfair comes a close second,” she says.) The Naidoos senior still live in PE, and Shashi’s older sister is a dentist in London. The family’s only Joburger loves the city. “What is it about Joburg? Something strange takes you over when you get here. The minute I arrived, it felt like home.” And she loves Norwood’s youthful funkiness, and the range of small shops and services nearby: “It’s 97 steps to the Spar and 102 to Woolies. I can walk in the street and still feel safe. I love that,” she proclaims. When she does venture beyond her suburb, she goes to Taboo for a night-time jol, and she rates Orient in Melrose Arch, Espresso in Parkhurst, and Bellini’s off Corlett Drive as quality restaurants.
Shashi’s lucky not to have to battle traffic daily, but she does love her wheels – a 350 SLK Mercedes, “my dream car since I was a child”, she swoons. Our girl does admit to a bit of a materialistic streak, like any true Joburger. “Yes, Jozi is materialistic, but I think the people here are driven,” she explains. “I love the energy and pace and the fact that people want to get somewhere fast and that they get edgy in traffic. You just know that if you want to do well in this city, you can.”
So loyal a supporter of Joburg is Shashi, she has a personal hand in stemming the emigration exodus to other countries, she jokes. Shashi started a romance with her now-fiancé a week before he was due to emigrate to the US. Mark Sandler lasted two weeks in LA before the Shashi-magnet drew him back. He proposed while on holiday in California, and the wedding is to be an intimate affair with 35 close friends and family in Thailand in December.
Life is treating Shashi well. But, characteristically, even as she rides the crest of this wave, she’s eyeing the next one. Her businesswoman’s instinct tells her she could expand her business to include representing celebrities. As she notes, the emergence of “celebrity culture” is palpable in South Africa as it is worldwide. “It’s always been hard financially as an actor or model,” she says. “But with ad campaigns and magazines driving a celebrity culture, we can now make a living.” Celebrities are “brands” and they should be profitable – a simple idea, and one, like her others, that Shashi is sure to turn into gold.