I'm just authentically me on social media: Shenaz Treasury
Treasury's latest venture is a book based on past break-ups-'All He Left Me Was a Recipe'
(NOTE: This article was originally published in the India Today issue dated May 20, 2024)
Q. When did you discover the writer within?
I’ve always had stories in me and I’ve been writing from when I was a kid. I actually even wrote a screenplay. Not many people know thisâ€æ It was Luv Ka The End, the first from Y-Films (a subsidiary of Yash Raj Films) in 2011, which was also Shraddha Kapoor’s first film. When I had the idea for this, I actually wanted to make it into a show. But since that’s such a process, I reached out to Penguin Random House India for a book, and they loved the idea. I started writing it five years ago but at around the same time my travel vlogging really picked up and this got a little sidelined for a while. But then last year, I decided to travel less, write more, and complete it, and the book is here!
Q. How much of the story is fact, how much fiction? Is it a kiss-and-tell tale?
I’d love for people to guess... that keeps it spicy! But let’s say, there’s more fact than fiction. It’s about a girl’s life from when she’s four to 40 and every chapter she’s in a different stage of life, with a different guy. So, you see her life journey through the guys she dates. I feel like I’ve lived many livesâ€æ in different parts of the world, had different partners at different times, and those have always been my reference points for life events, that I was in that place, with that guy.
Q. Tell us about how you envisaged the book...
Each chapter starts with a question. For example, ‘What are the rules of break-up?’ or ‘Could a boy be threatened by a girl’s success?’, then there’s a bit of what happens to her, and at the end of each chapter, is the name of a dish that she associates with that guy. The ‘recipes’ are actually the life lessons she learns. And the other things, such as ‘Three thank yous and a sorry’ is a positive feeling towards the break-up, because I always like to remember the good times. When I look back, I don’t have a grudge even if the guy was terrible.
Q. Who was your favourite character?
I’m dying to make this a show because every episode will have a different hot guy and sometimes one will come back as well! But if I have to pick a favourite, it would be Roller Boy, whom she first meets and dates in 2001 and then he comes back in 2011. He’s the ‘baddest’ boy in the book, the wildest, most loving, passionate, and sexy. I like bad boys a lot. Everyone sees me as a good girl and I think good girls like bad boys because they free us from the pressure of being good girls.
Q. As a popular influencer, you make strong statements even as you inform and entertain. Is this something that you consciously plan?
You mean like about the environment or not honkingâ€æ yes, whatever I say I really mean. I believe in being honest and spontaneous.
Q. Be it in relationships or on social media, you seem quite brave in the way you put yourself out there. Have past relationships or present-day trolls ever made you rethink your approach?
I’m just me. At 16 I was doing TV commercials, then I did MTV, then movies in India, then MTV in Asia, then I moved to New York, and I did movies and shows there. So many years in front of the camera, after getting hair and make-up, etc and I was so done with it. You can’t be an actor or a TV personality or a social media influencer if you care what other people think. So, now on social media, I just started being me, authentically me. And that’s not exhausting, it’s exhilarating.