Childhood & Early Life
Maria was born on January 26, 1972, in Vasai, part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, the capital of Maharashtra, on the western coast of India.
She was named after the Christian saint Maria Goretti.
She attended ‘St. Andrew’s College’ in Mumbai. During her college years, she often participated in inter-collegiate dance competitions.
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Career
She joined Arshad’s dance studio, ‘Awesome,’ in 1991 and became an integral member of his dance troupe, eventually performing at several locations in India and abroad.
After her graduation, she started working as a model and appeared in advertisements of major brands such as ‘Sunsilk’ shampoo and ‘Titan’ watches.
She soon became a video jockey (V.J.) on the popular music channel ‘MTV.’ During her stint as a V.J., she interviewed several celebrities. The audiences loved her for her chirpy and bubbly presentation.
In 1992, she appeared in her debut movie, the Hindi teen drama ‘Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander.’
She also appeared in ‘Jai Jai Shiv Shankar’ and the TV series ‘Hello Friends’ in 1999.
She appeared in the music video of ‘Gallan Goriyan,’ a popular Punjabi pop song by ‘Harbhajan Mann,’ in 2001.
She then starred as ‘Reshma’ and ‘Neetaji’ in the 2003 movie ‘Raghu Romeo.’ The same year, she made a cameo appearance in the Hindi movie ‘Waisa Bhi Hota Hai Part II.’
Two years later, in 2005, she made another cameo appearance, in the Hindi romance–drama ‘Salaam Namaste.’ In 2006, she was cast as ‘Maria’ in the Hindi movie ‘Jaane Hoga Kya.’
In 2009, she began hosting the cookery show ‘Do it Sweet’ on ‘NDTV Good Times,’ an Indian lifestyle TV channel. Later, she hosted ‘I Love Cooking’ on the food and lifestyle channel ‘Living Foodz.’
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In 2010, she finally decided to make a full-fledged career out of cooking, which had been her hobby till then. In May 2010, she started the blog ‘The Maria Goretti Corner…’ on ‘mariagorettiz.blogspot.com.’ Her first blog was published on May 10, 2010, which was also Mother’s Day. She not just posts her recipes and food reviews on the channel but also shares memorable events from her life, involving her family and friends.
After deciding to become a celebrity home chef, she took up many courses to hone her culinary skills. In 2010, she joined ‘Sapphires’ and learned baking for about a year.
In 2011, she completed an 11-week course and earned the ‘Cordon Bleu Certificate’ from the ‘Tante Marie Culinary Academy’ in Surrey, England, where she learned boulangerie cuisine and bakery. Before this, she had finished a part-time baking course at ‘Sophia Polytechnic.’ Later, she learned pastry making from ‘Le Cordon Bleu,’ Paris, France, and ‘Le Cordon Bleu,’ London, England.
On July 24, 2014, she started the ‘YouTube’ channel ‘The Maria Goretti Corner.’ The channel showcases her culinary skills and has gained more than 28 thousand subscribers and over 3.6 million views.
Her cookery ‘Facebook’ page of the same name was created on August 19, 2014. Her ‘Instagram’ account has more than 200 thousand followers.
She essayed the role of a mother in the short film ‘Little Magician,’ which was released in 2016.
In March 2016, she released her cookbook ‘From My Kitchen to Yours.’ In January 2017, she earned the India-level ‘Gourmand World Cookbook Award’ for the book.
The year 2019 saw her appear as ‘Annie’ in the short movie titled ‘Nawab.’
On March 17, 2020, it was reported that she had partnered with ‘The Doers Club’ (by the Scotch brand ‘Dewar’s’) with the objective of co-curating a culinary experience called the ‘East India Bottle Masala and Double Aged Scotch.’
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Family & Personal Life
Maria met her future husband, Arshad, in 1991, at the ‘St. Xavier’s College’ dance competition ‘Malhar.’ Three months later, she joined his dance troupe, though she was initially reluctant to do so.
Both of them traveled a lot, performing at various venues across the country and even in international locations such as Dubai, U.A.E.
Though both liked each other, neither of them confessed their feelings. Arshad, aware of what she felt for him, got her to confess her love for him in Dubai.
The couple dated until 1999. On Valentine’s Day 1999, the duo tied the knot. They had ceremonies according to both Christian and Muslim traditions. Thus, there was a church wedding, followed by a “nikah.”
Maria and Arshad once revealed that they go on a holiday once in 6 months. While Maria prefers to visit historical locations such as ancient monuments and cemeteries, Arshad loves cafes, dinners under starry nights, and boat rides. Their favorite travel destinations are London (U.K.), Vienna (Austria), and Miami (U.S.A.).
They are blessed with two children: a son, Zeke Warsi, born in 2004, and a daughter, Zene Zoe Warsi, born in 2007.
She adopted a black Labrador on January 28, 2016, and named it Ziggy Mars. Earlier, she had three more dogs, named Betty-Boo, Ninja, and Taz.
She loves shopping for home décor, crockery, and cutlery.
An avid athlete, she has climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. She is a certified deep-sea diver, too. In 2016, she participated in the half-marathon category of the ‘Mumbai Marathon’ and reached the finish line.
She loves gorging on Bengali, Kashmiri, Kerala, Thai, Ethiopian, and Hungarian cuisines.
Trivia
When Maria and Arshad met for the first time, she was a participant in a dance competition that had him as one of the judges. Impressed by her skills, he requested her to join his troupe, only to be rejected by her. However, 3 months later, after having met Arshad again through a common friend, Maria became part of his troupe.
On her blog, she describes herself as a “star-gazer,” a “dragon-slayer,” a “smile bringer,” and a “hug giver n muffin maker…”
