[6][7] Zarina Mehta was born in Washington, D.C., in the United States and moved to India with her family at the age of eight.

[8] Screwvala started her career as a production manager for a play produced by reputed theatre artist Pearl Padamsee.

Screwvala also created and directed The Mathemagic Show and produced various other shows like Lifeline (a short film), Contact and Shakuntala[8] UTV has been credited with the production of content for India's top entertainment channels like Zee TV, STAR TV and Sony.

[10] Zarina and Ronnie Screwvala and Deven Khote gave the country its first-ever reality show – Saanp Seedi (1992) and first daily soap opera Shanti (1994).

[12] She launched two very successful shows called Hero - Bhakti Hi Shakti Hai and Sanya and promoted[8] international hits like Doraemon and Shin Chan.

In 2005–2006, she ideated and executed a campaign called Hungama TV Captain's Hunt wherein the channel launched a nationwide search for a "board of directors" composed of kids whose job was to suggest what was right or wrong with content on Hungama TV.

[13] In 2006, Screwvala roped in Bollywood actor John Abraham as the channel's brand ambassador and launched the 'John Aur Kaun' campaign.

The USP of the channel was its unique programming – stand-up shows, Hollywood blockbusters and thrillers[15] – that was tailored specifically for the target group.

[17] Zarina and Ronnie Screwvala set up UTV's Corporate Social Responsibility wing called Society to Heal, Aid, Restore, Educate (SHARE) with a vision to empower 1 million lives in the next 5 years across villages in the state of Maharashtra.