Mumbai: With servants to wait on her as a child and her mother chaperoning her on Bollywood film sets, actor Shilpa Shetty led a luxurious and sheltered life. Sheltered, that is, until she decided to walk into Celebrity Big Brother, the British reality TV show.
"We brought her up like a princess," her mother, Sunanda Shetty says.
The actor’s mother adds, "This is the first time in her 31 years that she has travelled without me. And now she is getting a taste of the outside world."
Reduced to tears by insults from fellow competitors, Shetty's family says the show has been a reality check for Shilpa who has said her treatment smacked of racism.
Britain's media watchdog, Ofcom, has been flooded with complaints against the show and Europe's biggest mobile phone retailer has pulled its sponsorship after the racism issue cropped up. Meanwhile, the Indian government has asked Britain to check if race laws had been broken.
Shilpa and her main “tormentor”, loud-mouthed former dental nurse Jade Goody, have been shortlisted for eviction by fellow housemates on the show in a public vote on Friday. Goody is hot favourite to be kicked out.
Beginning her career as a model, Shilpa has enjoyed only a few hits among her 40 or so films in Bollywood. In recent years she has been overshadowed by the up coming film stars, so she could never have dreamt of the kind of publicity she has so far received on the British show.
The activist-actress
Wider recognition for her acting skills came in 2004 when she played an advertising agency employee with HIV in Phir Milenge. It earned her several film award nominations. Since then, she has virtually been off the Bollywood scene, although two films are due to be released this year.
At 5 feet 10 inches, Shilpa loves sport, is a black belt in karate and now makes intermittent appearances as a game show and beauty contest judge. She is also involved in HIV/AIDS prevention programmes and promotes animal rights for the pressure group PETA (People for Ethical Treatment of Animals).
"She is talented. She can speak half a dozen Indian languages and a smattering of French," says a director who has worked with Shilpa but refused to be identified because of the controversy surrounding her.
Shilpa, who is single, has had her share of controversies in Bollywood including reports of romantic links with actor Akshay Kumar.
She denied the reports and even successfully sued a film magazine for publishing what she said was a damaging article about her and Akshay, who acted with her in several films.
Her family says she put some projects on hold to appear on Big Brother, for which she is reportedly making more than $680,000, the highest paid of all the housemates.
"We are not after money. By God's grace we are doing well," Sunanda Shetty says.
"She did it because she wanted to do it. We did not want to come in between. All this has brought out the remarkably mature and graceful side of her. She has not lost her quintessential Indianness even amidst all the intimidation," the mother adds.
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