Till ‘Big Brother’, Shilpa’s career was going nowhere
Shilpa Shetty, who made her debut in Bollywood with the 1993 super hit “Baazigar” which also starred reigning superstar Shah Rukh Khan, never managed to touch the skies as a star. Her slinky dance numbers were more appreciated than her emoting.
But now her popularity ratings have soared suddenly - thanks to the controversial Channel 4 reality TV show “Celebrity Big Brother” in which she was the target of alleged racial abuse.
The long-legged Indian beauty has hogged international media headlines after her sobs found an echo in the House of Commons and also got the Indian government into action to defend her against the alleged racial abuse targeted at her by her housemates on the TV show.
The controversy over alleged racist epithets, that she later denied, has done wonders to her image and popularity. It has made people sit up. They want to know just who Shilpa Shetty is.
After “Baazigar”, the dusky beauty with high arched eyebrows and large eyes starred in a few hits, including “Main Khiladi Tu Anari”, “Auzaar” and “Dhadkan”. But her magic began to wane after that.
Post “Dhadkan”, she gave a string of flops including “Karz”, “Rishtey”, “Hathyar”, “Chor Machaaye Shor” and “Badhaai Ho Badhaai”.
In 2004, her career took a turn for the better with Revathy’s “Phir Milenge”, in which she played a successful creative director who is infected with HIV. Her power-packed performance made people take note.
The 2005 release “Dus”, a star-studded action packed thriller in which she was paired with Sanjay Dutt, earned her accolades for her performance.
Shilpa, the only Asian on the British TV show, has reportedly received Rs.35 million for participating in the programme. The programme has boosted her popularity higher than Aishwarya Rai’s. On Thursday, Shilpa did an about turn on earlier allegations of racial abuse: “I don’t feel that there was any racial discrimination.”
Apart from acting, the actress has been associated with socials causes like the AIDS campaign and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). She was a part of an ad campaign organised by PETA against the use of wild animals in circuses and also featured in the BBC World Service Trust’s campaign against AIDS.
The Scotsman has reported that PETA is backing Shilpa to win the contest and have urged British viewers to vote for her.
She had also appeared on Indian television as a judge on Sony TV’s dance show “Jhalak Dikhla Jaa” in 2006.
However, this is not the first time that she is courting controversy. Last year, she made headlines when a lawyer filed a case against her for posing in an allegedly obscene manner in photographs published by a Tamil newspaper.
Earlier, in May 2003 a controversy erupted over alleged links between her parents and the underworld.
The owners of Praful Sarees had filed complaints against Shilpa’s parents alleging that they had received threatening telephone calls from Mumbai-based underworld figures asking for money on behalf of the Shetty’s.
The Surat police issued arrest warrants against her parents on charges of extortion.
In 2000, Shilpa sued film magazine “Stardust” for publishing an article about her relationship with actor Akshay Kumar.
Currently Shilpa’s love life is nothing much to write about. She is footloose and fancy free, say those who know her.
— IANS
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