Who would have given Shilpa Shetty a second chance if UK’s Celebrity Big Brother didn’t come her way, not many i guess. Anyways, Shilpa Shetty has hardly looked back after her spectacular win in the reality series – courtesy Jade goody, if it was not for her, not sure where Shilpa would be. Life’s changed for Shilpa after Big Brother, for those in rush, she’s launched perfume, given a hit movie (Life in a Metro), has good offers under her belt,hosting shows and found a beau (finally) with whom she decides to settle.. phew!!!

Lets do a quick check on Shilpa Shetty’s profile

Family Background (play a major role in her life)

Shilpa is the eldest daughter of Surendra and Sunanda Shetty. Her father, a businessman who manufactures tamper-proof caps for the pharmaceutical industry. She hails from Mangalore (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is from the same place.. lot of beauties from one place). Shilpa has a younger sister, Shamita Shetty, like every other Bollywood sibling, she tried and is still trying her luck in Bollywood. Shilpa’s family is like her backbone, every major commercial/personal decision in her life is made in conjunction with her family’s agreement.

Bollywood journey

Shilpa came into this industry as an actress in supporting role in the movie Baazigar. This movie was a blockbuster hit and Shilpa’s performance (of being murdered by a psychopath and angry revengeful lover) was acclaimed by the audience. Her next movie, (as single female lead) was Aag. This movie didn’t do well at the box office. After Aag, came Main Khiladi Tu Anari (MKTA), opposite Akshay Kumar which was again another hit. Between MKTA and the year 1996 she did couple of forgettable movies. In 1997, she appeared in six different movies that included a regional Telugu movie. Out of six, only Auzaar was a hit. In 1998, she acted in Pardesi Babu for which received a supporting actress award & was critically acclaimed for her performance. In 2000 she gave another hit with Dhadkan opposite hot flame – Akshay Kumar. Dhadkan was her last commercial hit of any significance for a number of years, she did however act in a number of movies like Rishtey (her comic role was appreciated and was also nominated at filmfare awards), Garv ,Phir Milenge (again good performance there) ,Dus, Fareb (along with her sister Shamita), Shaadi karke phas gaya etc. 2007 was a good year for Shilpa Shetty as she managed to deliver 2 hits Life in a metro and Apne.

Celebrity Big Brother

Shilpa was the one of the in-house member of the famous UK show “Celebrity big Brother” (Indian version – Bigg Boss). She was bullied and harassed by some of the other contestants, Jade Goody, Jo O’Meara and Danielle Lloyd in particular. They called her names like “The Indian”, “dog”, blah blah blah. For Shilpa Shetty this reality show came as a second life, she instantly gained international star status being courted by international audience, her race row with Jade Goody ensured that she got maximum public sympathy. It gave her the much needed oxygen to resurface, her family saw a commercial opportunity and hired the best PR agent money can buy, overnight she was flashed all over the newspapers, perfume launches, parties and prime-time interview shows with some of the leading international channel gave her the kind of media mileage very few Bollywood babes can boast of. Bollywood too, woke up to her and offers started pouring in, now, she was in a commanding position with producers jostling to harp in on her new found fame.

Love life

Shilpa Shetty had a real hot affair with playboy of 90’s – Akshay Kumar, both of them had made their public and were ready for marriage, but like many other bollywood couples decided to part ways. Currently she’s dating London-based NRI Raj Kundra. Shilpa has stated that she plans to marry in three years and would love to adopt a teenage daughter (adoption is the IN thing these days).

Shilpa’s tryst with controversies

Underworld connections: In 2003, another a big controversy erupted which involed Shilpa and her family. They were alleged linked with the underworld mafia’s. According to the media, it happened when Shilpa did an ad shoot for Praful sarees. When the payment that was promised was not paid to Shilpa, her father allegedly sought the help of the underworld to get the money out of the owner of Prafull sarees. Based on his complaints, Shilpa’s father was arrested and released later on bail, the case is still on.

Charged for Obscenity: In 2006, Shilpa was charged for “posing in an obscene manner” in one of the tamil newspaper. Shilpa however denied that she did not receive any court summons and that her photos were just freeze-frame shots from a recent movie that only exposed her naval.

Richard Gere kissing incident: Richard Gere on one of his many trips to India to attend an AIDS-awareness event, swept Shilpa Shetty off her feet and kissed her cheeks several times in front of the glaring media shutter box. It seems she was issued an arrest warrant for indecency.

Commercially aware Shilpa

Commercial success has finally caught up with Shilpa Shetty, apart from successfully winning the UK celebrity big brother, launched her perfume S2 (S squared). S2 stands for S.S., her initials. Packaging for the fragrance is unique – the box is quite classic and modern on the outside, but contemporary look in the inside; as Mark Earnshaw (creator of this perfume) says, there are two sides to Shilpa – cool on the outside but a very different and deeper inside. This perfume reportedly raised an amount of £15,000 in an auction for charity.


Apart from hosting the Bigg Boss season 2, shilpa has recently launched a special edition DVD called ‘Shilpa’s Yoga’. The DVD promises Shilpa’s ‘fitness secrets for a lean, toned body while retaining all the feminine curves’. She shares instructions for stress and tension release, increased energy and vitality, weight loss, improved circulation and digestion. Often described as ‘one of the best body in Bollywood’, its no doubt Shilpa’s instructional video will be a bestseller, although some might buy it for something more than just yoga.

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