Shilpa Shetty at a press conference for Life in a .... Metro last month
Shilpa Shetty - prima donna princess or postmodern feminist icon? The jury is still out. My opinion of Shetty nosedived yesterday afternoon when she cancelled our interview at the last minute, supposedly in a huff because 10 pieces of her luggage had gone missing. Considering that most of the A-list celebrities at the Bollywood Oscars bring more than 60 pieces of luggage each, according to an insider source, it didn't sound like that much of a disaster. So far, so princess, and all without her stepping foot in the room.
But an entirely different Shetty was on show yesterday evening at the house of Mr and Mrs Kuljit Thiaray on the outskirts of Leeds, who had won a competition to have the cast of Apne - starring Shetty, Dharmendra, and Sunny and Bobby Deol - round for tea. (By the way, that's a little like having Cameron Diaz, Kirk and Michael Douglas, plus a sexy younger brother around for a cuppa - something you can't quite imagine happening at the Oscars.) Britain's favourite Bollywood star - dressed in spray-on beige jeans and an elegant purple top - was entirely charming. She smiled unceasingly, posed for countless photographs, and declared the food delicious.
There was even a word or two for the reporters. When I asked how she felt coming back to Britain, she said unfalteringly: "Britain has always treated me so well that it feels like coming back to my second home - the people have shown me so much love here." It was with a little glint in her eye that she told me how it felt to walk out of the Big Brother house vindicated and victorious. "I didn't expect so much to come of it," she said modestly. "But it was a great feeling. It's always nice to win."
On the racism row, she was politely pragmatic: "Whatever happened, good and bad, we were able to get over it and move on. It was a catalyst for the whole racism discussion, and that has to be a good thing."
The teenage girls screaming her name and leaping up and down with excitement outside the suburban house tended to agree. Hema Johar, an aspiring actress herself, said: "She's an idol. It was great to see such as successful Asian woman on TV - it gives me hope for the future because that's what I want to do."
As Shilpa drove off into the evening, waving to her adoring fans, the girls were still clutching her signed image in their hands. "It was so good to see her win Big Brother," said Hema. "I think she made a lot of Indian women feel stronger." It's difficult to argue with that: the public has spoken.
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