Shilpa Shetty's first film was shelved, so audiences met her being murdered in Baazigar
The first film Shilpa Shetty signed, in 1992, never came out. Her debut release instead was the 1993 thriller Baazigar, in which Shah Rukh Khan's character kills hers. It was a huge hit and earned her a Filmfare nomination. Fourteen years later she was winning Celebrity Big Brother in Britain.
Born Ashwini Shetty in Mangalore on 8 June 1975 into a Tulu-speaking Bunt family, she grew up with parents who made tamper-proof water caps for the drug industry. She trained in Bharatanatyam, captained her school volleyball team and began modelling in 1991 after a Limca soft drink commercial. Her younger sister Shamita also became an actress.
The 1990s brought mixed fortunes. Action comedies such as Main Khiladi Tu Anari did well, while a run of 1997 releases flopped. She made her Tamil debut in Mr. Romeo and played a mermaid in a Telugu hit. The romantic drama Dhadkan, a loose take on Wuthering Heights, became her turning point in 2000. She won praise for playing a high-flyer who contracts HIV in Phir Milenge in 2004, a film inspired by Philadelphia that tackled a subject Bollywood had avoided, and for a trapped wife in Life in a... Metro. A villainous turn in a Kannada hit earned her the jokey title of the Gabbar Singh of the South.
In early 2007 she entered the fifth series of Celebrity Big Brother in the UK. The racism she faced from several housemates made international headlines, and she won the series. She went on to host the second season of India's Bigg Boss and has judged dance shows such as Nach Baliye and Super Dancer. After a break from films, she returned with Hungama 2 in 2021.
Off screen she campaigns on vegetarianism and animal rights, working with PETA since 2006 against circus animals, released a yoga DVD in 2015 and backs government fitness and cleanliness drives. From 2009 to 2015 she was part-owner of the IPL team Rajasthan Royals.
Source: Shilpa Shetty
