Shilpa Shetty is one of the most popular Indian actresses and a very capable businesswoman who rose to fame through her appearance in Hindi movies.
She became known worldwide after she became the winner of a popular British reality TV show called “Celebrity Big Brother”.
Early years
She was born as Ashwini Shetty on June 8, 1975, in the town named Mangalore which is the main city of Kamataka, one of the Indian states. She says that growing up in India was not the best thing ever, but she still has a lot of respect for the place she was born in.
She was raised by her loving parents Surendra and Sunanda. Both her father Surendra and her mother Sunanda worked in the pharmaceutical industry so she grew up in a hardworking family.
She was a student at St. Anthony High School located in one of the largest Mumbai suburbs called Chembur.
After her successful graduation and leaving the high school she became a student at Matunga’s Poddar College. She was always very happy to grow and learn and to be better.
Shilpa was an avid dancer and had trained the Bharat Natyam dance for a long period of time.
She was also good at sports and loved to play volleyball where she reached the position of the team captain. Shilpa loved to spend time doing very versatile activities.
She liked sport, but also enjoyed spending time doing some art and writing poetry. That’s the reason why she can act in various roles.
Career development
In 1991, Shiloa got interested in modeling and had passed the audition for a TV commercial for “Limcs” beverage. This opened her the door for her appearance in other advertisements and various commercials which made her a known face in the public.
Her often commercial appearance made her face interesting to film producers so she even started getting offers to become an actress. She said that working in the industry was very interesting, but she often face a lot of prejudice about her looks and her intelligence.
In 1992, Shilpa started working on her debut movie which was a romantic drama called “Gaata Rahe Mera Dil” but the movie didn’t get released ever. She was very sad when this happened, but she managed to move on very soon.
Her next movie was her debut movie: a 1993 crime thriller named “Baazigar” in which Kajal and Shah Rukh Khan were in leading roles. She had a supporting role in this film.
The movie became a hit and earned a lot of money but most importantly Shilpa gained very good reviews and critics spoke highly of her performance. Shilpa even received the Filmfare awards for the Best Supporting Actress and as the Best Female Debut.
In 1994 she appeared in an action drama movie called “Aag” which was directed by K. Ravi Shankar. It was also a debut film of a big star Sonali Bendre. Many people went to watch this because of the famous women in the movie.
Her next movie was an action-comedy called “Main Khiladi Tu Anari” where she played to roles. This movie where she starred alongside Akshay Kumar and Shakti Kapoor turned out to be a huge hit. Her performance was praised both by the critics and the public and is considered to be very crucial for her career. This pushed her and helped her move on in her career.
This movie was a breakthrough for her and she became a wanted actress. Her 3rd movie in 1994 was a romantic film called “Aao Pyaar Karen”, directed by Ravindra Peepat but this movie wasn’t a success. In 1995 she appeared in an action movie called “Hathkadi” directed by Rama RaocTatineni, but this movie was a bust and didn’t go well in the box office.
Her next movie called “Mr. Romeo” was her debut Tamil film and it turned out to be a hit. She was very happy because of that, since many directors wanted to get a hold of her soon.
In 1997 she appeared in an action thriller called “Auzaar” where she starred alongside Salman Khan and Sanjay Kapoor. In 1998 the movie named “Pardesi Babu” was released and she has received the Bollywood Movie Award for her role in it (Best Supporting Actress).
In 2000, she appeared in a romantic drama named “Dhadkan” together with Akshay Kumar and Suniel Shetty. The film was successful at the box office. In 2002 she has appeared in a Hindi drama movie called “Rishtey”, alongside Anil and Karisma Kapoor. It brought her the nomination for Best Supporting Actress and Best Comedian.
In 2004 she played the role of an orphan in a police drama movie called “Garv” where she starred opposite Salman Khan. She also appeared in an Indian drama called “Phir Milenge”, a movie based on sn American movie called “Philadelphia”. This rose a huge controversy since the topic was a social taboo in India. She was nominated for the Best Actress and got involved in the charity work connected to HIV.
In 2005 she played a role in an action movie called “Dus” which was not received very well in cinema. There were a lot of scandals and controversies as well, but she soon moved on and continued her career.
Her next movie in 2005 was a movie called “Auto Shankar” which became a huge hit although she played the role of a villain in the movie. She said that this was also very interesting since she never did that before.
She also starred in the movie called “Fareb”, directed by Deepak Tijori and she appeared in it alongside her sister Shamita Shetty. It was very interesting to work with her family and she said that she would love to do more of it, although she believes that she would soon get enough of it.
In 2006 she had appeared in a movie called “Shaadi Karke Phas Gaya Yaar” which was a huge flop at the box office. It was the same year where she judged a dance show called “Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa”.
2007 started with her huge hit movie called “Life in a… Metro” where she was praised by the critics for her performance. This movie was huge dor her because it was the first movie made in Bollywood that was premiered in the West End. In 2010 she played a role in a movie “The Desire” but it was never released to the public.
In 2006 she has joined PETA for their campaign. She said that she was very concerned with the direction the world is going in and that she wanted to be much more active about rights of animals. She used to be a buyer of many animal-sourced products, but now she is not.
In 2007 she became a contestant and eventually even won the “Celebrity Big Brother” show which was produced by British Television. She was not only the first Indian celebrity to get into the show but also the first to win it. She had received almost £400,000 for her appearance in the show.
The show wasn’t without its controversy when it was found out that she was a target of bullying in the Big Brother House, connected to her race. In 2008 she became the host od an Indian reality TV show called “Big Boss”. This was an Indian version of a world popular show named “Big Brother”.
In 2009 she has become one of the owners on a cricket team named “Rajasthan Royals” of the Indian Premier League. She had spent $15 million to buy a stake in the club. She was pretty confident in herself, thogh.
She is also an avid businesswoman and she owns a chain of salons called “Joris”. She said that she wanted to be sure that what she will have something to live off of if her acting career doesn’t go as well as she wanted to.
Two years in roe, from 2012 to 2014, she was a judge of a reality dance show called “Nach Baliye”. In 2014 she became a host of a TV show she co-produced. It was named “Song Ka Dil”.
She also produced an action movie called “Dishkiyaaon” which became a flop. She had also appeared in various talk shows like “Comedy Nights with Kapil”. Shilpa Shetty always liked sports and martial arts and not many people know that she has a black belt in karate.
She has released her fitness DVD in 2015 and it is named “Yoga”. She said that she wanted to share her interests with other people and that’s why she decided to go with yoga.
In 2016 she became a judge of “Super Dancer” reality TV show which airs on Sony Entertainment. She does it alongside Geeta Kapoor and Amurag Bash.
She was involved in several controversies like in 2005 when she was attacked for obscene posing in photos for a newspaper. This was considered to be a violation of an act in 1986 connected to the Indecent Representation of Women.
In her appearance on “Celebrity Big Brother”, she was involved in a racism controversy when she was bullied by housemates and mocked for her accent. She was also referred to as “The Indian” and “The Dog”.
Shetty broke in tears several times during the show. After the show was over the housemates apologized to the winner Shetty. This caused the suspension of the shoe during 2008 because of the harsh attacks made by both Indian and UK governments on producers of the show. Many sponsors canceled their contracts with the show.
In 2007 she got in the middle of a controversy after she was hugged and kissed by a popular American actor called Richard Gere. Women protested all over India and demanded their apology and even made threats about banning her movies.
In 2007 warrant for Shetty’s and Gere’s arrests were issued but later the warrants were suspended. Richard Gere publically apologized for his behavior saying that he didn’t know it will cause so much trouble.
A documentary “The Real Shilpa Shetty” was released on Sky One TV. She was repeatedly accused of using her racism problem from Big Brother to gain money. Shilpa was a cover girl for the “OK! Magazine” issued in India.
In 2007 she has also been a model at Indian Fashion Week.
Personal life
As for her personal life, she dates Akshay Kumar after their work on a movie “Insaaf” from 1997. Their relationship ended in 2000.
In 2009 she got engaged to an Indian businessman Raj Kundra with whom she owns a cricket team. They got married in 2009 and have a son Viaan Raj born the same year.
She was involved in a controversy with Raj Kundra’s former wife because she accused her of stealing ber husband when they were still a pair.
Quick summary
Full name: Ashwini Shetty
Date of birth: June 8, 1975
Birthplace: Mangalore, Karnataka, India
Age: 44
Profession: actress, model
Height: 1,67 m
Weight: 58 kg
Net Worth: $14 million