Shilpa Shetty

Andrea:  Hello, I’m Andrea Rose and you’re listening to bbclearningenglish.com.
　　In Entertainment today we catch up with Bollywood actress, Shilpa Shetty,who is starring in the film, “Life in a…Metro”, which has just been released.
　　Shilpa Shetty started her career at the age of 16 when she worked as a model,and she made her film debut 1 at the age of 17 in a film called “Baazigar”. If youmake your debut, it means it’s the first time you’ve done something. And inShilpa’s case, she was just a teenager when she started acting 2.
　　Shilpa’s been very successful as an actress – she’s been nominated four timesfor the Filmfare Awards in India. But she also made it into the internationalspotlight when earlier this year she took part in the British reality televisionshow, Celebrity 3 Big Brother.
　　The programme was surrounded by controversy 4 when Shilpa’s housemateswere accused of bullying 5 her and making racist 6 remarks.
　　But was it always Shilpa’s plan to get exposure from Celebrity Big Brother?
　　Did she want the fame and did she expect she’d become a heroine? As youlisten to Shilpa talking about her experiences in the Big Brother house see ifyou can hear some of these phrases: getting into – cater 7 to – make it.
　　Shilpa ShettyYou know what, I did Celebrity Big Brother not knowing what I was getting into and I onlythought I was going to cater to the Asian audiences and I had no idea that it was going tomake me an international celebrity. I had no idea what it had in store for me. So you knowwhen people ask me whether it was a contrived 8 decision to do it because I wanted to make ithere or internationally, no it wasn’t. I had no idea.
　　Andrea:  Did you hear those phrases? Shilpa says she had no idea what she was gettinginto. She had no idea what was about to happen and how it would affect herlife. The other phrase she uses is ‘cater to’. Shilpa thought that being on BigBrother would only cater to Asian audiences. She thought it would only be theAsian viewers who would be interested in her. If you cater to someone, you aremaking something especially for them. Of course the word ‘cater’ can also beused when you are cooking something – as in ‘catering’. Finally, Shilpa talksabout making it. If you make it, you’ve become famous or well-known.  Let’shave a listen to that clip again.
　　Shilpa ShettyYou know what, I did Celebrity Big Brother not knowing what I was getting into and I onlythought I was going to cater to the Asian audiences and I had no idea that it was going tomake me an international celebrity. I had no idea what it had in store for me. So you knowwhen people ask me whether it was a contrived decision to do it because I wanted to make ithere or internationally, no it wasn’t. I had no idea.
　　Andrea:  Since being on television in Britain, Shilpa’s career has taken off. Most recentlyshe played the part of Shikha in the film, “Life in a….Metro”. The film looks atthe lives of seven people living in Mumbai, India and explores how the world isbecoming smaller with the use of mobile phones,  with less time for everythingand far too many choices. It also takes a look at how Indian culture is slowlychanging. Shilpa’s character has an extra-marital affair because she is neglectedby her husband. So have the morals we associate with Indian society begun toshift?
　　Shilpa ShettyThat’s what I love about the movie. It’s unpretentious. And morals have nothing to do withculture. You are talking about a film set with characters who are fallible and who are human.
　　We are talking about issues that actually exist in urban India. You’re living in a metropolitancity like Mumbai whether it be London, New York, we all have to deal with these issues andwe all deal with them in our way and in India we deal with them slightly differently becauseof the background that we hail from. So you talk about extra-marital affairs, yes they exist inIndia. If you’re telling me it doesn’t exist then you’re being a hypocrite because they do exist– you know, I know that. People don't talk about them but in our film, it’s been portrayed 9 sobeautifully. In fact, my character you actually feel so bad for her your heart goes out to her.
　　You actually want her to run away with her lover.
　　Andrea:  Shilpa says the film is unpretentious. That means it’s not trying to be clever. It iswhat it is. She also says that if you think that people don’t have affairs in modernIndia, you are being a hypocrite. A hypocrite is someone who deceives themselveswhen they know the truth. Shilpa is really proud of the film and she believes thatthe way her character is shown in the film is done beautifully. The word she usesis ‘portrayed’. Her character is portrayed beautifully. Finally she talks about thepart she played – her character. She says, you really feel for her – your heart goesout to her.