【英语听和读】希尔帕·谢蒂

 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 you
make your debut, it means it’s the first time you’ve done something. And in
Shilpa’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 times
for the Filmfare Awards in India. But she also made it into the international
spotlight 3 when earlier this year she took part in the British reality television
show, Celebrity 4 Big Brother.
The programme was surrounded by controversy 5 when Shilpa’s housemates
were accused of bullying 6 her and making racist 7 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 you
listen to Shilpa talking about her experiences in the Big Brother house see if
you can hear some of these phrases: getting into – cater 8 to – make it.
Shilpa Shetty
You know what, I did Celebrity Big Brother not knowing what I was getting into and I only
thought I was going to cater to the Asian audiences and I had no idea that it was going to 
Entertainment © BBC Learning English 2007
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make me an international celebrity. I had no idea what it had in store for me. So you know
when people ask me whether it was a contrived 9 decision to do it because I wanted to make it
here 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 getting
into. She had no idea what was about to happen and how it would affect her
life. The other phrase she uses is ‘cater to’. Shilpa thought that being on Big
Brother would only cater to Asian audiences. She thought it would only be the
Asian viewers who would be interested in her. If you cater to someone, you are
making something especially for them. Of course the word ‘cater’ can also be
used when you are cooking something – as in ‘catering’. Finally, Shilpa talks
about making it. If you make it, you’ve become famous or well-known. Let’s
have a listen to that clip again.
Shilpa Shetty
You know what, I did Celebrity Big Brother not knowing what I was getting into and I only
thought I was going to cater to the Asian audiences and I had no idea that it was going to
make me an international celebrity. I had no idea what it had in store for me. So you know
when people ask me whether it was a contrived decision to do it because I wanted to make it
here or internationally, no it wasn’t. I had no idea.
Andrea: Since being on television in Britain, Shilpa’s career has taken off. Most recently
she played the part of Shikha in the film, “Life in a….Metro”. The film looks at
the lives of seven people living in Mumbai, India and explores how the world is
becoming smaller with the use of mobile phones, with less time for everything
and far too many choices. It also takes a look at how Indian culture is slowly
changing. Shilpa’s character has an extra-marital affair because she is neglected
by her husband. So have the morals we associate with Indian society begun to
shift?
Shilpa Shetty
Entertainment © BBC Learning English 2007
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That’s what I love about the movie. It’s unpretentious. And morals have nothing to do with
culture. 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 metropolitan 10
city like Mumbai whether it be London, New York, we all have to deal with these issues and
we all deal with them in our way and in India we deal with them slightly differently because
of the background that we hail from. So you talk about extra-marital affairs, yes they exist in
India. 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 11 so
beautifully. 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 is
what it is. She also says that if you think that people don’t have affairs in modern
India, you are being a hypocrite. A hypocrite is someone who deceives themselves
when they know the truth. Shilpa is really proud of the film and she believes that
the way her character is shown in the film is done beautifully. The word she uses
is ‘portrayed’. Her character is portrayed beautifully. Finally she talks about the
part she played – her character. She says, you really feel for her – your heart goes
out to her.