Shilpa Shetty

Born: 2 June, 1975 in Mangalore, Karnataka, India

Biography: Shilpa is popular Bollywood actress. She is also the older sister of actress Shamita Shetty and daughter of Surendra and Sunanda Shetty. She attended St. Anthony’s School and later Potdar College. A trained Bharatnatyam dancer, she holds a black belt in karate and was also the captain of her school’s volleyball team. A veteran bollywood actress, she is known for her well toned body.

Shilpa made her debut with the well known film Baazigar and became one of the very few actresses to have won a nomination for best actress for their first film and finished with the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress. This was followed by another hit in the form of Main Khiladi Tu Anari. But subsequently she faced a series of unsuccessful films until her 1998 release Pardesi Babu. In 2000 she appeared in Dhadkan which was widely appreciated. Her other successful films are Rishtey and Phir Milenge based on HIV/AIDS. The latter won her many awards including a nomination at Filmfare. Her performances were also noticed in films like Garv (2004), Dus (2005), Life in a Metro (2007) and Apne (2007). In 2008 she appeared in a song in Dostana. She is currently filming for ‘The Man’ and ‘The Desire’,

Besides this, Shilpa is the winner of the Celebrity Big Brother, Series 5 (2001). She was a victim of racism and bullying before she won; the issue became so inflated that it became a diplomatic crisis between India and UK and received condemnation from Prime Minister Tony Blair. She has been involved in many controversies like having Mafia links and the Richard Gere kissing incident. Also, Shilpa is a supporter of PETA and one of the leading AIDS activists.

AKA & Alternative Spellings: Shilpa Shety