After winning hearts all over the UK, Shilpa Shetty has re-emerged as a star and a prominent personality in India. She’s one of those stars that you either love or you hate, but you can’t ignore—especially today. She’s plastered over magazines, her interviews make front page headlines and each controversy she finds herself embroiled in becomes larger than life. In the seventeenth episode of the season, she joins host Karan Johar on his show ‘Koffee with Karan’ to talk about her experiences during reality show Big Brother, Akshay Kumar, her films and her family. She is joined by sister and fellow actress Shamita Shetty and mother Sunanda Shetty.
The early part of the show begins, naturally, with the bombshell herself. Karan does not waste any time before delving deep into the Big Brother controversy. Still, Shilpa maintains that she does not have any hard feelings towards any contestants on the show, Jade Goody included. He then digs the dirt on Akshay Kumar, Shilpa’s former flame. She chooses not to explore this facet of her past. She quickly changes the subject to the horrendous way in which she was treated by the media. She claims that after Big Brother, the “worst press came right from India.” Definitely, one can tell that Shilpa is not too happy with the media! She goes on to claim, “What hurts me the most is that…you are given so much respect, so much love outside your country. And then when you come back to your country people’s daggers are drawn. It’s just not fair.” Clearly, the heat is on!
Karan also explores an area about Shilpa that a lot of us think in our heads but don’t voice—the fact that she was never really a ‘star’ in the industry until now. In response to people calling her an item girl, a has-been and a B-grade actress, Shilpa shoots back “Just be fair. I’m not a B-grade actress. I’ve worked with right from Shahrukh to Govinda to Anil to Sunny to Salman to you name it! I mean how can you call me that? And I did one item song in my entire life, and they call me an item girl!”
As soon as Karan mentions Shilpa’s encounter with the Queen, tension decreases and the child in Shilpa emerges as she begins gushing about this honourable experience she had recently. Karan also featured a video clip titled “With Love from London” with British citizens commenting on Shilpa. It was very sweet, sometimes hilarious, and definitely showed us how many people know Shilpa in the UK. Oh, yes, Shilpa looked like a million bucks just in case you were wondering!
Halfway into the episode, Shamita Shetty came on to the sets, looking gorgeous in a perfectly fitting black dress. Though she’s still struggling as an actress, it’s apparent that deep down she’s quite a funny person. Her immaturity is endearing and she’s extremely entertaining! We don’t get to see much of the ‘real Shamita’ so it’s a nice change. She brings that extra spice to the show that was missing before. Even Shilpa admits, “She’s the fun one, I’m the party pooper!”
By far, one of the highlights of the show was when Shilpa revealed that Shamita’s idea of an ideal man is based on his body and nothing else. Throughout the show, the sisters kept taking digs at each other which was quite cute.
Though both were fearing the rapid fire round, they didn’t perform so bad! Shamita was undoubtedly more entertaining with her witty answers while Shilpa couldn’t match them as well. When asked “What do you think of Viagra”, Shamita replied “…I guess it’s okay when you’re down and out” with a sheepishly innocent smile.
Within the last five minutes, mother Sunanda Shetty (who apparently is a recluse most of the time) made a brief appearance and didn’t really do much. Did any of you know she’s an astrologer?
The episode may not have been the best of the season, but it was pretty fun to watch, especially if you’re a Shilpa fan! Also watch it to discover a side of Shamita’s personality that we don’t get to see too often. Their sisterly love throughout the show is adorable, catty but hilarious. Finally, after a bunch of drab episodes, we have one that makes us smile. Plus, if you have nothing to do, why turn down watching two gorgeous women with knockout legs? I sure as hell wouldn’t!
Rating: 3.5/5
