Shilpa Shetty beats Aishwarya Rai and Kareena Kapoor in the price factor, after being offered a whopping 5.25 crores for an international film.
While Kareena Kapoor is being offered Rs 3.5 crores for her new movies after Jab We Met, Aishwarya Rai is said to have received Rs 4 crores for her proposed stint as Rajnikant’s leading lady in Shankar’s Robot. But here comes the big surprise.
According to reliable sources, Shilpa Shetty (‘Big Brother’ winner and ‘the new face of Bollywood in the international market’) has been offered a whopping INR Rs 5.25 crores by an American NRI producer for an international film to go on floors in mid-2008.
When we contacted Shilpa, all she said was, “I get what I deserve”. Her publicist Dale Bhagwagar was a little more forthcoming, though he also asked us to be patient. “Let time unfold the news. I can’t divulge figures, but why would anyone be surprised at them,” he asked.
“Since her transformation from actress to diva in the international arena, Shilpa has been offered astronomical amounts by all kinds of filmmakers from all over the world, including Bollywood. But what matters most to her are hard-hitting roles which can satisfy the actress in her,” Bhagwagar added.
True. After Phir Milenge, Dus, Apne and Metro, Shilpa has become extremely choosy. She has agreed to only two films since then. Sunny Deol’s The Man will see her playing a role very close to her real life experience last year. Her character portrays the meteoric rise of a simple but dedicated girl to instant international stardom.
Shilpa’s next project would be Uru Patel’s international flick Hanuman, featuring her in the role of Goddess Sita, with Hollywood actor Keanu Reeves being tipped to play Lord Ram.
The actress is currently in Miami, shooting a ‘special song’ with Abhishek Bachchan and John Abraham in Karan Johar’s home production Dostana.
Apart from this, the actress will soon begin a big budget two-heroine action-comedy to be made by her production house S2 Global Productions with some top-of-the-line international technicians as part of her crew.
Meanwhile, we can only ask Ms Rai and Ms Kapoor to wake up and smell the coffee. Brand Shilpa seems to supersede them, whether it is about attracting maximum attention at the IIFA awards, or in price wars. And we’re sure; her mastermind publicist (who just like Shilpa, is himself ‘omnipresent’ in the media) wouldn’t mind agreeing to that.
