Shilpa Shetty is picking up some Chinese

But Shilpa Shetty still can't pronounce her Chinese co-star's name. Shilpa, who's working with Xia Yu in the film "The Desire" dreads calling out his name on the sets -- lest she gets it wrong.

"It invariably was wrong, the exact pronunciation being S(h)iya Yeoh! which means "summer rain." Sweet! The director addressed him as Sha Wu which meant "Afternoon", Sha Yu, which meant "Oil" and many more interpretations with different christenings."

And Shilpa's proud of the film (there are plans to show it at Cannes).

"For a change the international audiences will get to see more than just SLUMS, filth and an unhygienic environment and will see the deep rooted culture and beauty of India."

Did you hear that, Mr Danny Boyle?

More on Shilpa's blog.