Shilpa Shetty in Big Brother (Day 6) : The Dirk-Shilpa love story

Click here for the Richard Gere - Shilpa Shetty kissing controversy

Well, everybody seems hooked on to the Dirk Benedict and Shilpa Shetty love affair. But has the 61-year-old Hollywood star really fallen for the Bollywood beauty?

In a conversation with Leo, Dirk says Shilpa may be his ideal woman but then even his "belt is older than her". He seems to be wondering whether a young woman would be interested in him. Thank God he realises he's almost double Shilpa's age.

Meanwhile, Jo and Cleo tell Ian that Shilpa really likes Dirk.

And then Danielle goes right ahead and asks the A-Team star point-blank.

Danielle: Do you think there will be a happy ending between you and Shilpa?

Dirk: There already is. Naaaah, I've been flirting with her, I tease her, it makes her happy. Isn't that good. For me it's nothing. When a man meets a woman it's always the woman that decides. There may be dinner, but it doesn't matter what he does. He can do whatever he can to convince her he is a good guy to be with -even today when the girl does all the stuff.

Danielle doesn't give up. What if the girl doesn't fancy the boy, she asks.

Dirk: Then you make a fool of yourself

Danielle: Like you did!

...

Dirk: I'm so glad I'm older. I've had my heart broken so many times

Danielle: Shilpa won't break your heart

And now comes the spanner in the works. Shilpa apparently told Carole that she wouldn't want an older man or someone other than an Indian in her life. The Bollywood diva is also worried that Dirk talking about her would be seen on TV.

Carole breaks the news to some housemates.

Carole:...she has to marry an Indian boy

Danielle: She HAS to?

Carole: She WANTS to

To add to the general confusion, Dirk jokingly says he needs enough money to look after Shilpa and build her a temple at his Montana residence. Carole puts in a rejoinder that Dirk might just have to decamp to Bombay(Mumbai).

Later the girls are discussing Dirk and Jade tells Shilpa about Dirk's liking for her. They are all wondering why the good-looking guy (who still has a good head of hair) hasn't met someone yet.

And then Danielle proposes that Shilpa and Dirk should get married on the show. Gwaahh! That's the sound of Shilpa nearly choking with laughter.

I wonder why people aren't talking about Shilpa and Jermaine. They seem more like soulmates than Dirk and her. Today, the good friends were discussing Shilpa's stint on the show. Jermaine feels that Shilpa would be there till the very end. But the Indian actress says she would leave if she felt she was losing her dignity.

Later, some of the housemates are gossiping about Shilpa's life in India.

Jo and Carole would love to visit India to see for themselves how the Bollywood actress lives. There seems to be a lot of jealousy here.

They try and work out the kind of money Shilpa must be making from films. Carole quotes Shilpa as saying that she was the Indian equivalent of Angelina Jolie. But Danielle says she can't imagine Shilpa being waited on considering she wants to be involved in everything on Big Brother.

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS of Shilpa's stint on Big Brother
Shilpa wins: The final moments
Day 26
Day 25
Day 24
Day 23
Day 22
Day 21
Day 20
Day 19
Day 18
Day 17
Day 16
Day 15
Day 14
Day 13
Day 12
Day 11: Part Two
Day 11
Day 10: Part Two
Day 10
Day 9
Day 8
Day 7
Day 6
Day 5
Day 4
Day 3
Day 2
Day 1

ALSO READ
SPOOF - Shilpa nominated for Nobel Peace Prize
COMMENT - Of India, Sexual Racism and Shilpa Shetty
ANALYSIS - Racism on Big Brother: Shilpa Shetty to win
FORUM - Racism on Big Brother
Shilpa says Jade's behaviour not racial

VIDEOS
The Best of Shilpa Shetty on Big Brother
And the winner is - Shilpa Shetty
Day 14 - The Jade-Shilpa row
Day 11 - Shilpa in the Jackson Five band
Day 20 - Shilpa's Showgirl routine
Day 19 - Shilpa's Aunt Jameela act

Shilpa Shetty in Big Brother ( Day 5)

Click here for the Richard Gere - Shilpa Shetty kissing controversy

(Catfights and Romance in the air for our Shilpa)

Shilpa's having a bad time on Big Brother. She's suffering from a cold and a bad back (because she slept on the floor). Plus, she's going ballistic over Jackiey's behaviour. They even had a verbal showdown in the loo.

Shilpa regrets losing her cool.

I never argue and here I am coming to England having a row. I should have kept my calm.

But Shilpa confesses that her sister Shamita would love her response to Jackiey's taunts coz Shamita had told her not to "take any shit from anyone". Anyway, why can't Jackiey learn to pronounce Shilpa's name correctly?

Wait a minute. Why are Mumbai's famous dabbawalas being discussed on the show? Aaaaah! It's Shilpa explaining in great detail to filmmaker Ken Russell how these tiffin-carriers are the lifeline for many in India's financial capital.

Meanwhile in the Servants quarters, plans are afoot to marry off Dirk Benedict to Shilpa.

The 'A-Team' star blushes when the girls tell him he has a schoolboy crush on the Bollywood diva. After all, he keeps whining about being away from Shilpa for long.

Jo, Ian and Cleo feel even Shilpa is flirting with Dirk and all is not one-way traffic. Will Shilpa be getting a Hollywood actor as her husband or will she stick to her favourite buddy Jermaine?

There's one small problem. Jo feels that Dirk marrying Shilpa won't be easy as Shilpa is Indian and religious and will find it difficult to circumvent the traditional concept of arranged marriage. Jo obviously has some wrong notions about urban India.

In other news, Uncle Ken left the Big Brother mansion today - apparently disgusted by Jade and Jackiey's behaviour. Let me remind you that Shilpa's glasses were broken by Jade. Deliberately? But Shilpa doesn't think so.

Beware Shilpa. Jade's family is set to get bigger as her real-life grandparents are visiting the house for dinner.

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS of Shilpa's stint on Big Brother
Shilpa wins: The final moments
Day 26
Day 25
Day 24
Day 23
Day 22
Day 21
Day 20
Day 19
Day 18
Day 17
Day 16
Day 15
Day 14
Day 13
Day 12
Day 11: Part Two
Day 11
Day 10: Part Two
Day 10
Day 9
Day 8
Day 7
Day 6
Day 5
Day 4
Day 3
Day 2
Day 1

ALSO READ
SPOOF - Shilpa nominated for Nobel Peace Prize
COMMENT - Of India, Sexual Racism and Shilpa Shetty
ANALYSIS - Racism on Big Brother: Shilpa Shetty to win
FORUM - Racism on Big Brother
Shilpa says Jade's behaviour not racial

VIDEOS
The Best of Shilpa Shetty on Big Brother
And the winner is - Shilpa Shetty
Day 14 - The Jade-Shilpa row
Day 11 - Shilpa in the Jackson Five band
Day 20 - Shilpa's Showgirl routine
Day 19 - Shilpa's Aunt Jameela act

Shilpa Shetty in Big Brother (Day 4)

Click here for the Richard Gere - Shilpa Shetty kissing controversy

So much has happened in a day

- Shilpa one of six nominated for eviction
- Rocker Donny Tourette walks out of show
- Three new housemates make an entry

Before he climbed the outside wall and escaped, Donny was one of eight celebrities forced to move into separate quarters (in the same building) as Servants while Shilpa, Ken Russell and Jermaine Jackson stayed behind as Masters in the Main House.

Three new people have arrived to give Shilpa, Ken and Jermaine company. They are - former Big Brother contestant Jade Goody, her mum Jackiey Budden, and Jade's boyfriend Jack Tweedy. (Incidentally, Jackiey calls Shilpa 'Shil' while Jade and Jack name her 'Shuppie')

The Servants are expected to do everything for the Masters - wake and feed them... If three Servants fail to complete their individual duties the group will fail the task and their shopping budget for next week will be slashed.

On the other hand, by virtue of being Masters, Shilpa and her five mates are up for eviction next week. The housemate with the lowest number of 'saving' votes gets automatically eliminated. Am crossing my fingers Shilpa doesn't.

However, the actress has not been keeping a low profile. She even requested housemates to change beds with her because according to a Hindu custom, she wasn't supposed to sleep with her feet pointing South.

She's also been pumping iron in the gym. Has anybody noticed how actor Dirk Benedict seems to compliment Shilpa for everything - be it her relative skill with the skipping rope OR how she's not heavy enough to register on the track machine(Ya, right!)

Shilpa has spent an equal amount of time cooking in the kitchen. And when not doing that, she's discussing preparing dry fruits with Jermaine. Then arguing with columnist Carole Malone over who will wash up (both wanted to do it). And how terrible it was that people needed to be told to wash their own dishes.

Funny coincidence that Donny should leave the show at this point coz Shilpa confessed in the Diary Room she was finding it a challenge to be friends with the rocker.

And after her female housemates left her for the Servant quarters, Shilpa had a long weeping session. Wonder why? Presumably because she felt she was rejected by Carole and the rest. Am not surprised to see Carole bitching about Shilpa in the Servant quarters.

The good: Shilpa seems to have developed a kinship with the otherwise reticent Jermaine, even having heart-to-hearts in the loo.

The bad: Talking of loos, the housemates were fixated with a piece of floating shit in the toilet and were trying to fix the blame on someone. Last heard, Ken was being accused of the crime.

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS of Shilpa's stint on Big Brother
Shilpa wins: The final moments
Day 26
Day 25
Day 24
Day 23
Day 22
Day 21
Day 20
Day 19
Day 18
Day 17
Day 16
Day 15
Day 14
Day 13
Day 12
Day 11: Part Two
Day 11
Day 10: Part Two
Day 10
Day 9
Day 8
Day 7
Day 6
Day 5
Day 4
Day 3
Day 2
Day 1

ALSO READ
SPOOF - Shilpa nominated for Nobel Peace Prize
COMMENT - Of India, Sexual Racism and Shilpa Shetty
ANALYSIS - Racism on Big Brother: Shilpa Shetty to win
FORUM - Racism on Big Brother
Shilpa says Jade's behaviour not racial

VIDEOS
The Best of Shilpa Shetty on Big Brother
And the winner is - Shilpa Shetty
Day 14 - The Jade-Shilpa row
Day 11 - Shilpa in the Jackson Five band
Day 20 - Shilpa's Showgirl routine
Day 19 - Shilpa's Aunt Jameela act

Bhaagam Bhag - Don't run too far

Priyadarshan's latest film is a letdown for fans expecting the finesse of Hera Pheri. But why worry about the plot? A slapstick comedy boasting the talents of Akshay Kumar, Govinda (in his comeback role?) and Paresh Rawal has to be entertaining.

A theatre troupe travels to London sans its heroine (Tanushree Dutta). Manager (Paresh Rawal) exhorts heroes Akshay and Govinda to find a new female star for the show. The two set out on a hunt for a good-looking Indian girl who can shake a leg with them.

Enter heroin smugglers (Sharad Saxena and gang), local hoodlums (led by Shakti Kapoor), a woman with suicidal tendencies (Lara Dutta), a non-nonsense police commissioner (Jackie Shroff) and before long our two heroes find themselves running all over the British capital.

Don't bother about the story. The one-liners will suffice. Add some chartbuster songs (Pyar ka Signal, Tere Bin) by Pritam and the sound and sights of London. And your recipe for a Bollywood potboiler is complete.

In the second half, comedy gives way to a murder mystery reminiscent of guess what - Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo. And does the final scene play out at the Big Ben?

Rating: ***
Remarks: Forget your brains at home, sit back and have some fun. Govinda plays second fiddle to Akshay. And wish there had been more of Tanushree in the film.

2 guys, 3 girls and a mad professor

An absent-minded professor's two daughters meet two interesting young men. Will they get married? Enter a nagging wife, a match-making granny, a prank-loving uncle, and enough twists and turns around the Dadar railway station to keep you laughing till your sides hurt.

Finished this 350-page novel by Dr Ravindra Godse in one day. Easy reading but perhaps not worth it.

Godse's comic plot is interesting enough to keep you turning the pages of this 2003 novel and his Hrishikesh Mukherji-meets-Wodehouse-meets-Comedy-of-Errors style does show occasional sparks of brilliance.

But, and a big BUT at that, spelling and grammatical errors let him down. The novel is replete with it - "the tomorrow", "Woodhouse" (in a reference to Wodehouse) and numerous other examples on almost every other page.

Wonder what kind of coffee was the proof-reader drinking while editing this book at 3 am.

There was some talk of a movie version of 2 guys, 3 girls and a mad professor but I guess it fizzled out.

Rating: ** (because of the errors)
Remarks: Will certainly watch the movie version if it comes out. The plot is pretty interesting.

Sania scripts Hopman Cup dream run

India's fantastic run at the Hopman Cup this week went almost unnoticed by the national media. For a nation that just won the regional tourney to qualify for their debut in the team tennis championship, it was surely a dream run.

The Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna combo downed Croatia and Czech Republic 2-1 but fell to Spain to lose out on a place in the Perth final. Spain grabbed the final spot on a better win-loss record.

Sania was the anchor for all the victories, teaming up with Bopanna to clinch the decisive mixed doubles in each tie. Had we had a stronger male player, we could have no doubt done better but even Bopanna's 6-7, 6-7 loss to world no. 9 Mario Ancic (Croatia) was commendable.

Unfortunately, the nation's eyeballs were elsewhere - watching our boys in Blue lose in South Africa.

Florida thief after your pants

He doesn't want your money, your cigarettes or your Rolex watch. All he demands at gunpoint are your trousers. I guess some thieves really do like to keep up with the latest designs. Read more here

Esmeralda needs a knock on the head

Just finished reading The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo.

I had never before read this 19th-century classic - one highly recommended by friends and colleagues. The novel begins on a tedious note but picks up pace after the first 100 pages. Set in the Middle Ages, it tells the story of Quasimodo, a grotesquely deformed bellringer at the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris, who falls in love with a beautiful gypsy girl, Esmeralda.

The story ends tragically - perhaps because of one fatal mistake made by Esmeralda when she meets her long-lost mother. She cries out the name of her beloved causing the king's guards to discover her hiding place. Well, Esmeralda certainly has to be the dumbest heroine in English literature (next to Dora in David Copperfield) and she surely deserves a knock on the head.

Rating: ****
Remarks: Be prepared for long chapters on architecture in Paris. And of course get yourself some 'happy' stuff to read or watch after this because the tragic ending might just leave you down in the dumps.

Shilpa Shetty in Big Brother (Day 3)

Click here for the Richard Gere - Shilpa Shetty kissing controversy

Who's the quietest housemate of them all? Well, it certainly isn't Shilpa Shetty.

The desi actress has just been accused of snoring away to glory and keeping the other celebs awake at night.

We must give her credit, though. She's not the worst culprit. Everyone says director Ken Russell is the worst. Disgraced beauty queen Danielle Lloyd has already complained to Big Brother about him.

In his defence, Ken says Shilpa's snoring keeps him awake.

Shilpa: I snore when I'm really tired and my nose is clogged. But I didn't snore.

Ken: You kept me awake for an hour.

Shilpa: But you kept me awake the night before!

The damsel in distress appeals to singer Leo Sayer for help.

Shilpa: Leo, can you comment on Uncle Ken's snoring?

Leo: D flat. Actually, I heard you snoring!

Tough luck for the Indian beauty. More may be in the offing for Shilpa. Housemates have been asked to pack one overnight case each with essentials (read only underwear and socks) for the next three days.

Shilpa's reaction to the possibility of a knicker adventure.

"Oh no, I don't want to go anywhere."

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS of Shilpa's stint on Big Brother
Shilpa wins: The final moments
Day 26
Day 25
Day 24
Day 23
Day 22
Day 21
Day 20
Day 19
Day 18
Day 17
Day 16
Day 15
Day 14
Day 13
Day 12
Day 11: Part Two
Day 11
Day 10: Part Two
Day 10
Day 9
Day 8
Day 7
Day 6
Day 5
Day 4
Day 3
Day 2
Day 1

ALSO READ
SPOOF - Shilpa nominated for Nobel Peace Prize
COMMENT - Of India, Sexual Racism and Shilpa Shetty
ANALYSIS - Racism on Big Brother: Shilpa Shetty to win
FORUM - Racism on Big Brother
Shilpa says Jade's behaviour not racial

VIDEOS
The Best of Shilpa Shetty on Big Brother
And the winner is - Shilpa Shetty
Day 14 - The Jade-Shilpa row
Day 11 - Shilpa in the Jackson Five band
Day 20 - Shilpa's Showgirl routine
Day 19 - Shilpa's Aunt Jameela act