Is Shilpa Shetty's UK honeymoon over?

She has a musical in hand, a perfume to her name and fashion shows to grace - but at 32, is that all Shilpa Shetty can achieve?

When Shilpa won Celebrity Big Brother, she was perhaps the only Indian any Briton recognised - except maybe Mahatma Gandhi. And the buzz was she was headed for superstardom and a film with Hugh Grant. She even met the Queen.

What now?

Well, she did make the headlines once again but only for the infamous Richard Gere kiss. Won India's Rajiv Gandhi National Quality award (for what I wonder). Her S square perfume is doing well. And this month, Shilpa was the most famous Bollywood celebrity to walk the ramp at the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week.

And what of her projects?

- Her musical Miss Bollywood opens in Berlin at the end of this month. Why not in Britain, I wonder?

- She's apparently producing a DVD on yoga. Aimed at plump British ladies, I guess.

- Is she really being considered for the next Bond film? Did she actually refuse The Pink Panther? Or is all this just a publicity gimmick.

- No news of her turn as Sita in the international version of Hanuman nor the much-delayed Quick Slip Me A Bride

- The producers of a Kannada film starring Shilpa in her pre-Big Brother days are releasing a dubbed version of it, hoping to cash in on her new-found fame. It's apparently called Shilpa: The Big Don. But Shilpa's not amused.

- She's busy denying an affair with a married man (a UK-based businessman) and fighting several legal battles.

And this is what the UK media has to say -

The Telegraph: After a Celebrity Big Brother debacle that saw Jade Goody and her henchwomen reviled as racists, she achieved saint status on an unprecedented scale. Next to Shetty, Mother Teresa looked like a kitten-drowning deviant...There is a palpable chilliness about her. While the hotel room we're in is as baking as a Kew hothouse, from Shetty herself there emanates little genuine warmth...In the absence of any tangible talent other than dancing skills and a forgiving way with racist oiks, the brutally short attention span of the Heat-reading masses will see to it that she is over before she ever really got going.

Daily Mail: If Shilpa's popularity is indeed beginning to wane, many blame her domineering mother and her agent.

Me thinks

Shilpa should come back to earth and forget about the UK for a while. Life in a Metro wasn't so bad. Shilpa acts well enough and she won't have much trouble finding roles back home in India.

ALSO ON THIS BLOG
SPOOF - Shilpa nominated for Nobel Peace Prize
DAILY HIGHLIGHTS of Shilpa 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

VIDEOS
The Best of Shilpa Shetty on Big Brother
And the winner is - Shilpa Shetty
Day 19 - Shilpa's Aunt Jameela act

Shilpa Shetty's career
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	is down in the dumps
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Notes from the India Fashion Week

Yes, I did promise you guys I'll be blogging live from the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week. But I couldn't. Was just too tired.

Since it was my first Fashion Week, the winged chariot of Time passed swiftly by as I struggled with terms like A-line dresses, blouson and leg-of-mutton. And fabrics like soyabean lycra.

Why, why, why can't press releases for fashion events be written from the common man's perspective?

Five days later, despite hours spent Googling and rereading collection write-ups, I am not much better off.

I guess covering fashion events is a skill directly proportional to the number of fashion events one attends. Some reporters, having covered this sort of thing for eons, were already on "embracing" terms (no pun intended) with designers while I was the notebook-in-hand "Excuse me, Mr Rathore/Bal/Tahiliani" type.

By the end, I was so sick of the Fashion Week I could have easily blown up Hall no. 7 of Pragati Maidan, had a stick of dynamite been within my grasp.

Then the grand finale happened. And after an agonising wait of an-hour-and-a-half, I caught my first glimpse of 'Siyaahi'. Rohit Bal's phenomenal new "ink-stained" range was undeniably the best collection of the five-day extravaganza.

Add his little jig after the show, the touching gesture of inviting the late Rohit Khosla's mom and dad to grace the stage, the tough act of convincing fellow designers to walk on the ramp - and you know why Bal is the ultimate showman of fashion.

It also explains why his was the only show, apart from Tarun Tahiliani's "Shilpa Shetty studded" event, to get a standing ovation.

All I can say now is - Mr Bal, I'll be back next year.

Here's my official coverage of the Fashion Week -
Preview - Hotel? Nah! Destination Pragati Maidan
Day 1: Posh Beckham in Varanasi
Day 2: Shilpa Shetty sizzles
Day 3: Phone-in fashion
Day 4: Blow Blow Isabella Blow
Day 5: Ink-stained gowns
India Fashion Week competes with New York
Delhi's plastic bags go chic at Paris Fashion Week

[Photo: From a preview of one of Rohit Bal's dresses]

Fashion, fashion everywhere...

The Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week opens tomorrow and between 12 pm and 12 am for the next five days, a bespectacled guy looking forlorn and lost will be seen roaming around in the sprawling Pragati Maidan complex, trying to come to terms with the fact that covering a Fashion Week is not a suitable pastime for those who find nirvana in watching romantic comedies on HBO.

For live coverage of Delhi's premier fashion event, keep watching this space.

September 2007 Blog Mela: Nominate now

Did you just come across a quirky, interesting or something-that-tugs-at-your-heartstrings blog? If yes, feel free to nominate it for the September Blog Mela being hosted here on September 26



Blog Mela Rules
- Posts must have been written by Indians or have an Indian angle
- Only posts published between 1-22 September, 2007 would be accepted
- If possible, please nominate individual posts, not the whole blog
- Feel free to nominate something you have written. Immodesty appreciated
- You can nominate as many blog posts as you like - provided you really like them
- Only nominations received before midnight on September 22 will be featured
- No, you don't get any moolah for nominating or getting featured in the Blog Mela. That could change once I am a millionaire but for now you'll just have to bear with me
- Yours truly reserves the right to nominate good posts which you ignore

How to Nominate
- Leave a comment on this post OR better still - Mail me at toeknee (at) gmail (dot) com

Check out previous Blog Melas
March 2007
April 2007
May 2007
June 2007
July 2007
August 2007

Faakhir back with new album

Remember Mahi Ve? A beautiful mix of jazz, melody and a rocking video made this song a rage in India when it was released as part of the Mantra album in 2005.

Well, Pakistani singer and composer Faakhir Mehmood is all set to bring out his next album. The popular musician will start production work on his latest project next week.

Faakhir told Toe Knee Unplugged he's busy "polishing" the melodies he's composed in the last three years. Well, given the number of hits this singer has churned out since his debut in 2000, the wait should be worth it.

Ruchi Narain's next is a short film with Raima

Filmmaker Ruchi Narain has just completed a short film with actress Raima Sen and she's pretty excited about it.

Narain, a protege of renowned director Sudhir Mishra, had won critical acclaim for her debut film Kal - Yesterday and Tomorrow in 2005.

Now returning after two years of Bollywood hibernation, the 30-something filmmaker isn't about to spill the beans on her latest project.


Apparently, the film's producers have put a communication ban in place. All Narain told Toe Knee Unplugged was -

"I've really taken advantage of the format and had a lot of fun with an experimental structure."

As for her next feature film, Narain said she is working on the script of a love story.

"It's coming out well. Hopefully we'll finish scripting in a month and be able to move on to the next stage."

There's more good news in store for the Narain family. Sibling Ashima's wildlife documentaries - In The Pink (about flamingos in Mumbai) and The Last Dance (about cruelty to sloth bears) - have been aired several times on Discovery channel and are now doing the rounds of various film festivals around the world.

Both films have also been nominated in the Wildlife Conservation category at the 4th CMS Vatavaran Environment and Wildlife Film Festival (12-16 September) in New Delhi.

BLOG INTERVIEW - Suman Ghosh

Meet Suman Ghosh. This professor of economics at the Florida Atlantic University has an unusual hobby - making films.

Beginning with a documentary on Amartya Sen, the world-famous economist who won the Nobel Prize in 1998, Ghosh has now moved on to directing feature films.

Ghosh's Bengali film Footsteps (Podokkhep) was screened in July as part of the Indian competition section of the Osian's Cinefan film festival in New Delhi.

Ghosh told Toe Knee Unplugged he is now working on an English film.

How has the response been for your debut feature Footsteps?

Footsteps has already been to around 10 film festivals worldwide. I was surprised by the overwhelming reaction. It felt nice to find out that certain issues cut across cultures.

Though I had framed the film with respect to a Kolkata background it was pretty universal. It was really satisfying to see people in Canada, Prague and other places react to things the same way.

Footsteps was released in Kolkata in January. Unfortunately in India regional films do not get a release nationwide.

You have worked with Nandita Das and Soumitra Chatterjee in your Bengali film. Which actors do you want to work with in the future?

I have no particular targets as far as working with so and so is concerned. It depends on the particular role. I can only say there are actors that I like currently, but as I said it does not necessarily mean that I will cast them and work with them. That said, I think Saif Ali Khan and Konkona are the two actors that are consistently churning out amazing performances. They never cease to amaze me.

What project are you working on next?

I am working on an English film next. I can't say anything more about the project now.

A professor who's also a filmmaker - how hard has it been juggling the two vocations?

I never think of it that way - juggling two vocations. I think one must enjoy whatever one is doing. So the fact that I am pursuing two professions is an artifact of the excitement involved. The moment I will stop getting excited about making films or doing research in Economics, I will stop it. I can't see myself forcing into something.

But yes, I would say that I am good at compartmentalizing my vocations. When I was making the movie in India - for six months I just forgot about my existence as an economist. Similarly, when I am working on a research project I seem to forget about films. I can manage this changeover quite effectively.

Other Exclusive Interviews on this blog

Sona Mohapatra
Mahesh Dattani
Ruchi Narain
Will Bigham
Shiva Keshavan
Ravi Godse

Mahesh Dattani hard at work on new film

Playwright Mahesh Dattani is busy working on his latest project - a feature film. But it could take months before someone finds out what it's about.

The Bangalore-loving playwright who made his mark in filmdom with Mango Souffle and the Oscar-nominated Morning Raga is not revealing much at the moment.

Who will star in it? Will Shabana Azmi return after Morning Raga?

But Dattani's lips are sealed.

All he told Toe Knee Unplugged was -

"Madly working on the screenplay. I do have a few actors who are interested but it is a bit premature to mention names right now."

There's more good news in store for the 48-year-old writer. His play Double Deal starring Mahesh Manjrekar and Sandhya Mridul is doing quite well and was staged in Lucknow recently.

August 2007 Blog Mela

Lokesh Dhakar comes to the rescue of people who can't order a cup of coffee

Deepa used to think being North Indian was cool

Great Bong caught General Musharraf flying full mast

Falstaff remembers his own tryst with destiny

eM wonders why those born with a uterus are put into a special category

Gawker hits out at razor blade manufacturers

Check out previous Blog Melas
March 2007
April 2007
May 2007
June 2007
July 2007

Wanna get featured in next month's Blog Mela? Visit this blog in the first week of September for nomination guidelines