Shilpa has not always been in the headlines
In May 2003 she and her family were in the media for having close links to the underworld dons of India. Allegations were made by various media reporters that Shilpa Shetty’s father threatened Pankaj Agarwal, the owner of Praful Sarees by calling in his underworld contacts, demanding money which went into cores of rupees to be paid for modeling work that Shilpa had done dating back to 1998.
In 2005 and Jan 2006, Shilpa was in the headlines for the wrong reasons, when The photo of Shilpa and Reema Sen were published in Tamil Newspaper. More great controversy surrounded her on April 26th 2007 when Richard Gere kissed Shilpa at an AIDS-awareness programme held in India. Fundamentalists were so outraged by Richard’s kiss that they rioted in the streets and burnt images of the couple. Shilpa’s career was when she took part in the UK Celebrity Big Brother contest which she won and was awarded Rs.3.15 crores as prize money. The show did also have a nasty side as some of the contestants (Jo O’Meara, Danielle Lloyd , and Jade Goody) called Shilpa names such as “The Dog” and made remarks about her eating habits which are highlighted in the UK press as of a racist nature.
