[mansi]

Jade Goody visits Indian capital


Ms Goody after her Delhi lunch


Big Brother contestant Jade Goody has arrived in India on what she describes as a private visit.
Ms Goody faced accusations of racism towards Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty when they took part in Channel Four show Celebrity Big Brother in January.

Ms Goody denied being racist but apologised for referring to Ms Shetty as "Shilpa Poppadom" and other remarks.

The controversy made front-page news in India but reaction among ordinary Indians to the row was generally muted.

'Very tired'

Hours after her arrival in India, Ms Goody was spotted having lunch at a restaurant in the five-star Le Meridien hotel in the capital, Delhi.


Ms Shetty on her visit to the Houses of Parliament earlier in February

She was accompanied by three people, including two British Asians one of whom told the BBC that they had "only just arrived and were very tired".

A BBC correspondent in Delhi says that Goody sat quietly tucking into a plate of masala dosa under the watchful gaze of a security guard.

When the group emerged from the restaurant they ran into a media scrum and had to literally fight their way through the crowd of journalists.

"I'm here on a private visit, that's really all I can say at the moment," Goody told the BBC.

"But I've been made to feel very welcome so yes, it's been very good so far."

It is not clear how long she intends to stay or what she will do during her visit.

The way that Goody and some of the other Big Brother contestants treated Ms Shetty resulted in more than 40,000 people complaining to the UK media regulator, Ofcom.

On leaving the Big Brother house, the 25-year-old said her behaviour was "nasty" adding: "I'm not racist, but I can see why it has had the impact it's had."

Shilpa Shetty was almost unheard of in the UK outside the British Asian community before she entered the Big Brother competition.

She soon became a household name. After she won the contest she was invited to visit the Houses of Parliament and to take tea with Prime Minister Tony Blair.

-BBC News

[S2]

^ Boring (LOL)

[S2]

Ian And Shilpa at Zee Carnival

[mansi]

Originally posted by Shilpa_Fan
^ Boring (LOL)

lollll... i agree...i'm not sure why the hell she's going to India...if she thinks that by flying jet airways, dining at 5 star hotels, paying for her own trip expenses is going to do good for her then she's stupid. Pointless trip...

[Bells]

Originally posted by Shilpa_Fan
Ian And Shilpa at Zee Carnival

Ooh thanks for that, nice! When was this/what happened etc. I haven't heard it publicised much?

[S2]

waste of space on the airline I say

[S2]

Originally posted by ice_maiden02
Ooh thanks for that, nice! When was this/what happened etc. I haven't heard it publicised much?

Well its a 3 day event called Zee Carnival. Its like a huge asian mela, but non asians are welcome too. They have food, fashion, celebs, henna artists and other business get-ups present too. Ian went as Shilpas' speacial guest of honour. Im so happy that there friendship is still on-going.

Did you listen to Ians' chit chat with Nikki Bedi? It was very informative, i'd say

[Bells]

No I didn't, tell me about it please

[mansi]

Originally posted by Shilpa_Fan
waste of space on the airline I say

hahaha...i agree...did you guys go there on the other three days? was she there for all four days?

[S2]

Mansi, I didn't go. I had planned to with a friend, but then she got put down for work they day we had planned to go, and the only day we were both free that week

Originally posted by ice_maiden02
No I didn't, tell me about it please

Well ok. He talked about how he took Shilpa shopping a couple of days after CBB finished. He talked about how Shilpa can't properly sing but that she has a sweet voice. He also mentioned during that interview how Shilpa was going back to India and thet he will be seeing her before she goes off later that day. He has a trip planned to India in a couple of months, so he'll be hooking up with Shilpa. Also that he is Shilpas's guest of honour at the IIFA.
And when he was at the ZEE CARNIVAL, he met Raghav, who gave his e-mail address to him, and then Ian joked and said, he only gave it because he fancied Shilpa otherwise he wouldn't have bothered.
Ian also did say, that if he wasn't gay, Shilpa would be his gal and he'd be doing her

[Bells]

LOL! Thanks for that!

And yeah it is nice to see their friendship continuing.

When are the IIFA Awards? Aren't they in Yorkshire or something?

[S2]

In about just under 3 months. I'm hoping to go so I hope my plans come through,
Ice_maiden, are you asian?

[Bells]

Yeah I am partly, did you not know?

I'm a bit behind but do try to keep on top of things.

[mansi]

lolll...ian's funny....how do you know about all this e-mail stuff and what not? I heard shilpa had given her e-mail out a while back....yeah I know it's nice to know that they still hang out....yeah the IIFA awards are in Yorkshire...

[S2]

No Ice_Maiden, I didn't know that. I asked because you seem to have small knowledge on some other Bollywood personalities too, which someone who isn't asian or didn't know or watch Bollywood films wouldn't otherwise know, so thats why I asked. Whats your other part, if you don't mind me asking. You're very behind girly LOL



Mansi, Ian is adorable. Im glad Shilpa has a nice friend in this nice British chap, well Welsh, but we can nick him now as he is in the UK at the moment.
Yeah Shilpa did give out her e-mail address to her fans, so she could keep in touch and hear what her fans think. A good move I'd say, afterall she is catering her profession based on what her fans want and like

[Bells]

Bengali! And I do apologise... I'll make more of an effort to keep up.

[S2]

^ Do you understand Bengali? And YAY about you trying to keep up

[Bells]

Yeah I do! Quite well. And understand quite a bit of Hindi as well, though can't speak it well.

[S2]

LMAO Im impressed that you can speak Bengali and quite well as you say Most mixed race asian kids can't. I'd say im worse than you
And I can speak and understand Hindi fluent, thanks to Shilpa and the Indian film Industry

[Riz]

shilpa fan wat was ur lil surprise thing that u were tlakin abt? a couple of days ago

[mansi]

shilpa or aishwarya???

[Leona]

Interesting info, Thanx Mansi!

[mansi]

I need a man to get married:Shilpa
By Subhash K Jha

One of Shilpa's happiest memories from Big Brother is her friendship with Jermaine Jackson.

"And guess what?" she squeals in delight. "Michael Jackson saw us on Big Brother. I told Jermaine to go home and just let me hear his voice."

Back home Shilpa is over-joyed to meet up with her sister. "Shamita was shooting in Hyderbad. I borrowed her from her co-star Madhavan. I hadn't spent any time with my sister in almost two months!"

Shilpa is very hurt by attempts to attack her family in Indian and British press. "Please don't run down my family. They accused us of not paying workers at our factory. My father has worked so hard to keep that factory going. The workers love him. I don't care what they write about me. But why target my family? My father is 67. Spare him.

My parents have gone through so much on my account. They were worried while I was doing Big Brother. I had the choice of getting out. And I was tempted to do so for my family's sake. But I didn't want to be a loser. Honestly it wasn't easy in there.

And when people out here see the full footage it'll anger them. What kept me going was the belief that I'd be out of there in three weeks. But there were fun moments "

As for Shamita's unbecoming picture appearing in a tabloid, Shilpa sighs, "Everyone makes mistakes. Publishing her picture was a very mean thing to do. The difference between us and the West is that we've some ingrained values and we draw a line of decency in public. No point in aping the West. We should never lose our intrinsic values."

Comparisons with Rakhi Sawant who appeared on Big Boss were also hurtful. "Sorry, but with due respects, Big Brother is a hundred notches higher than Bigg Boss.

Honestly Big Brother this time was one of the most decent seasons. I was very clear that I was going to do nothing indecent. It's the non-celebrity Big Brother that's pretty obnoxious. There was no nudity or anything obnoxious in my show."

A couple of Bollywood actresses came forward to claim they had been offered Big Brother. "It was their choice if they didn't do it. I took up Big Brother because they paid me my money and stuck to the clauses in our contact. In a way I feel television is my true calling. Of course I'm known as a film actress. And I'm proud of that label."

"I never knew it would become so big. They were writing all kinds of things about me. If I wasn't Shilpa Shetty I'd actually believe what's written about. They're now trying to dig up supposedly unsavoury details about me.

Out there they're so used to celebrities who are abnormal and dysfunctional. They're incredulous that I'm so normal. I'm very happy wuth the way things are going. The media over there works very differently from the way it's over here. "

Shilpa has been getting feedback from places as far-flung as Barbados and Romania. "Yes it was the racism issue that has made it so big. People in India wouldn't understand the nerves that my situation at Big Brother touched among Asians abroad who've been through discrimination."

According to the Western press not since Gandhiji has the third-world risen in one voice to protest against racial discrimination as they did for Shilpa. "Asians from India and Pakistan and Bangladesh rose up to protest against my discrimination. That's been my biggest achievement.

People at home have been very welcoming. All I'm requesting is, please don't write irresponsibly about me. If I don't get respect at home how can I get it abroad? Don't write well about me. But please don't run down my parents."

Marital dreams? "I want to settle down. But I need a man first. I'm sure God has great plans in that department too. Just look at what He planned for me this year!"

[S2]

How adorable does she look here? Shes like a school kid who stands up and gives a quick wave and sits back pronto. These are from the Filmfare awards and have been made by Caroline

[S2]

Shilpa looks pretty. Her pairing with Shiney looks fab too