Shilpa Shetty

Shilpa Shetty the fitness freak and idol of perfect figure, is a famous model and actress. She was born on 8th June 1975 in Mangalore , Karnataka. Shilpa's parents are Surendra and Sunanda Shetty. Her father had a business of tamper proof caps which are used in the pharmaceutical industry. Shilpa has a younger sister named Shamita Shetty who also is an actress. Shilpa studied at St. Anthony's Girls High School in Mumbai. Later she went to the prestigious Podar College in Matunga. Shilpa is a trained Bharatnatyam dancer and also possesses the black belt in Karate. She was very much fond of sports since her childhood. Shilpa was a captain of her school's volleyball team.

Shilpa started her career at the tender age of 16. She started the journey of her career by doing a modeling assignment for Limca in 1991. Shilpa made her Bollywood debut with 'Baazigar' by Abbas Burmawalla-Mustan Burmawalla in 1993. The film was an action thriller. The film featured Kajol and Shah Rukh Khan. The film was a major success of that year and Shilpa got the nomination the Filmfare's Best Supporting Actress Award.

In 1996, Shilpa starred in 'Hathkadi' a Rama Rao T's action film opposite Govinda, Saif Ali Khan and Madhoo. But the film could not do much at the box office. In 1997, Shilpa starred in total six movies. Her major hit of that year was 'Auzaar' opposite Sanjay Kapoor and Salman Khan. In 1998, Shilpa was seen in only one movie 'Pardesi Babu' by Manoj Agarwal. She was featured with Raveena Tandon and Govinda in this movie.Shilpa received lots of accolades for her performance in this movie. She received the Bollywood movie award in the best supporting actress category.

In 2000, Shilpa gave a splendid performance in 'Dhadkan' a film by Dharmesh Darshan. The film was a romantic drama and Shilpa got lots of appreciation and accolades for her mind blowing performance. The film starred Suniel Shetty, Akshay Kumar and Mahima Chaudhry. The film was a hit at the box office and Shilpa got various nominations at many award ceremonies. In 2002, she played a fisherwomen in Indra Kumar's 'Rishtey' featuring Anil Kapoor and Karisma Kapoor. Here, Shilpa's role was appreciated and she got nominations for the Best Supporting actress and Best Comedian category.

In 2004, Shilpa appeared in Puneet Issar's action movie 'Garv' and 'Phir Milenge' by Revathi both starring Salman Khan. 'Phir Milenge' was adopted from an 1993 American film by Jonathan Demme called as 'Philadelphia'. In 2005, Shilpa was seen in a Kannada flick by D. Rajendra Babu 'Auto Shankar' starring Kannada superstar Upendra. The film was a huge success at the box office and Shilpa got the title of 'The Gabbar Singh Of The South' for her negative role in the film. In the same year, she along with her sister Shamita was seen together in 'Fareb' by Deepak Tijori. After that she was seen with Salman Khan in 'Shaadi Karke Phas Gaya Yaar'. The movie could not do well at the box office but Shilpa got a good response for her performance in that film.

In 2006, Shilpa was seen as a judge in a dance reality TV show 'Jhalak Dikhla Jaa'. The show was an Indian version of the UK show 'Strictly Come Dancing'. In 2007, Shilpa was seen in Anurag Basu's 'Life In A Metro' and 'Apne' by Anil Sharma starring 3 Deols, Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol and Dharmendra. Later she made a special appearance in 'Om Shanti Om' and 'Dostana'. She was also seen in a multilingual film 'The Desire'.

Shilpa was a winner of a reality show 'Celebrity Big Brother UK'. There was much controversy created during the show when one of the contestants passed racial comments on Shilpa. But eventually, Shilpa came out as the first Indian winner of the show. After winning the show, Shilpa attained the special celebrity status in UK and met several big political fraternities like Queen Elizabeth II and Tony Blair. Shilpa hosted the second season of the reality show Bigg Boss, the Indian version of Big Brother. Shilpa has judged the dance reality show Nach Baliye 5. Shilpa is involved in the program of HIV AIDS awareness by BBC World Service Trust Television. She has also joined hands with PETA to raise a campaign against the use of wild animals in circuses.

Shilpa got married to Raj Kundra in 2009 and the couple has a son named Viaan. Shilpa and her husband are the owners of an IPL team named as Rajasthan Royals.