Mumbai: Shilpa Shetty’s racism fiasco in UK reality show Celebrity Big Brother has faded from the horizon but the actress’s stars are still shining bright.
One day it’s a meeting with the British Royal family, then a kiss-n-tell with Richard Gere, Shilpa is busy making waves and the megabucks.
While the Bollywood brigade has not exactly been knocking at her door, distributors are trying to encash the Shilpa-mania in the overseas market. Like the overseas posters for her next release Life in a... Metro focus mainly on Shilpa while the rest of the cast has been relegated to the background.
The tagline goes “Shilpa Shetty as never before on screen.”
Distributors have been market-savvy enough to promote Shilpa as the movie’s biggest USP in the international market. Ironically, in the domestic market the film is being promoted as a multi-starrer with equal publicity for all actors.
Director Anurag Basu admits that Shilpa’s presence has helped generate awareness among the overseas audience. In fact, Shilpa is perhaps one of the few female stars who can boast of a truly international fan following.
“My UK distributors have asked for 20 additional prints after Big Brother,” Basu said.
How is it that Shilpa is being promoted as the lead considering Life in a... Metro boasts of stalwarts such as Irfan Khan, Kay Kay and Konkona Sen Sharma?
It’s a trifle strange but Basu argued that none of his actors are insecure, as they know a film’s promotion always focuses on the most saleable actor.
In a business-like fashion Basu added, “No one knows Shiney or Kangana outside India. Also, I am sure Shilpa will surprise everyone with this movie.”
Now, whether Shilpa’s performance will match expectations and the promotional hype is something that we will have to wait and watch.
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