Shilpa Shetty says Rejection from Bollywood made her take up Big Brother
Shilpa Shetty and Kapil Sharma took to the stage for the last panel at FICCI Frames 2019. The actors spoke about their journey, lows in their life and what keeps them going. The special discussion was moderated by television actor Viraf Phiroz Patel.
Shilpa started the conversation by sharing that she recently completed 25 years in the industry. The Bollywood actor stated that the amount of love that she receives today as a judge of Super Dancer and for her health and wellness videos is much more than what she got earlier. “All I can say is that all of us are born with a purpose. I feel I became an actor to become the catalyst for passing the message of good health. It was all destined.”
Viraf further asked the popular celebrities on how they dealt with rejections in their career. Going back in time, the Super Dancer judge stated, “There wouldn’t be any successful person in the world, who hasn’t faced rejections. It is all about the hunger in your belly that you want to work more and more. Honestly, I have never won any competition or an award before I did Big Brother.”
She added, “I was supposed to do another film as my debut but then Bazigaar happened. While it was a hit, post that I never got any meaty roles. I didn’t feel like they accepted me as an actor. Maybe I wasn’t good enough but I was dejected that I didn’t get good roles. Even after I did women-oriented films like Dhadkan it didn’t help. I started at the age of 17 and if it wasn’t for the rejections, I don’t think I would have lasted.”
When the moderator egged her to reveal what made her take up the international reality show, Shilpa smiled to say, “So I was doing these two films- Apne and Life in a Metro. Both were hits but I felt something was amiss. I had a sense of rejection and that’s when I was offered Big Brother. At that time, I wanted to get away from the country and do something else, cut away from the industry. Also, they were paying me well so I took it up. I thought I would be there for three weeks and get three crore for that. I was prepared every day to be out. But I just turned stronger and finally won the show. My first big win in my life. Honestly, I was too shocked to even react. I think that was poetic justice for me.”
The actor further opened up on how the win changed people’s perception towards her. “It was mass hysteria (laughs). I did sense a change but I didn’t care. I hadn’t changed and so it didn’t any difference. I remember there was a producer who didn’t take me in a film earlier because he thought I would get married at that time. And after the win, he came back and I did accept the offer. I am someone who doesn’t hold grudges. I feel after rejecting me, if he came to me, I must have done something right,” Shilpa concluded.
