Shhh! It’s Shilpa Shetty
SHHHH!
Hear that? That’s the sound of millions and more Britishers trying to pronounce the name Shilpa Shetty, the Big Brother Bollywood babe.
And it is important that you try to say it right. Indeed, how you say Shilpa may reveal your inner Jade Goody. Say it right and save the country; say it wrong and be sent to India.
“Shilpa’s changed the UK,” says the Sun’s front page. “Shilpa Shetty’s performance on Celebrity Big Brother has been hailed as a turning point in defeating racism,” says the paper.
“The stunning Bollywood star beat her tormentors Jade Goody and Jo O’Meara to a place in the final.” The Mail sees “a vote for tolerance”.
But it wasn’t. It was a vote for Shilpa. And – we would be the first to apologise if wrong – you do not pronounce Shilpa “Tolerance”. What is more, you do not pronounce Shilpa “Princess”, “Poppadom” or “F**kawallah”.
In time, we may come to call her “Shil”, “Shilly” or, should she walk in the footsteps of Danielle Lloyd and move into footballers, “The Shilster”.
For now, though, it is Shilpa. “SHILPA,” says the Star’s front page. “CELEB BB WINNER – The FIRST interview only in the Star.”
And this seems to be a genuine boast as Shilpa tells the paper: “I let Danielle off because she is so young. They – Jade and Jo – made her look bad. You know what really balances it out for Danielle? Her stupidity. She’s so innocent.”
You can learn to like Shilpa. Whereas Jade is everyone’s fool, Shilpa is no-one’s.
But even the gracious Shilpa can have enough of foul Jade Danielle and Jo. “I did think about walking,” says Shilpa. But, thankfully, I didn’t. I didn’t want to leave there a loser saying: ‘I want to get out.’”
Of course, there are no losers, not really, not in reality TV. The details of what occurred will fade from the memory, doubtless aided by careful editing and PR.
All that remains are the names: Danielle, Jo and Jade – all more famous than they were. And – who knows – given time and patience perhaps all three and more of us will be able to say Shilpa’s name without adding a “Bud-bud Ding-ding”.
Best of British with that…
Posted: 29th, January 2007 | In: Tabloids Comment (1) | TrackBack | Permalink
