As the dust settles down on the latest scandal to hit Bollywood, more and more people in the film fraternity are standing up in support of Shilpa Shetty and her parents.
Shilpa's parents Surendra and Sunanda Shetty have been charged with hiring gangsters to recover Rs 80 lakh (approximately US $170,000) reportedly due to Shilpa, who had modelled for Praful Sarees in 1998. They allegedly threatened Shivnarain alias Pankaj Agarwal, director of the company producing the saris.
Shilpa's former boyfriend and co-star (Badhai Ho Badhai, Chor Machaye Shor, Dhadkan, Rishtey, Hathyar) Akshay Kumar kept shaking his head in disbelief. "I'm shocked beyond words," he said. "Shilpa's parents are too decent to be involved with all this. It's incredible!"
"Do the people in the media who've printed conversations featuring Shilpa's parents know what they're talking about?" said another angry star. "Shilpa's parents are among the most decent folks in Bollywood. The way they've brought up their daughters is exemplary. Such a beautiful home cannot be nurtured by people who are linked to the underworld."
There are many others who think the taped conversation, which the police are claiming as proof of the Shettys' guilt, is not authentic. Said one filmmaker who has never worked with Shilpa as yet, "I don't believe a word of the tape. And for the media to go on and on in this manner, reducing this unfortunate incident to the same sleazy level as the Sanjay Dutt tapes, is shocking. Can anyone say anything about you and get away with it? The entire Mumbai press seems to have parked itself outside Shilpa's home. I shudder to think what the Shettys are going through."
The actress, who was with her mother in Cannes, France, to perform in the section devoted to Indian cinema, flew to dance at the IIFA awards in Johannesburg, South Africa, last week, when the stories levelling extortion charges against her parents broke out. The actress is said to have performed at the awards function in a sort of stupor and then returned to Cannes. From there she flew to Dubai to visit a school for the handicapped. She's expected to start shooting for a Kannada film in Bangalore soon after her return to India.
Incidentally, Aggarwal allegedly received two legal notices from the Shettys demanding that their daughter's dues be cleared. The Shettys' lawyers are working to obtain permanent bail for Shilpa's father. Their close friends are going all-out to help the distressed family.
Shilpa, who's been asked by the lawyers to keep mum, broke down on the telephone. "I have never harmed anyone in my 10 years in the industry," she said. "I don't know why I've been targeted this way. What really hurts is that my parents are being hurt. Why them?! God is witness to what's happening to us. I'll wait for justice to prevail."
Shilpa's mother, who's out of the country, has fallen ill, apparently as a result of the tension. She's said to be seeking anticipatory bail before returning home.
