Pushed off a building in her very first film, Baazigar, she became a star. Infected with HIV in the little big film, Phir Milenge, she was reborn as an actress. Shilpa Shetty, who has flitted through many masala movies for over a decade, almost entirely on the strength of her hourglass frame, is now delivering solid, power-packed, performances in ventures that dare to tread new ground. Vivek Kamath catches up with the screen seductress who is reinventing herself to woo the box office and critics alike.

Estee Lauder precedes Shilpa Shetty's sweeping entry into the Presidential Suite of the Taj Lands End Hotel in Bandra, Mumbai. Shetty is partial to CK One and Davidoff Cool Water but on this sun-splashed Sunday afternoon, she has decided it is Estee Lauder's turn and Pleasures is the fragrance of the day. She is dressed in a burgundy dress, cut from a sheet of Lycra by her designer and dear friend, Rocky S. As Shetty readies for her photo session with lensman, Hardeep Sachdev, you twiddle your thumb in a lounge chair and ponder your preoccupation with her looks, clothes and accessories.

Last year, she was in the news for all the wrong reasons, as her father got dragged into a cop case for allegedly using strong-arm tactics to recover some money owed to her by a sari merchant. Shetty was all dressed up but it seemed like she was going nowhere in particular. Then, one film came along and changed all that.

Far away in Chennai, actress-director, Revathy (Menon) was putting the finishing touches to the script of a film that dared to tread new ground. She was about to commence casting, had spoken to a couple of actresses and then hit upon the idea of casting Shetty as Tamanna, an HIV positive victim in Phir Milenge. To hear Revathy tell it, "Shilpa's glamorous image actually went in her favour rather than against her. I wanted to surprise the audience by casting big, glamorous stars in the lead. If I had opted for smaller actors, the canvas would have changed. You expect smaller actors to do roles like this. But when you see big stars playing the part, the impact is far more."

For the rest of the article, pick up VERVE’s January-February, 2005 issue