Shilpa Shetty, who?" No one who watched the UK reality TV show, Celebrity Big Brother or followed the hullabaloo that broke out on (and after) its episodes in January, will ever ask that question again. For the 31-year-old actress has just been crowned the winner, beating runner-up Jermaine Jackson (Michael Jackson's lesser known sibling).

A few weeks ago, the average Briton and many in the Western world, may not have even heard of the Bollywood hot bod from the subcontinent, after a career spanning 13 years dotted with forgettable films except for a Phir Milenge or a dance number or two. But, ever since volumes of newsprint and valuable airtime have been devoted to the racial barbs that Shilpa encountered on Channel 4's programme and discussions have revolved on how the brown-skinned actress has been victimised by a gora participant, all that changed almost overnight.

More glamorous and higher paid than the posse of tired looking has-beens on the show, the star - who had been paid over Rs 3 crore (3,50,000 pounds sterling) took to the fish bowl existence in the Big Brother house like well…a fish to water and followed a plucky game plan. Not a difficult task for the experienced Bollywood star who, over the years has got accustomed to life in the limelight.

It would not be incorrect to say that her mask…as perfect as her washboard abdomen…scarcely slips, except when she is in the company of her friends and family and can feel safe and at home. So when Jade Goody provoked her with remarks that first reduced Shilpa to tears but which she insisted in the Diary room were not racist, the 'willing victim' rose to the occasion....

La Shetty - who had last year wowed the audiences back home as a judge on the Indian dance reality show, Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa - held her own on alien territory, even after her tormentor, Goody, was voted out with a big margin. Conducting herself with a degree of dignity and decorum, Shilpa - who started off on a wrong note by describing herself as the Angelina Jolie of India and one who is "used to people standing up when I enter a room" - wowed not just the Indians and Asians but a large section of the gora log as well. Swiftly sidelining the other contestants or turning them into vicious villains - forgiving her tormentors and even teaching them yoga - she got the women on her side and much of Britain's public voters too…and stayed on to win the loot.

Shilpa's tears - repeatedly aired on prime-time television - stirred up a hornet's nest. Who would have imagined that the reality show - and the abuse against one of its participants - could have caused a furore in the British Parliament? Who could have imagined that the widespread mounting response to the racist attack could have prompted London's daily, The Times, to distribute free copies of her movie dealing with AIDS, Phir Milenge? Or prompt Prime Minister, Tony Blair, to remark, "I have not seen the particular programme in question and cannot comment on it. But, we should oppose racism in all its forms."