‘Got thrown out of films’

Actress-entrepreneur Shilpa Shetty Kundra says her journey in the Hindi film industry was not an easy ride as producers threw her out of their films without giving any reasons. In a post shared on the official Humans of Bombay Instagram page, Shilpa, who made her debut in Bollywood with Baazigar in 1993, opened up about her journey and struggles she faced in the Hindi film industry. “I was this dark, tall and lanky child, who had her life pretty much laid out for her. I’d graduate and work with my dad. Even though in my heart I wanted to do something different, something bigger and 

better, I never felt like I could. But when I participated in a fashion show, just for fun, I met a photographer who wanted to click my photographs,” she wrote.

Shilpa said it was a “great opportunity” to step out of her comfort zone and that the photographs came out really well, opening up the doors of modelling for her. 

Nothing comes easy

“Soon, I got offered my first film. There was no looking back from there; I was going onwards and upwards. But nothing worth having comes easy. I was all of 17 when I entered the industry; I hadn’t seen the world or even understood life. With all the success came scrutiny. I wasn’t ready for it,” she said.

Shilpa said she did not know how to speak in Hindi and “shuddered at the thought of being in front of the camera.”  “I reached a point where after a few films my career hit a lull. I tried hard but it always felt like I was lagging behind. It’s not easy to be celebrated one moment and ignored the next. I remember there were producers, who without any reason threw me out of their films,” recollected the actress, who is fit as a fiddle at 43. — IANS