Shilpa, Raj's Anniversary Bash

Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra are a year old as a married couple. They celebrated their first wedding anniversary in Dubai and cut a cake that had their faces frosted on. Shilpa looked beautiful in black Louis Vuitton

Close friends Ameesha Patel and Madhavan, who were holidaying in the desert emirate, were present.

Shilpa says, "I got caught up in the traffic because there were fireworks happening in front of my building (the Burj Khalifa). We almost missed our own anniversary party! We partied till 7 am." Want a peep into her life? Click on.
Source:Mid-Day.com

Shilpa Shetty post Big Brother is living life king-size. Here's a look at Then and Now.

Shilpa Shetty was born on the 8th of June 1975 to Sunanda and Surendra Shetty. Even as a child, the performer in Shilpa was always visible.

After a brief stint as an ad model, Shilpa made her debut in Bollywood in 1993 with the superhit film Baazigar, where she acted along with Shah Rukh Khan (this picture, right) and Kajol. Her role got her a Filmfare nomination in the Best Supporting Actress category.

Post-Baazigar, Shilpa acted in a number of midly successful films. Another highlight of her life is the film Main Khiladi Tu Anari, in which she acted opposite Akshay Kumar, whom she would eventually go out with.

By 1996, Shilpa's success rate in Bollywood was dwindling, and since she was fluent in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada, she decided to work in the regional film industry as well. Her first Telugu film was called Sahasa Veerudu Sagara Kanya.

The next important Bollywood film that Shilpa did was Rishtey (2002), opposite Anil Kapoor and Karishma Kapoor (this picture, right). Shilpa was nominated by Filmfare yet again in the Best Supporting Actress category, but she failed to win the award.

In 2003, Shilpa tried her hand at the horror genre and worked with Ram Gopal Verma in Darna Mana Hai.

In 2004, Shilpa did Phir Milenge, one of her most successful films in the latter part of her career. The role got her a Filmfare nomination in the Best Actress category. It also made her aware of the AIDS problem, for which she has been working ever since.

The biggest twist in Shilpa's life came in 2007, when she was invited to be part of the Celebrity Big Brother house in London. She faced racial abuse from her housemate Jade Goody, who referred to her in many derogatory ways, including calling her 'Shilpa pappodam'.

The racist abuse got Jade Goody evicted from the Big Brother house, and many interviews and images of a devastated Shilpa got her sympathy from across the world. She went on to win Celebrity Big Brother. Rumours of the the entire episode being staged were rampant and till date Shilpa denies any fixing.

Since the racist abuse caused much embarassment to the British goverment and people, the country went out of its way to make it up to Shilpa. Queen Elizabeth II also made time to meet Shilpa Shetty.

Shilpa was given the rare honour of being invited to the House of Commons and meeting the British PM Gordon Brown.

By the time Shilpa came back to India, looking tired, and yet relieved to be back on home soil, she was an international martyr and an Indian hero who stood up to racism. She was received at the airport by her parents and thousands of fans.

Shilpa was also conferred an honorary doctorate by Leeds Metropolitan University for her courage in the face of racist abuse.

In 2007, Shilpa received the IIFA Special Award for Global Impact. She received many such awards that year including the Silver Star Award for her outstanding contribution to humanitarian causes and the Rajiv Gandhi National Quality award.

The year 2007 was determined to be a big one in Shilpa's life. Apart from all the Big Brother controversy, she was also caught in a controversy with Hollywood star Richard Gere. The two had met for an AIDS awareness event, where Gere publicly kissed her on the cheek a few times, raising the ire of right-wing groups. The event reached such proportions that arrest warrants for Shilpa and Gere were issued, but then suspended.

In 2008, Shilpa took to expanding her talents and reach. She has become one of Baba Ramdev's star pupils and has launched her own Yoga DVD. She has also turned beautician and started her own spa.

Among Shilpa's charitable ventures, there is PETA; she posed as a caged animal to protest cruelty towards animals in the circus.

In mid-2008, Shilpa was invited to be the host of the Indian version of Celebrity Big Brother, called Bigg Boss. Jade Goody came to participate in the show, and it was while she was in India that Jade learned that she had cancer, which would eventually kill her.

Since 2008, Shilpa has been dating businessman Raj Kundra. There were accusations from Kundra's ex-wife that Shilpa broke them up, but Kundra denies this vehemently, and even his ex-wife ultimately took back her statement. Shilpa and Raj have a flat together in England, and are planning to tie the knot in October 2009.

Along with beau Raj Kundra, Shilpa Shetty has also bought a stake in the Rajashtan Royals IPL team.

Both Shilpa and Raj dated for almost two years. Finally both decided to tie a knot on 22nd September.