Shilpa Shetty celebrates her birthday today. Shilpa redefines fitness like no one else and is all set to return to films with Hungama 2. In an exclusive chat with Pinkvilla, Shilpa opened up on how the entire showbiz journey started for her. She said that she always wanted to be a model because of her height and how a neighbour's random photoshoot request helped her take the first step in showbiz.
She revealed how she was perhaps the first in her community to enter films and how she braved all judgements. "I come from a Bunt family, and I was the first one to join the film industry. I think Aishwarya became a model before or after that, I don't remember. I got introduced to the industry in 1993 and it was sort of coming out of age for our community people. I remember before the film got released, everyone in the community would talk in a hushed tone. Not that my family ever cared, my parents were very modern and unorthodox. It all happened organically."
She further added, "I wanted to be a model growing up because someone told me about it and I was tall. I had a neighbour who randomly told me he will photograph me and made all arrangements. It was all destined. He apparently saw me at a show which I lost but told me he wanted to shoot me. He got the pictures done for me, and we distributed it. I was 16-17, a producer wanted me for a project and he came and convinced my dad. My first film became such a huge hit that it was impossible for me to travel on public transport after that."