Shilpa Shetty

Assessing her career in an interview with India Today, Shilpa Shetty—one of the most hardworking and successful actresses of the 1990s—summarized: “I was typecast in the first seven-eight years in the start of my career. It's not like I wasn't acting, but the 1990s was a different era. People viewed me differently after seeing me in Dhadkan (2000), where I was credited for my acting chops. This is also because Dharmesh Darshan took me out of the glamorous mould. It's not that Anjali as a character was less glamorous, but she was padded with a bit of Indianness, who was very classy yet catered to the masses. All of that together worked for me as an actor and put me in a different graph, followed by Phir Milenge (2004), Life In A Metro (2007), Dus (2005), Rishtey (2002), which were milestones in my career that allowed me to play a gamut of characters which only happened post Dhadkan.”

Born Ashwini Shetty on 8 June 1975 in Mangalore, Karnataka in a Tulu-speaking Bunt family to parents Sunanda and Surendra Shetty, the family had no connections with the film industry, being manufacturers of tamper-proof water caps in the pharmaceutical industry. Schooled at St Anthony's Girls High School, Chembur followed by Podar College in Matunga, she was a trained Bharatanatyam dancer, and captain of her school volleyball team. Her career in modeling began soon after she completed her SSC examinations in 1991, as she appeared in a Limca television commercial and also featured in other commercials and advertisements. Film offers followed and, after signing on a film that eventually went unreleased, she debuted in 1993 with Baazigar. Incidentally, it was apparently on the advice of her mother, who is also an astrologer, that she adopted the name Shilpa because it allegedly carried better prospects for her career according to numerology. 

In 1993, she surged to attention with her debut - the successful romantic thriller Hindi-language Baazigar directed by Abbas–Mustan and produced by Venus, which starred Shah Rukh Khan as the anti-hero, and Kajol in the lead roles, with Shetty playing Kajol’s elder sister Seema. The plot revolved around a young man Ajay Sharma with a vendetta against a business tycoon who seduces the man's younger daughter Priya; however, she begins to suspect her new lover's connection with her elder sister and his ulterior motive. Shetty’s performance earned her two Filmfare nominations, for best supporting actress and best female debut – a feat not accomplished by many actresses in Hindi films. 

The following year, she delivered another blockbuster hit Main Khiladi Tu Anari (1994) which featured her with Akshay Kumar and Saif Ali Khan. However, in the years that followed, her films failed to make a mark, though she did receive critical acclaim for some of her performances. The tide turned in 1998, with Pardesi Babu, the romcom that featured her alongside Govinda and Raveena Tandon. As she began to be noticed again, it was with Dhadkan that she delivered a super hit at the box office, giving her career a new lease of life. The romantic drama directed by Dharmesh Darshan saw her star opposite Akshay Kumar and Sunil Shetty. She played Anjali who is in love with Dev (Akshay Kumar). They plan to marry, but her family gets her married to Ram (Suniel Shetty) instead. Years later, Dev shows up to reunite with Anjali, who has meanwhile fallen in love with her husband Ram. The film emerged as a major commercial success at the box office, also gaining a significant and passionate fan base over the years.

Among her note-worthy films, she would later go on to star with Anil Kapoor and Karisma Kapoor in the film Rishtey (2002). Her comic performance as an eccentric fisherwoman earned her another nomination for the Filmfare award for best supporting actress as well as best comedian. 

The police drama Garv (2004) saw her play a Muslim orphan and disillusioned table dancer opposite Salman Khan. Continuing to push the boundaries, the same year, her performance in Phir Milenge (2004) brought her widespread critical acclaim, as she essayed a successful city high-flyer who contracts HIV from unprotected sex, becoming a social outcast as a consequence. Inspired by the Hollywood film Philadelphia (1993), this drama film directed by actress-director Revathi, earned Shetty considerable critical acclaim as well as a clutch of nominations for her performance that was dubbed ‘the performance of her career’.

Films that marked a break from her previous trend of superficial song-and-dance items in favour of roles with greater depth of character, include the action thriller Dus (2005), which cast her as an anti-terrorist squad member; her villainous role in the Kannada hit Auto Shankar (2005); the critically acclaimed and commercially successful Life in a... Metro (2007) which saw critics dub her performance “terrific… unquestionably Shetty's best to date”; and the box office success Apne (2007) featuring alongside the three Deols - Dharmendra, Sunny and Bobby. 

In the realm of television, in 2006, she featured alongside Farah Khan and Sanjay Leela Bhansali on the judging panel for the Sony TV dance show Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa. The following year, she became the first Indian celebrity to feature in the British reality television series Celebrity Big Brother 5. A worldwide controversy ensued publicising her as a target of racist bullying within the house. Shetty emerged the winner of the show, winning 63% of the public vote. She described the experience as “incredible and overwhelming”. She would go on to feature as a talent judge for the dance reality show Nach Baliye (seasons 5, 6 and Shriman v/s Shrimati), from 2012 to 2014. In 2014, she began hosting the reality television show Soney Ka Dil, which she co-produced along with husband Raj Kundra, featuring ordinary people who have contributed extraordinary help to others in need. Since 2016, she judged the dance reality show Super Dancer on Sony Entertainment channel along with co-judges Geeta Kapoor and Anurag Basu.

In 2014, Shetty turned film producer with the action film Dishkiyaaoon; it did not succeed at the box office. After a long break, she returned to acting in films with Hungama 2 (2021). Her more recent work includes Nikamma (2022) alongside Abhimanyu Dassani and Shirley Setia; the female-led comedy Sukhee (2023) with Amit Sadh; and Rohit Shetty's series Indian Police Force (2024), featuring as the first female cop in his cop universe. 

Further analysing her career in an interview to Hello! in 2024, Shetty said, “I have taken each and every experience while working in my stride. I have learnt a lot and grown in this industry. Like any other profession, there are pros and cons. One has to have the maturity to deal with it. One has to be extremely special to garner the love and appreciation of our audiences in this business. I feel extremely blessed.”

An endorser of various brands and products and a fitness enthusiast, Shetty also supports causes such as HIV-AIDS, feminism, vegetarianism and animal rights. 

On the personal front, she married businessman Kundra in 2009. They had a son Viaan in 2012, followed by a daughter Samisha (via surrogacy) in 2020.