RePreSenTaTioN Of AsiAnS

[B]iG [B]roThER

1.

It was a long weekend for the people of India who keenly waited to know this Sundays' winner of the UK reality show 'Big Brother'. There was intense speculation in the Indian press and television channels that the likely winner of the show would be the Indian bollywood star Shilpa Shetty

Last Sunday in Big Brother's final showdown Shilpa emerged a winner by beating Germaine Jackson. She won by 63 percent margin. The Asians of Indian origin in UK no doubt played an important part in the voting pattern. It is seen as big as their victory against racism.

Shilpa was heckled and bullied by one of the participant Jade Goody in the show. The names called at her smacked of racism. The people in India reacted angrily against the racial treatment meted to their star. The media hyped it making it an issue of racism seen in a multi-cultural society. The politicians from both India and UK, seeing the huge public reaction to the controversy gave it a political colour issuing statements condemning racial assault on Shilpa.

Later in the show Shilpa did a turnaround and denied any racial assault on her. On the flip side the racism row helped Shilpa become a household name in UK and the huge sympathy wave it generated was a singular factor in her walking away with the big prize money offered by the show.

The people in India greeted her victory in the Big Brother show with euphoria and joy. Shilpa's stunned face beamed in Indian television channels throughout the day. She remarked that she is proud to be an Indian and had won the show not because of her skin colour. She said she had no idea what was happening outside and did not want to leave the UK putting anyone in trouble. She thanked Great Britain for giving her fantastic support.

The reality show 'Big Brother' had helped bring forth the issue of racism not only in a multi-cultural society like the UK but it also made the Indian people think of their own attitude towards racism in India. In India when it comes to choosing marriage partner, for many the skin colour plays a decisive role. People are still being discriminated in the name of caste and religion.

Shilpa Shetty earned an estimated 350,000 pounds besides walking away with the prize money and a number of endorsements. Ironically once again she shed tears on hearing the announcement of her victory but this time she can claim it is as tears of joy.

My comments: In terms of representation of Asians (women) there's not enough of Asians on tele. Which was shown through the ignorance of the other celebrities in the Big Brother house. The lack of Asian representation means that people are being culturaly ignorant. ITs's funny because people took the P**S out of her because she spoke well and she sat properly.. and they didnt realise that its what the British culture had taught the Indians.

2.

New Delhi: Actor Shilpa Shetty seems to have hit good times like never before. First her popularity soared after Shilpa won the British reality show Celebrity Big Brother and now the BJP is wooing her to join the party.

Actor-turned-MP Vinod Khanna said that Shilpa should join the BJP, which projected itself as the "big brother" of the country's politics.

“We are trying to rope in Shilpa in our party. We are definitely looking at her as a potential candidate and she may join us in future,” Khanna confirmed.
Khanna's comments on Shilpa being roped in by the party came when he was asked about her win in the Celebrity Big Brother show on Sunday.

"We (the BJP) are big brothers and we would be happy if she joins the BJP," said the three-time MP, who has been campaigning in Punjab, which goes to polls on February 13.

Refuting charges that he is pulling a fast one on the public, Khanna said, “I am not joking. Whatever I said, I meant it”.
“There are so many actors who came in after I joined the BJP. Similarly, we are looking at potential candidates who can join us and Shilpa happens to be one of them,” Khanna added.

3.

LONDON (AP) -- Indian actress Shilpa Shetty won the British reality TV show "Celebrity Big Brother" Sunday after enduring alleged racial bullying that triggered protests in India and sparked a race relations debate in Britain.

The 31-year-old Indian star won the public's support after a fellow contestant hurled racially tinged insults at her in an episode that led to a record 40,000 complaints to media regulators.

"It's truly been a roller coaster ride," Shetty said. "The highs, the lows, each one has taught me so much."

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Treasury chief Gordon Brown and Indian Finance Minister P. Chidambaram have commented on the incident, which South Asian and anti-racist groups said revealed the face of racism in Britain.

Shetty received 63 percent of viewers' telephone votes Sunday, host Davina McCall said. She did not give the number of votes cast.

Contestants on the show are locked in a house for about three weeks and are evicted one by one until someone is chosen as the winner of a cash prize for charity.

Shetty defended fellow contestant Jade Goody, who repeatedly reduced the Indian actress to tears by shouting at her, calling her cooking untrustworthy, mocking her accent and calling her "Shilpa Poppadum."

Goody became famous after appearing on the non-celebrity version of "Big Brother" and has earned an estimated $16 million fortune through television and magazine appearances, an autobiography and an exercise video - a livelihood endangered by her behavior in the house.

"She is a little aggressive and hot tempered, but she's not a racist," Shetty said.
"I don't want people here feeling they welcomed an Indian here and she created so much trouble. I want to thank the whole of Great Britain for giving me this fantastic opportunity to make my whole country proud."

Shetty has hired British celebrity publicist Max Clifford to help develop her career in Britain. He estimated Sunday that she could earn $2 million in the next year from new contracts after appearing on the show.

"It's been a huge success for her because of how she's handled these nasty attacks with dignity," Clifford said on British Broadcasting Corp. television.

The program made front-page news for days in both Britain and India, where the show's producers were burned in effigy. More than 8.8 million people tuned into the show following the racism controversy.

Other participants on the show included former Jackson Five leader Jermaine Jackson and "A-Team" actor Dirk Benedict. Model Danielle Lloyd and singer Jo O'Meara were also seen by the British public as tormenting Shetty.

My comments: She was a fair representation of women back in india. it was good to have someone portraying the women from india in a positive light. i mean other Indian women who were previously on Big Brother i felt didnt give a good impression of indian women. She stood well...