With business interests ranging from curry to cricket, Shilpa Shetty is ready to launch a range of spices and chutneys in UK supermarkets. GB finds out more in an exclusive interview.
With business interests ranging from curry to cricket, Shilpa Shetty is ready to launch a range of spices and chutneys in UK supermarkets. GB finds out more in an exclusive interview.
She may have made her name in the UK by winning Celebrity Big Brother, but you get the sense Shilpa Shetty is quite happy to put that behind her.
‘Britain has been very kind to me, there’s no denying that,’ she says, speaking on the phone from Mumbai. ‘But it’s two years since I was on Big Brother and now when people meet me, my image has changed – I’m now involved in business and I’m not just a reality TV star.
‘I think people have a little more respect for me now,’ she says with a laugh.
A month ago Shetty and her entrepreneurial fiance Raj Kundra bought a 33 per cent stake in the V8 Gourmet Group for £6 million. The group operates Indian eateries The Bombay Bicycle Club, Tiffinbites and Vama and plans to launch a range of chutneys, pickles, and eventually Indian ready meals under the Shilpa Shetty brand.
‘I think my boyfriend Raj should take some credit when it comes to my getting into business,’ she says. ‘My parents have always seen me as someone who’s a bit naïve and gullible’ (another laugh), ‘but Raj has a different perspective – he’s encouraged me to use my brand to leverage my own products, not other people’s.’
Shetty is from entrepreneurial roots. Her father wanted her and her younger sister Shamita to take over the family business and was ‘very apprehensive’ about the Bollywood career which made her a household name in a country of one billion people.
‘I chucked [the business] over at the first opportunity,’ recalls Shetty. ‘I’d have been terrible at it. But having come from a business family I understand a lot of things… I’m not an actress who decided to become an entrepreneur one fine day.’
The angle for Shetty’s range of Indian foods, dubbed Shilpa’s Gourmet Creations, is an unusual one. They are to be billed as less fattening than most Anglo-Indian culinary offerings, making the most of their association with the health-conscious Shetty.
‘I’ve always been a foodie, contrary to the way I look and the way people think about me,’ she insists. ‘I’m not on a perpetual diet! Seventy per cent of how you look depends on what you eat and not how you work out.’
But does less fat mean less taste? ‘Not at all. I think you absolutely have to keep to the authentic taste – but things like cream and butter don’t improve the taste, they just increase your weight.’
Health issues aside, isn’t the market for Indian food in the UK a crowded one? ‘There is a lot of Indian food in the market which, with due respect, is not authentic enough,’ says Shetty. ‘When I come to London and crave authentic Indian food, there is a great array on offer but it’s difficult for me to find food like I eat in India.’
Food is only one facet of Shetty and Kundra’s business interests. They have also invested in cricket team Rajasthan Royals and beauty spa business Iosis.
‘My claim to fame will always be the fact I belong to the movie business,’ says Shetty. ‘But I’ve been doing this for a full 17 years and after a point you want to do something new. You become very choosy [about roles], you don’t want to be repetitive, so that’s why I wanted to dabble in business – it’s something different and it’s also creatively satisfying.’
What about a move to Hollywood? ‘I’ve never really thought about it,’ she laughs. ‘Why not? But it has to come my way… I just believe that whenever you want to be successful in life, you have to make a shift. I’ve made a shift to the UK – and Raj has given me more reason to do that – but it’s hard to make another shift to Hollywood and be in three places at the same time.’
Shilpa’s Gourmet Creations will be available in UK supermarkets after Christmas.
