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India probing 'racist' treatment of Bollywood star on Big Brother
2007-01-17
India has said it would take "appropriate action" over alleged racist attacks against a Bollywood star on the British TV show "Celebrity Big Brother". "We are seized of the matter. We are looking into all the aspects. We will take appropriate action as required," junior foreign minister Anand Sharma told reporters in New Delhi Wednesday. "The world knows that India has throughout firmly rejected all forms of discrimination and racism," Sharma said. Shetty, 31, has often been reduced to tears by some of her fellow housemates in the reality TV show, and the issue may even be debated in the British parliament. The show, in which the activities of Shetty and eight other famous faces locked in a house are broadcast round the clock by TV network Channel Four, has drawn thousands of complaints from angry British viewers and two e-mail threats to some of the Bollywood star's fellow inmates. Shetty's sister, however, played down reports of racist behaviour and bullying, and praised the actress's conduct. "If you are put in a house with 14 strangers, there are bound to be fights. It's very, very normal," Shamita Shetty, also a Bollywood actress, told the private NDTV network. "I am very, very proud of her. She has handled every situation in a very dignified manner." However, the Press Trust of India reported that Shetty's mother Sunanda was "upset" at the treatment meted out to her. Shetty's accent has been mocked and fellow housemates have ganged up against her and made denigrating comments about Indian hygiene. Viewers have said one housemate called her a "Paki" -- a claim Channel Four denies. Britain's media watchdog Ofcom has received 7,600 complaints of racism and Channel Four has received another 2,000. In India, the story made headline news, with the Hindustan Times splashing pictures of Shetty on its front page, including one in which she is wiping away tears. "Shilpa's travails: from Bollywood to jibe street," read the page-one headline in The Hindu. NDTV has launched a "Support Shilpa Shetty" campaign through mobile text messages. "Shilpa herself has not voiced any concerns of racial slurs or bullying against her," Channel Four said. "Appropriate measures to reprimand individual behaviour would take place where necessary." Show producers sought out Shetty and reportedly paid her more than the others -- up to 350,000 pounds (686,000 dollars, 531,000 euros) -- to bring some Bollywood glamour and attract viewers with south Asian roots.
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