Shilpa Shetty's Bollywood comeback with 'Hungama 2' comes under a cloud
Comedy movie ‘Hungama 2’, which releases on July 23, marks Bollywood actor, Shilpa Shetty’s comeback to cinema after a self-imposed exile of 14 years. But, the return of the ‘Churake dil mera goriya chali’ girl, which was supposed to set off fireworks, has now fizzled out with her husband Raj Kundra’s arrest for creating porn films and publishing them on apps.
‘Hungama 2’, which releases on July 23, marks Bollywood actor, Shilpa Shetty’s comeback to cinema after a self-imposed exile of 14 years. But, the return of the ‘Chura ke dil mera goriya chali’ actor, which was supposed to set off fireworks, has now fizzled out with her husband Raj Kundra’s arrest for creating porn films and publishing them on apps.
“She is one of the artists in the film and has completed all her work including the promotions,” he said, adding that even the investigative agency has not been able to find any active role of Shilpa so he doesn’t see why it should hamper their film.
Shilpa’s last movie release was Anurag Basu’s 2007 ‘Life in a…Metro’, for which the actor had picked up a lot of acclaim for her acting, as she did for playing a woman who gets HIV in ‘Phir Milenge’. The actor, who has had her share of controversies has seen it all: from facing racist slurs on British reality TV series, ‘Celebrity Big Brother 5’ which rocked an entire nation to being slapped with obscenity charges for her photographs in a Tamil newspaper to being hauled up by the Shiv Sena for being kissed repeatedly by Hollywood actor Richard Gere on stage at an AIDS awareness event.
The actor had in fact disappeared from films after her marriage to Raj Kundra in 2009 and her relationship with actor Akshay Kumar summarily ended.
In fact, News18 quoted Shetty as saying that she doesn’t regret the fact that she went into a self-imposed sabbatical from films after marriage. “The first seven years after my marriage I had decided I won’t do films. Then I got busy with television which is also a very powerful medium,” she said. (Shetty is a judge in a dance reality show)
Also read: Mumbai porn tale: How police finally netted businessman Raj Kundra
Shetty, who is the mother of two children, calls herself as “part-time working woman and full-time mom”. She also became the poster-child for fitness taking to yoga with a “vengeance” and made her own app.
In the News 18 report she added that she had always been busy. “It is not that I didn’t have work and I was thinking that I have to do a film. I did get interesting parts but not interesting enough to get out of my house. I transitioned and forayed into health and fitness because that is my passion. I feel that you stay relevant if you believe in what you are doing whether movies or any other vocation.” According to her, television and then social media opened up another playground for her and she had managed to carve a niche for myself.
In an interview to Outlook on her comeback with ‘Hungama 2’, Shetty remarked that it was amazing to see how the whole scenario had changed. “I am happy that more people will get to see it. I am not nervous because now box office doesn’t matter,” she said, adding that on digital platforms, content is king and ‘Hungama 2’ had great content.
‘Hungama 2’ is a comedy which she felt is the need of the hour. “Being a comedy film, I think this is the need of the hour especially in distressing times like this,” she said. In the film, Shilpa plays the wife of Paresh Rawal, and it is about the “funny relationship” that the share.
“The misunderstanding and the mystery that get solved in the midst of the confusion is what is hilarious in the film. It is just fantastic to be directed by Priyadarshan,” the actor told the media. Coincidentally, Priyadarshan is coming back to Hindi films after a long gap.
‘Hungama’ which was a remake of his own 1984 film “Poochakkoru Mookkuthi” was a huge hit and became popular with its repeat telecast on satellite channels. Now, this film has become part of a series in the director’s filmography. Shilpa has recreated her iconic ‘Main Khiladi Tu Anari’ dance number ‘Chura ke Dil Mera’ with young actor Meezan Jaffery in ‘Hungama 2’. She had told the producers that they cannot shoot ‘Chura ke Dil Mera’ with anyone else. “Only I should be doing this song,” she had said, News18 reported.
Unfortunately, for the actor, the arrest of her husband has cast a huge shadow over her much-publicised comeback to Bollywood.
