Shilpa to be honoured at IIFA

The International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) ceremony, to be held at Yorkshire this year, will honour Shilpa Shetty for her global impact after "Big Brother". But the actress is oblivious to what awaits her.

"But then, when have I ever known what lies in store for me? I'm busy preparing my act (at IIFA). Shiamak Davar is choreographing me. A solo act, mind you," Shilpa told IANS.

The actress cuts down rumours that she plans to dance with ex-beau Akshay Kumar at IIFA, saying: "No way! I'm doing one solo act. That's it."

Shilpa has had a major reprieve from her legal wrangles, thanks to the Supreme Court's decision to transfer to Mumbai all the cases pending against her over Hollywood star Richard Gere kissing her.

"I feel I can breathe easy. The past few weeks have been so stressful. The honourable judge has made sure that his verdict isn't just a relief to me but to all those who are similarly harassed.

"It's a good thing. I'm so happy to see our legal system being so fair to someone like me who's constantly being harassed by Public Interest Litigation (PIL) and legal notices - what have I done? I guess it's my karma to see my family and me being subjected to constant harassment.

"Anyway, it was just a minority of voices causing this tremendous stress in my family life. More than myself, I'm relieved for my parents' sake. They've had to face the brunt of it (the Gere controversy). While I've been busy with work, my lawyers were constantly connecting with my parents, signing affidavits, powers of attorney etc. It was terrible."

Before Gere, Shilpa found herself caught into another controversy when Jade Goody, her housemate on Britain's reality show "Celebrity Big Brother", passed a racist remark. It created an uproar.

Tell her she's paying too high a price for her success and Shilpa sighs: "When I meet the masses, I find them very appreciative. I don't know these people who target me. But I've got the ability to go with the flow. The rest is up to god."

Apart from rehearsing for her solo act at IIFA, she's busy putting finishing touches to her next film, Anil Sharma's "Apne", which she says is very proud of. The film stars all the three Deols - Dharmendra, Sunny and Bobby.