London, June 12: Shilpa Shetty was in London on Tuesday for the launch of her new perfume 'S2.'
The actress, who found fame in the UK on Celebrity Big Brother, unveiled the new scent which is said to reflect her Indian Heritage.
"The beauty of 'S2' is the fact that it is really unique," said Shilpa, "It is very international but has an ethnic feel to it because of the whole jasmine twist that we have given to the scent. It is something that is very synonymous with me and jasmine is very common in India, it's very difficult to find abroad, but the scent of jasmine is very long lasting and if you like it, you love it."
Fragrance and Beauty, the manufacturing team behind this perfume launch, aim to market the new scent in the UK and Gulf region. And Shilpa herself hopes to expand in to other areas of fashion.
"I do definitely want to do something other than just the perfume," she revealed, "that is the reason I chose the name 'S2' because I thought that is a brand that can go on for my other products as well, just incase I want to start my own clothing line, which I do intend on but slightly later, my jewellery line."
Shilpa was again in the press earlier this week when she attended the International Indian Film Awards in Sheffield in the North of England.
She not only performed at the ceremony but also picked up a special award for how she handled herself over the Big Brother racism row.
"I've been nominated quite a few times but never won it, but it feels so special to win an award when you don't portray a character but just yourself. When you get an acknowledgement from an industry that you've belonged to for so long, it is very very special," she said.
Rarely out of the headlines, Shetty was the centre of another upset in April this year when pictures showing Hollywood actor, Richard Gere repeatedly kissing her during an AIDS awareness rally were beamed across the globe prompting Hindu hard-liners to allege the pair had offended the sensibilities of India's traditionally conservative culture.
Following the incident an Indian court issued arrest warrants for both of them saying a kiss at a public function 'transgressed all limits of vulgarity' - proceedings which were later suspended.
"What has come out of even that also has been fantastic because at the end of it all the judiciary took a stand and said we can't encourage cases like this because it just makes our country look so regressive. It was very silly. I think people were trying to take advantage of our democracy is something that had to be stopped and I'm glad it happened like this. Even Big Brother, I think Big Brother worked as a catalyst in bringing about the whole racial issue out in the open. So, I don't regret anything, I think they all happened for good reasons and maybe I was there at that place, at that time, for that event to happen," said Shilpa.
Bureau Report
