Birthday Special: Shilpa Shetty and her best moments on the celluloid

Shilpa Shetty Picture Courtesy: Pallav Paliwal

Shilpa Shetty took a sabbatical from acting after the release of ‘Apne' in 2007. She has been fiercely active on social media, sharing her fitness posts and videos ever since the platform has experienced a boom. She has now signed two films titled ‘Nikamma' and ‘Hungama 2'.

But in the first 14 years of her career, she delivered many memories that still linger on. On Shilpa Shetty Kundra's 46th birthday today, here are some of them:

Baazigar (1993)- The Twist

An impassioned romance ends on a psychotic note with the man throwing the woman off the roof. Shetty was the doomed woman in question and Shah Rukh Khan played that cold-blooded lover hiding demonic intentions. Abbas-Mustan were at the top of their game back in the 90s and knew how to Indianise a western plot. This was Shetty's debut and she killed it, by getting killed.

Dhadkan (2000)- The Heartbreak

Dharmesh Darshan's love triangle had Shetty as Anjali who's married off to Ram despite being in love with Dev. This lover was played by Suniel Shetty, a cocky, hot-headed man hailing from a poor family but the attitude of a prince. He returns as a millionaire but still pining for the woman he loved and lost. And Ram was essayed by Akshay Kumar, very similarly to the name he was given. And in between was Anjali, torn between past and present and perturbed about the future. Having enough of Dev's creep, she breaks the news of her pregnancy that not only breaks his heart once again but forces him to forget the woman forever. Throughout the film, Dev had a broken heart. And so did Anjali. Who said money can buy happiness?

Phir Milenge (2004)- The Goodbye

Revathi adapted the plot of the homosexual drama ‘Philadelphia' and spun it into a love story between a college couple Tamanna (Shetty) and Rohit (Salman Khan). The girl discovers she's HIV+ and soon loses her job. A courtroom drama follows. Her own advocate Tarun (played by Abhishek Bachchan) asks her in the court how she contracted the disease. She stands numb, and the film moves to a flashback when she and Rohit spent a night together. That scene is enough to reveal why her world came crashing down a few days later. She eventually wins the case but loses Rohit. Before he succumbs to his illness, he confesses he was unaware of his disease. It's a heartbreaking moment and you can't even celebrate her triumphant victory.

Life In A… Metro (2007)- The Separation

In Anurag Basu's drama about the lives of over nine people, Shilpa Shetty played a lonely housewife who's husband is involved in an affair with his secretary. There are torrid fights at home and anguish in isolation. She meets Akash (Shiney Ahuja) and something about his demeanour draws her towards him. She embarks on a journey of self-discovery, gets her smile back, little knowing this could haunt her for the rest of her life. The moment in this story that stands out is the one where she nearly surrenders herself to him and what almost follows is an intimate moment. A flash of her family makes her walk out suddenly out of guilt. It's a moment of separation, she isn't only leaving the man she's fallen in love with, she's also bidding goodbye to the woman she always yearned to be, or could be.

Also Read: Shilpa Shetty Kundra: All of us being indoors helped ecosystem regain some balance