Shilpa Shetty is quite perturbed that the makers of her 2005 superhit Kannada film 'Auto Shankar' are all set to release a dubbed Hindi version called 'Shilpa the Big Don' without her knowledge.
"She was shocked to see posters and advertisements of the film published in film trade magazines, as she wasn't even aware that the film had been dubbed," said her publicist Dale Bhagwagar. "What stunned her more was the title. Yes, she does play a 'lady don' in the film. In fact, during the film's release two years ago, she had even termed her character, an ode to Gabbar Singh. But 'Shilpa the Big Don' seems to be just an amusing attempt to cash in on her 'Big Brother' win," Bhagwagar added.
The dubbed version even has two songs devoted to Shilpa. The first one goes, "Shilpa Shetty, Shilpa Shetty, Shilpa Shetty re, roop aisa ke loot jaaye hum toh yahin re." The second one goes, "Shilpa Shetty iski ho gayee, Aishwarya Rai, Mumtaz bhi gayee' kaisa yeh mail hai, tu hi anmol hai, aaja aaja bahon mein."
Along with Shilpa, the Kannada blockbuster directed by D. Rajendar Babu, stars South superstar Upendra along with actresses Radhika and Sudharani. The movie was filmed at a variety of locations including Austria, Finland, the Bangalore Palace and the Mysore Lamps Factory.
It is the story of an auto rickshaw driver called Shankar, belonging to the middle class section of the society. Shilpa, who plays a money-lender and a lady don, is portrayed as a boorish character. She is unscrupulous in recovering loans given to the poor and designs crude methods to recover money. But in the end, she learns a lesson that reforms her attitude. She makes amends and Shankar embraces her as the two fall in love.
"Shilpa's role in the film earned her the name 'The new Gabbar Singh' in the South," said Bhagwagar.