Shilpa Shetty: My mom cried when she saw my SSC prelim result and called me ‘nikammi’ – Times of India

Shilpa Shetty has the spirit of a survivor and the best part is that she handles every situation of life with her infectious smile. At a recent press interaction, she was asked about her ever-present sense of humour and she jokingly replied, “It comes from within.” Adding to it, Shilpa credited her genes and remembered her late father Surendra Shetty and said, “I get it from my father who had a great sense of humour. He was the life of every function and party. He was that one person who could laugh in difficult times and make everyone else smile as well.”

Shilpa made her comeback to movies with Hungama 2 last year, but she revealed that Nikamma was supposed to be her return to the marquee. She said, “It was supposed to be my comeback release but I guess, that was not to be. Having said that, I believe everything happens according to God’s plan and I’m going to say this, Nikamma is going to be my first theatrical movie.”

Elaborating on the quirky character she plays alongside Abhimanyu Dassani and Shirley Setia, Shilpa said, “I don’t think, as of now, any heroine has played a character like this in a movie. I’ll be playing the character of Avni. It’s been an amazing journey. Nikamma is a nice clean happy film.” Adding empasis on the devar-bhabhi relationship in the film she said, “The devar bhabhi dynamic hasn’t been explored in Hindi films a lot, except for Sooraj Barjatya’s movies.” Adding a cheeky touch she said, “I guess, it’s old wine in a new bottle.”

ETimes asked Shilpa if her parents Surendra and Sunanda ever called her nikamma, as parents usually do with their children. She shared an interesting memory and said, “It happened to me when my mom saw my prelims report just before my SSC examination. I had scored some 48 percent, which was disgraceful.” She added, “I was a volleyball player. I was more into extra curricular activities and I was selected for the Bombay zone as a volleyball player. But, when my mom saw my result she bawled for the first time. She said you’re going to be absolutely useless, worthless and nikammi.”

But Shilpa had other ideas than academic pursuit. She explained, “My aim in life at that time was to become a volleyball coach so I felt my life was set. But later, when I realised my mom was upset with my scores and me being a nikammi, I studied well for 10 days and scored a decent percentage.” All was well for Shilpa then as her mother was relieved.

One of the most exciting projects to feature her is Rohit Shetty’s Indian Police Force, where Shilpa will be seen alongside Sidharth Malhotra. Speaking about it she said, “If I had to do something big in a web series it certainly wouldn’t get any bigger than a launch in Rohit’s cop universe.”

In the recent past, Shilpa had candidly admitted that her role in Hungama 2, her comeback film, hadn’t really worked wonders. Explaining her stand she said, “I really wanted to work with Priyadarshan sir, but ideally that was not supposed to be my comeback film. I loved being a part of the Hungama 2 team and I have a lot of respect for Priyadarshan sir.”

Shilpa will complete 3 decades in the film industry next year, talking about her long innings she said, “There’s a lot left to be done. I still feel like a new comer in the industry.

If I would have ever felt that I have accomplished it all, it would have been the end of it all. You, the media, wouldn’t have been sitting here and interviewing me.”

Signing off Shilpa said, she’s staying hopeful for the coming days. Having worked hard on Nikamma, she’s leaving for a month long leisure and work trip overseas.