【英语听和读】希尔帕·谢蒂

 Andrea: Hello, I’m Andrea Rose and you’re listening to bbclearningenglish.com.

In Entertainment today we catch up with Bollywood actress, Shilpa Shetty,

who is starring in the film, “Life in a…Metro”, which has just been released.

Shilpa Shetty started her career at the age of 16 when she worked as a model,

and she made her film debut¹ at the age of 17 in a film called “Baazigar”. If you

make your debut, it means it’s the first time you’ve done something. And in

Shilpa’s case, she was just a teenager when she started acting².

Shilpa’s been very successful as an actress – she’s been nominated four times

for the Filmfare Awards in India. But she also made it into the international

spotlight³ when earlier this year she took part in the British reality television

show, Celebrity⁴ Big Brother.

The programme was surrounded by controversy⁵ when Shilpa’s housemates

were accused of bullying⁶ her and making racist⁷ remarks.

But was it always Shilpa’s plan to get exposure from Celebrity Big Brother?

Did she want the fame and did she expect she’d become a heroine? As you

listen to Shilpa talking about her experiences in the Big Brother house see if

you can hear some of these phrases: getting into – cater⁸ to – make it.

Shilpa Shetty

You know what, I did Celebrity Big Brother not knowing what I was getting into and I only

thought I was going to cater to the Asian audiences and I had no idea that it was going to 

Entertainment © BBC Learning English 2007

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make me an international celebrity. I had no idea what it had in store for me. So you know

when people ask me whether it was a contrived⁹ decision to do it because I wanted to make it

here or internationally, no it wasn’t. I had no idea.

Andrea: Did you hear those phrases? Shilpa says she had no idea what she was getting

into. She had no idea what was about to happen and how it would affect her

life. The other phrase she uses is ‘cater to’. Shilpa thought that being on Big

Brother would only cater to Asian audiences. She thought it would only be the

Asian viewers who would be interested in her. If you cater to someone, you are

making something especially for them. Of course the word ‘cater’ can also be

used when you are cooking something – as in ‘catering’. Finally, Shilpa talks

about making it. If you make it, you’ve become famous or well-known. Let’s

have a listen to that clip again.

Shilpa Shetty

You know what, I did Celebrity Big Brother not knowing what I was getting into and I only

thought I was going to cater to the Asian audiences and I had no idea that it was going to

make me an international celebrity. I had no idea what it had in store for me. So you know

when people ask me whether it was a contrived decision to do it because I wanted to make it

here or internationally, no it wasn’t. I had no idea.

Andrea: Since being on television in Britain, Shilpa’s career has taken off. Most recently

she played the part of Shikha in the film, “Life in a….Metro”. The film looks at

the lives of seven people living in Mumbai, India and explores how the world is

becoming smaller with the use of mobile phones, with less time for everything

and far too many choices. It also takes a look at how Indian culture is slowly

changing. Shilpa’s character has an extra-marital affair because she is neglected

by her husband. So have the morals we associate with Indian society begun to

shift?

Shilpa Shetty

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That’s what I love about the movie. It’s unpretentious. And morals have nothing to do with

culture. You are talking about a film set with characters who are fallible and who are human.

We are talking about issues that actually exist in urban India. You’re living in a metropolitan¹⁰

city like Mumbai whether it be London, New York, we all have to deal with these issues and

we all deal with them in our way and in India we deal with them slightly differently because

of the background that we hail from. So you talk about extra-marital affairs, yes they exist in

India. If you’re telling me it doesn’t exist then you’re being a hypocrite because they do exist

– you know, I know that. People don't talk about them but in our film, it’s been portrayed¹¹ so

beautifully. In fact, my character you actually feel so bad for her your heart goes out to her.

You actually want her to run away with her lover.

Andrea: Shilpa says the film is unpretentious. That means it’s not trying to be clever. It is

what it is. She also says that if you think that people don’t have affairs in modern

India, you are being a hypocrite. A hypocrite is someone who deceives themselves

when they know the truth. Shilpa is really proud of the film and she believes that

the way her character is shown in the film is done beautifully. The word she uses

is ‘portrayed’. Her character is portrayed beautifully. Finally she talks about the

part she played – her character. She says, you really feel for her – your heart goes

out to her. 

1 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

2 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

3 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

4 celebrity   

n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望

参考例句：

• Tom found himself something of a celebrity. 汤姆意识到自己已小有名气了。
• He haunted famous men, hoping to get celebrity for himself. 他常和名人在一起, 希望借此使自己获得名气。

5 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

6 bullying   

v.恐吓，威逼( bully的现在分词 )；豪；跋扈

参考例句：

• Many cases of bullying go unreported . 很多恐吓案件都没有人告发。
• All cases of bullying will be severely dealt with. 所有以大欺小的情况都将受到严肃处理。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

8 cater   

vi.(for/to)满足，迎合；(for)提供饮食及服务

参考例句：

• I expect he will be able to cater for your particular needs.我预计他能满足你的特殊需要。
• Most schools cater for children of different abilities.大多数学校能够满足具有不同天资的儿童的需要。

9 contrived   

adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的

参考例句：

• There was nothing contrived or calculated about what he said.他说的话里没有任何蓄意捏造的成分。
• The plot seems contrived.情节看起来不真实。

10 metropolitan   

adj.大城市的，大都会的

参考例句：

• Metropolitan buildings become taller than ever.大城市的建筑变得比以前更高。
• Metropolitan residents are used to fast rhythm.大都市的居民习惯于快节奏。

11 portrayed   

v.画像( portray的过去式和过去分词 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• Throughout the trial, he portrayed himself as the victim. 在审讯过程中，他始终把自己说成是受害者。
• The author portrayed his father as a vicious drunkard. 作者把他父亲描绘成一个可恶的酒鬼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》