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Shilpa Shetty helps raise 63,000 pounds for charity
03rd July 2008 09.00 IST
By Agencies

Bollywood hottie Shilpa Shetty won the Global diversity Award 2008 in London for making a significant contribution to the public appreciation and understanding of diversity.

She also helped the organisers to raise 63,000 pounds for a charity - the Silver Star Appeal - that runs mobile diabetes assessment units.

Stepping in to galvanise the charity auction, a dinner with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown at Wembley, the Bollywood actress climbed up to the stage, took the mike and told the audience on Tuesday night that the winner would get a "kiss from me".

Then she hastened to add, "It will be on the cheek. I don't want my effigies burnt again." She was obviously referring to the controversy over the Hollywood star Richard Gere kissing her on stage during an AIDS awareness event in New Delhi in April last year which resulted in some Hindu nationalists burning her effigies and slapping court cases against her and Gere in India.

A young man who pledged 12,500 pounds for the dinner picked up three kisses from the Bollywood star on the cheek as a bargain.

Shilpa earlier on Tuesday met British Prime Minister Gordon Brown who congratulated her on her winning the honour. Besides Shilpa, British racing driver Lewis Hamilton was chosen for the award.

Keith Vaz, NRI Labour MP who launched the charity last year after being diagnosed as a diabetes patient, said the money raised would help buy the charity's third mobile unit. "One of these buses will be sent to India," Vaz said.

At Tuesday night's auction, an item titled Bollywood Dreams, a chance to fly to India, meet mega superstar Amitabh Bachchan and have tea with British High Commissioner to India Sir Richard Stagg in New Delhi went for 25,000 pounds with Prakash Lohia, chairperson of the Indian multinational group Indorama, winning it.

Shilpa became a household name in Britain after her appearance on Channel 4's reality TV show Celebrity Big Brother in 2007.

She won the contest with 63 per cent of the votes and was the first Indian winner. The show caused outrage when several housemates made racist remarks to Shilpa.

The ensuing controversy resulted in a record number of complaints to Channel 4, culminating with the Prime Minister Tony Blair condemning racial intolerance during Prime Minister's Question Time in the House of Commons. Shilpa herself remained dignified throughout the incident and garnered much public support.

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