Akshay and me? Not again: Shilpa

Shilpa Shetty was in her hometown in Mangalore recently, for a three-day pooja. She went their after almost two years to do a pooja worshipping the spirits of her ancestors.

"We summon their spirits once in five generations, and the entire Shetty clan was there. We were off non-vegetarian food for the last two-and-a-half months in preparation. We had a 28-hour pooja starting on Tuesday. I barely slept," says Shilpa.

While she was away, there was rumour doing the rounds that Shilpa's going to be doing a film with former flame Akshay Kumar.

But Shilpa says, "Somebody has come up with the idea of casting us together, but nothing definite has been spoken about."

Another rumour doing the rounds is that of her having bought property in London.

Shilpa dismisses all immediate plans, but admits she might eventually do that in the future. "I do intend to buy property there, as it's a matter of convenience. If I'm going to be spending a large chunk of my time there, I might as well get an apartment in London, right?

It's far more practical than staying in a hotel," she says.

Currently, Shilpa is gearing up to perform at the IIFA Awards in June in Yorkshire (UK), and then the world premiere of my film Metro in Sydney and Melbourne (Australia), London, Dubai, Toronto (Canada) and Mumbai.

Shilpa is not inviting Jade Goody for the premiere citing the reason that the event might be overshadowed by a gimmicky Shilpa-Jade Goody reunion moreover it would be like inviting a security hazard.

Shilpa however is still in touch with her friends from Big Brother. "I have an ever-lasting bond with some of them. Jermaine (Jackson) and I connect regularly.

Yes, he might be coming for the Metro premiere. My other friend, Ian MacKellan's play Fame opens on the same day as Metro's premiere, so he won't be able to make it."

Her other film, Anil Sharma's Apne, is also due for release in May. Says Shilpa, "Apne is as precious to me as Metro. I signed Anilji's film because I loved the idea of being paired with Sunny Deol in a film starring all three Deols (including Dharmendra and Bobby).

Metro is releasing in May, and Apne follows in June. So yeah, I'm tense about both releases." "Everyone goes through a lean patch. So did I, before Big Brother happened. And let's not forget that Anilji made Gadar, one of the biggest hits in Hindi cinema.

I'm sure Apne will be a massive hit as well," she says confidently