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Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty joined a long list of celebrities who have their own fragrances when she launched her 'S2' perfume in London on Tuesday.
Shetty, a celebrated actress in her native India, attracted international attention when she signed up for Celebrity Big Brother UK and became the target of racial abuse from fellow housemates.
She went on to win the reality television show and has seldom been out of the headlines since.
In April, pictures of a kiss between her and actor Richard Gere at an AIDS awareness rally caused Hindu hardliners to allege the pairhad offended the sensibilities of India's traditionally conservative culture.
Following the incident an Indian court issued arrest warrants for both of them saying a kiss at a public function 'transgressed all limits of vulgarity' - proceedings which were later suspended.
In launching her own fragrance, Shetty joins big-name celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez and Kylie Minogue and commentators speculate this is just the beginning of her advance into other areas of fashion and beauty.
Shetty told Reuters at the launch that she believed her perfume would be successful because of its unusual jasmine-scented "ethnic feel".
"It is something that is very synonymous with me and jasmine is very common in India, it's very difficult to find abroad, but the scent of jasmine is very long lasting and if you like it, you love it."
- NZ HERALD STAFF
