Richard Gere pounces on Shilpa Shetty at an AIDS program in India

Then there was the British media rushing to her defence, when Jade Goody and the others ganged up on her in Big Brother indulging in racist comments.

And now the latest Bond, Daniel Craig, has said that Shilpa would make the perfect Bond girl, thanks to her awesome figure. He said in an interview that Shilpa has a killing figure just right for a Bond girl.

Shilpa Shetty

Well, she does have an awesome figure but, lordy, her face! She used to be quite sweet looking once, artless and unsophisticated perhaps, but her mile-wide smile made her look innocent and sensual at the same time.

Shilpa Shetty at the start of her career

And look at her now. All that hacking and sculpting on her face makes her look so unreal. Those of you who like their movie stars to have the sculpted-by-the-same-plastic-surgeon look will, of course, never agree.

Shilpa Shetty: Behold the reworked nose

But still, if Bond doesn’t mind, so be it.

Bond girl or Bond shrew?

Though Shilpa has no international movies on her hands, she still manages to capture interest overseas.

Since the Big Brother debacle, Shilpa Shetty has attended a reception at the House of Commons to meet with then-British prime minister Tony Blair. Sky One made a documentary on her called The Real Shilpa Shetty, produced by Twofour, and she was on the cover of the first OK! magazine launched in India.

On November 14, 2008, Telegraph carried an interview with Shilpa about how she manages her money.

She was asked about the reasons for the current financial crisis, in spiritual terms.!!??!

To which, Shilpa said “If you keep a clean heart with your money you will have a clean karmic cycle, but the day you do something negative to another person that karmic circle will start to bring you down.” That is the most profound and compelling analysis of the current financial situation that I have come across yet. I am lovin’ it!

She also said that she is part of the Oneness University movement, which believes that the financial climate will worsen before 2012, because the the world is overpopulated and we suffer things like global warming and poverty as a result. “The only way to achieve balance is to let nature take its course through natural calamities.” Sorted!

From wierd to utterly pedestrian, the next James Bond movie is titled James Bond 23 or may even be called Bond 23. Ok, so it will be the 23rd Bond movie in Bond history and, therefore, may be called Bond 23 but I should think the makers of Bond may have at least tried to give it a decent title. Unless it is, and I hope to God it is, a working title.

Though going by reports, it would be a highly optimistic assumption. Because, hold your breath, there is a Bond 24 and Bond 25 lined up. The only reason I can think of is the huge negative reaction to the title Quantum of Solace has made them wary. Quantum of Solace - sound like a James Bond movie directed by Khalil Gibran!

Bond 23, a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Release will hit theatres worldwide, in 2010. Bond 23 will be directed by Marc

Foster, director of Quantum of Solace. Foster has said that Bond 23 will not be a sequel to Quantum of Solace.

Daniel Craig will continue to play Bond in Bond 23 as well. Rumor has it that Daniel Craig has been signed on for Bond 24 and Bond 25 and is likely to earn a whopping $100 million for the four films.

Obviously, there are no pictures from James Bond 23 available now – but we will certainly publish them when they become available.