By Subhash K Jha

Shamita heard about her sister Shilpa's triumph on Big Brother at 3 am on Monday morning.

"It has been a very tense time for all of us. We're over-joyed. I had asked someone in London to inform me the minute the result was out. When the phone rang at 3 am my heart skipped a beat. Shilpa has gone through so much in there.

Now she needs to do back-to-back press for three days in London. And then hopefully she'll be back home. I want her here for my birthday on 2 February," says Shamita on the morning after Shilpa becomes the first Indian to win on Big Brother.

Shamita has spoken briefly to Shilpa. "She has absolutely no time to speak. She was whisked away from by the authorities the minute she was out of the house. But Shilpa burst into sobs the minute the results were announced. It was so unexpected to her. My mom is with her. And even if she needs to return to London later Shilpa needs to come home now."

Shamita turned a year older on Feb 2. "I only want my sister home. Right after my birthday I leave for Chennai to shoot for the Tamil version of Ram Gopal Varma's Darling with Madhavan."

Apparently Maddy and Shamita already get along like a house on fire. "He's so truly sweet and one of the main reasons why I'm doing a film in Tamil is Maddy. I don't know a word of Tamil.

But I've a Tamil tutor coming over every morning to coach me. Although my lines would be dubbed later I need to get the lip-sync right. Right now it all sounds like Greek to me."

Shamita plays a ghost in Darling. "Can you believe it? While my sister is an international celebrity I become a bhoot for a Tamil film."