It was actress Shilpa Shetty's 32nd birthday Friday, but she was so busy that she had little time for the 'private' party in the evening and made a brief 'guest appearance', minutes before midnight at the Victoria Quarters here.

The media were strictly kept off the event, organised by International Indian Film Acamedy (IIFA), as it was supposed to be a private event for her to celebrate her birthday in the company of other celebrities from the film fraternity and other invited guests.

But it turned out to be almost a public affair with over 250 guests turning up.

Celebrities like Preity Zinta, Bobby Deol, Upen Patel, Jay Sean did not stay long when they realised that the private birthday party had taken on a rather different colour. Quite a few stars were also upset at the way they were being mobbed and hunted for pictures and autographs.

One visibly harassed celebrity said: "We were told that this was a private party. We are happy to interact with the media and others, but this is not what we had expected. One man kept hugging and kissing me. It was all so disappointing".

The party started at around 10 pm here and Shetty made a brief appearance 10 minutes before midnight accompanied by her parents. The Celebrity Big Brother winner, who was presented with a necklace by a sponsor, cut a three-storey cake and left the scene.

By that time many of the disappointed celebrities had already returned to their hotels.