A really funny incident happened on stage in Offenbach during the first phase of Shilpa Shetty's tour in Germany of her much-discussed play Miss Bollywood.

"There we were, my co-star Wayne Perrey and I, taking our bows when the automatic curtains refused to go down. I was horrified, being new to the stage and all. But Wayne loved the moment. It's such goof-ups which make the play worth the audiences' effort. They feel they get a little more than they had paid for."

As the German lap of her tour finishes Shilpa looks back with much warmth, excitement and a little sadness at the events so far.

"It has ben an exhilarating experience. In every city of Germany we've been received with enthusiasm. We have had standing ovations after several performances. It's so wonderful to see girls in the audiences in saris and bindis dancing to our music. I feel vindicated.

I also feel very sad that back home, all kinds of unsavoury controversies are being unnecessarily raked up about my musical...which is really not just mine. It belongs to all of us," Shilpa's pleasure dissolves into pain as she talks about the perception back home that the show had bombed.

"We started on the wrong note in Berlin. False news that I had been arrested on the Mumbai airport reached Berlin before I could. In the chaos that followed we lost suitcases of our luggage.

We were a troupe without our equipment, costumes, energy or inspiration. By the time we got on stage in Berlin we thought it was curtains for the first show. But what do you know! The press was there.

We did a teaser for them. We performed four instead of the nine acts. Do you know what they said at the end of it? 'We've tasted a bit of the chocolate, now we want more."

That truly lifted Shilpa's spirits. "And it has been a high all the way from there. We now head for the European lap of our tour ...Manchester, Birmingham, Scotland....also Holland ....In London we'll be performing at the Royal Albert Hall.

Do you know, Lataji was the first Indian artiste to perform there. I feel so proud to stand on the same stage as she did to represent our entertainment industry. I wish people back home would share some of my pride and joy."

Shilpa laughs mirthlessly at choreographer Vaibhavi Merchant's insinuation that Miss Bollywood appears to be inspired by Vaibhavi's play Merchants Of Bollywood.

"I know Vaibhavi from before she became a choreographer. I haven't seen Merchants Of Bollywood. But it's true the Moranis who are the producers of my play did go and see their play.

But has Vaibhavi told the Indian press that one of her representatives came to see our play and even congratulated us for it? I don't know if there're any similarities.

Any two rags-to-riches saga centred in and around Bollywood would have a certain likeness. Can't we be a little more open-minded about the process of creativity?"

Shilpa stresses that her play is about a small-time choreographer who performs at sangeets and crawls up the success ladder aiming to dance her way into the Olympics. "It's an inspirational story and also a sample of Bollywood like never before for the foreign audiences."

"Will I be able to bring it to India? I don't know. It's a very grueling discipline to dance and act Bollywood stuff on stage. And then to have your efforts panned by those very people whom you're representing..."

She trails off sorrowfully.