Odissi dance guru Ratikant Mohapatra has been very impressed by Shilpa Shetty's dedication and passion. After teaching the ancient dance form to the actress from January 14 to 19, Mr. Mohapatra who is the son of the famous Odissi dancer Kelucharan Mohapatra says, "My working experience with Shilpa Shetty was very good. As an actress and a bharatnatyam dancer she was able to understand the style and form of Odissi and its execution".

The ace dancer also added "Practising in the morning and evening, Shilpa had no star tantrums and she proved herself to be a committed artiste. Her performance in the shooting was also satisfying". The actress underwent training in the district of Kollam in Kerala where the international film titled 'The Desire' is being shot.

In the flick Shilpa plays the role of Gouthami, a famous Odissi dancer.

'The Desire' which is an Indo/Chinese joint production and directed by R. Sarath has the Chinese superstar Xia Yu playing the protagonist's role. It may be the desire to do a role with a great potential and more international exposure that made Shilpa be a part of 'The Desire'.

It is too early to say whether Shilpa has made the right choice in taking up the character of a dancer. We hope that lady luck smiles at Shilpa this time too.