Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty claims racist treatment by Qantas

Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty has slammed an Aussie airline over claims of racism. Photo / Getty Images

Shilpa Shetty is used to attention. She's one of India's greatest Bollywood movie stars. But she refuses to get used to this.

The 43-year-old actor was travelling from Sydney to Melbourne when she encountered an issue with her luggage.

So she posted an open note to Qantas on social media: 'This should get your attention! Travelling from Sydney to Melbourne and at the check in counter met a grumpy #Mel (that's her name) who decided it was "OK" to speak curtly to "US" (Brown people!!) travelling together."

Shetty, one of Bollywood's highest profile and most photographed stars, says an employee deemed her "half-empty" duffel bag too large for the cabin's overhead storage.

So she was sent back to the counter.

"There a polite lady (yes this one was) said: "this ISN'T an oversized bag, pls check this in manually if u can at another counter."

Then, Shetty says she encountered the original Qantas employee again.

Again, her bag was rejected as over-sized.

"We had no time to waste so we ran to the oversized baggage counter and requested her to put the bag through which she did after I told her that #Rude #Mel had issues!"

Despite the rush, Shetty was not going to leave the Qantas drama behind her.

"Their staff must be taught to be helpful and TONE can't change with preference to #COLOUR. "WE" are NOT #pushovers and they MUST know that being #callous and #Rude will NOT BE TOLERATED."

We're sorry to hear that you have had a negative experience with us today Shilpa. We have passed your feedback on to the relevant team and we hope that you have a great experience with us onboard! Khalid

— Qantas (@Qantas) September 23, 2018

Qantas, once alerted to the post, attempted damage control: "We're sorry to hear that you have had a negative experience with us today Shilpa. We have passed your feedback on to the relevant team and we hope that you have a great experience with us on-board! Khalid"

It's not the first time Shetty has experienced racism.

More than 54,000 viewers complained after she was subjected to racist taunts on Britain's Celebrity Big Brother reality TV show in 2007.