Sundanda Shetty described her 31-year-old daughter as a “strong kid” who would bounce back by handling the situation with dignity, and adhering to the strong Indian family values with which she was brought up.

“We are a close-knit and traditional family with strong Indian values. We are very proud to be Indian, no two ways about that,” Mrs Shetty, resplendent in a turquoise sari and with a traditional bindi on her forehead, told The Times from her home in Bombay.

The family faced a barrage of local media interest yesterday, created by the alleged racist bullying of the Bollywood star, but they have been able to access the British reality TV show only through the internet and the clips that were shown repeatedly yesterday on Indian channels.

The parts they have seen have been upsetting. “We were saddened that she was crying on TV. As a family we were upset,” Mrs Shetty said. “It is not a happy feeling to see your daughter crying. We have not seen that often in our home. She has always been loved and respected.” Contestants on the show have reduced Ms Shetty to tears by making fun of her accent, questioning her eating habits, cleanliness and cultural background and calling her a dog.

Far from living in a shack, as fellow housemate Jackey suggested, the Indian actress lives with her parents and sister, Shamita, also an actress, in relative opulence in an upmarket northern suburb of Bombay.

The 7th-floor apartment is spacious by Indian standards and decked out with expensive furniture and religious artefacts. A Pekinese dog called Champagne and two Persian cats roam the marble floor as domestic staff bustle about bringing refreshments.

The family business, making tamper-proof caps for the pharmaceutical industry, has afforded a luxurious lifestyle in one of the world's most expensive property markets.

“I have travelled the world and always been received with respect. This is the first time we seen this,” Mrs Shetty said. The Shettys are an observant Hindu family, with hundreds of statues of Ganesh, the elephant god, placed around the home. It is this religious grounding that will see Ms Shetty through her time in the Big Brother house, her mother said.

“My daughter is a strong kid and I am sure she is handling it with dignity,” Mrs Shetty said. “If somebody is calling her by names, it does not reduce her to those. She has been dignified enough to cry it out and wash away her emotions. She is forgiving.

"It’s our religion to be tolerant. In the eyes of God, we are all the same, irrespective of creed, colour or caste. Racial discrimination should be curbed. It is very distasteful.” Ms Shetty’s treatment sparked street protests in the northeastern city of Patna, where members of the Shilpa Shetty Fans Association burnt straw effigies of her housemates.

"Shilpa is very popular in Bihar [the state of which Patna is the capital], and her song-and-dance numbers in the movies have won our hearts,” Ravindra Yadav, a protester, told local TV.

The growing furore prompted an intervention from the Indian Government, which said that it would lodge a protest with the British authorities.

“We are awaiting a report about the show. The Government will take appropriate measures once it gets to know the full details,” Anand Sharma, India’s Junior Minister for External Affairs, said. “Racism has no place in civilized society.”

Priyaranjan Dasmunsi, the Broadcasting Minister, appealed to Ms Shetty to make a complaint to the Indian High Commission in London. “She should understand that if there has been some racism shown against her in the show, it is not only an attack on women but also on the skin and the country,” he said.

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