Jade of India: How did nation react to charm offensive?

Jade Goody. You may remember her. She is the woman who has made a multi-million-pound living since appearing on Big Brother in 2002, and then threatened to throw it away in January when she was accused of racially abusing the Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty while back in the Big Brother house.

At the height of the furore, the Indian tourism office came up with a delightful wheeze. They paid tens of thousands of pounds to take full-page advertisements in British newspapers with a direct address to the one-time dental nurse from east London.

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The copy extolled the considerable virtues of India. With great magnanimity they invited Ms Goody to see the magnificence of the country for herself and experience its "healing nature" and to "cleanse your stresses away".

Perhaps it was because she knew her career was in trouble. Maybe she genuinely felt remorse. But, with rather more gusto than singer Jo O'Meara, and model Danielle Lloyd, the other Celebrity Big Brother guests accused of racism towards the Indian actress, Ms Goody has set about making amends.

So she took up the offer to visit. The only problem? It had never been anticipated that she would. Her move left the Indian government less than delighted, and it made it clear that, while she would be welcome as a tourist, she was no official guest.

And so last week she arrived in India for a four-day private visit, determined, she said, to learn about the place and its people. She repeated her apologies to Ms Shetty. She said she never understood what to be underprivileged truly meant. And she donated £50,000 to two children's charities, her management company said yesterday.

But if the aim was to entice Indian opinion - rather than rebuild a reputation at home - the charm offensive was in trouble from the off.

On day one, she popped out of the five-star Le Meridien hotel where she was staying to visit some Delhi slums and see the work of a charity with street children.

But residents at one charity home were unimpressed. They angrily surrounded her car, shouting "Hai! Hai!" - Hindi for "Down with you!" Ms Goody misunderstood, waved and called back: "Hi!"

So the residents spelled it out. "We don't want her here," they told The Times of India. "It's not enough to get her picture taken with a few children and think that's atonement for her deeds. She has insulted our nation."

In the ruckus, several people were knocked down. A woman called Anu, 26, whose three-month-old baby was hurt, summed up India's reaction. "Who is this awful person?" she said. "She is not welcome here if she is going to behave like this."

Nor was Ms Shetty playing along. Ms Goody told reporters she had been invited to visit Ms Shetty and her family in Mumbai, though charity commitments meant she was unable to take up the invitation. Ms Shetty promptly announced Ms Goody wouldn't be welcome.

Ms Shetty's PR explained: "Shilpa is not interested in being used as a PR tool by Jade Goody. Jade's purpose in visiting India is clear, because she has come with her agent."

Bombay's Mid-Day newspaper asked several Bollywood personalities what they'd say to Ms Goody if they met her. Actress Mona Singh said: "Come on, Jade, insult me too, so I can make headlines tomorrow."

Another actress, Koel Purie, said: "I don't see why I should be talking to Jade Goody. I seriously have better things to do with my time - like wash my hair or even watch paint dry."

And Ram Gopal Verma, one of Bollywood's biggest film-makers, said: "I would like to thank her for making Shilpa Shetty so rich and famous" - a distinctly barbed comment since Ms Shetty has been conspicuous by her absence from his movies.

TV actress Narayani Shastri told Mid-Day: "I would personally want to accompany her to two places. One is the anger management institute and the second is the weight-loss centre. She looks so scary that she could act in a horror movie without any make-up."

Then, staff at Le Meridien let slip the hotel phone lines had been jammed with hate calls for Ms Goody. Most, apparently, were from a Sri Lankan living in London calling herself Prasantika, who was beside herself with rage that Ms Goody had been allowed into India at all, and demanded that the hotel throw her out.

Then the press was told she had refused to eat local food because she was afraid of "Delhi belly". The newspaper breaking the story quoted its unnamed source as saying: "When you're trying to make amends for being racist about Indians, turning down the food isn't exactly a good start."

The newspaper was Britain's Daily Star, and that said it all: Ms Goody's visit to India was of far more interest to her fellow countrymen and women than it was to Indians. Her itinerary was greeted with boredom. One senior figure in the Indian press said yesterday: "She may be big in Britain but Jade Goody is nobody here. If she hadn't insulted Shilpa Shetty, no one would have given a fuck about her here.''

The days when India was in awe of Britain as its former colonial power are long gone.

An Indian company has bought the remains of the former British Steel, another one is close to taking over one of Scotland's most famous distillers, and it is an Indian - Shilpa Shetty - who has become a celebrity in Britain, not the other way around.

India has no need of minor British celebrities to sell newspapers. It has Bollywood for that - and this is one of very few countries in the English-speaking world where newspaper sales are rising.

Ms Goody's advisers, though, were happy enough. And perhaps they are more concerned with her career at home than with the newspaper headlines in India.

Catherine Lister, of John Noel Management, said: "We have had letters from both children's charities to say how fantastic Jade was with the kids there, and how grateful they were for the donations."

WHAT INDIA SAID ABOUT MS GOODY...

Times of India

Jade and her group took the staff at the Le Meridien hotel by surprise, walking in without making reservations. Dressed casually, Jade wanted to be "left alone" and told hotel staff: "I don't want to meet anybody."

Indian Express

Goody, infamous for her alleged racial slurs against Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty on a reality TV show, is on a charity mission to the country to donate part of the "dirty" money earned as a "celebrity" to a children's home in Delhi.

Mid-Day

What would you say to Jade Goody?

"I don't think she would understand my accent, so it's best I don't say anything" - Farah Khan, Bollywood choreographer.

"With tears in my eyes, I thank her profusely for helping Shilpa Shetty get her groove back." - Sanjit Bedi, Bollywood actor.