Bollywood actress, Aussie troops: Afghan ‘sex scandal’ under probe

Although the final note prepared to brief the Australian Defence Minister does not include names, the investigation into what has been termed “inappropriate behaviour” will continue, the department said. Earlier, reports from Sydney said that the briefing talked about Zaetta — who went to Afghanistan last month with a number of other entertainers — having sex with special forces soldiers at the Australian base in Tarin Kowt.

Sydney’s Daily Telegraph newspaper first reported the unsubstantiated claims, and said these were detailed in the note prepared for Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon. “This is the most ridiculous story I’ve heard about my life, and I’ve heard plenty over the years in this industry,” the 37-year-old actress told the Telegraph.

With the Opposition too attacking the Government over the “gross invasion” of Zaetta’s privacy, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was quoted by APP as raising a doubt on the charges. “I doubt very, very, very much… I have only seen all the girls conduct themselves in a very, very professional manner and certainly Tania, because she is a very professional person,” he said.

In a statement from London, Zaetta said: “It’s complete made-up lies… (and) apart from being hurtful it’s damaging to a woman’s career, to her reputation and I wish someone had come and asked me before there was any documentation… Perhaps I do feel like I need an apology because not only my family name but my career which I have worked very hard for is suddenly at stake here.”

In Bollywood, Zaetta was known as AXN channel’s Who Dares Win girl. She had an impressive CV, including a stint in one of the most watched television shows in the world, Baywatch.

Born to an Italian father and Australian mother, Zaetta’s first contact with India was a trip to the Himalayas with her mother. She was apparently inspired by her self-help guru, Shannah Kennedy, to try her luck in Bollywood.

Her big break came in 2003, when she got to host the Indian version of Who Dares Win, titled Extreme Dhamaka, and ended up being spotted by the talent scouts at Yash Raj Films. She landed a small cameo in Bunty Aur Babli and then went on to play Warsi’s wife in Salaam Namaste.

She and Warsi shared screen space in yet another film, Mr Black Mr White, which was released this month after three years in the cans. Zaetta’s role in the film was touted as “one of Charlie’s Angels”, but in the final print it was considered hardly memorable.

“Tania came on board after she was recommended by Arshad Warsi. She did not have much to do in the film, since all we required was a foreigner,” says Deepak Shivdasani, director of Mr Black Mr White.

Zaetta’s Bollywood dream, in fact, did not take off after the two big Yash Raj Films and she went back to London, where she is based. But she is often quoted as a “Bollywood mega star” by the press in Australia.

B4U veejay and actor Salil Acharya, who was one of the contestants of Extreme Dhamaka, remembers Zaetta as an extremely ambitious girl. “She was very eager to get famous and was quite focused on making it in Bollywood. She knew the party circuit and was great at networking,” he said.

“Tania was not inhibited in her interactions with people, which made her a great host but sometimes it could be misconstrued,” Acharya added. He recounted how at a live event in Chandigarh, Zaetta wanted to hug a guy in the crowd. “I tried explaining to her that it could be mistaken, but she went ahead. Ultimately, the incident led to a lathicharge.”

(with Suruchi Mazumdar & wire reports)