An aspiring actress and model who wanted to be fairer has ended up with a disfigured face after pigmentation treatment in a popular Mumbai spa.

Gauri Khan, 22, who acted in the yet-unreleased Legend of Mayawati has sent a legal notice to spa owners - Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty and her business partner Chandrakiran Kaur Bawa.

According to MumbaiMirror.com Gauri paid 38,000 Indian Rupees ($11,280) for 14 sessions of the "glow and pigmentation" treatment in June last year after watching a TV ad endorsement by Shilpa Shetty.

She said her face was now peeling, wrinkled and covered in ugly dark sports, forcing her to move around with her face covered.

In her legal notice, Gauri, who shares the same name with Bollywood hearththrob Shahrukh Khan's wife who is also a model, claimed 170,000 Indian Rupees in compensation.

The spa's lawyers, however, have denied all her charges, saying that she did not take adequate care while undergoing the treatment.

Gauri said she had always been "presentable" but had decided to undergo the treatment as she wanted to deal with her dull skin.

"But within three months my skin began to deteriorate.

"I panicked but a doctor at the spa gave me assurance that everything would be fine," she said, adding that her whole face became disfigured in January.

Gauri said she had requested the spa to return back the money but it refused to do so.

"When I pointed out that Shilpa had endorsed the treatment, they said not everybody can become a Shilpa Shetty.

"I told them that I am a model and my entire means of living is dependent on my face".