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Mallika Sherawat holds a degree in philosophy from
Miranda House, Delhi University. She started her life as an air-hostess with
Indian National Carrier Air India. She got married to Karan Singh Gill, a
pilot, but later divorced him. She ventured into showbiz with a music video
sung by Surjit Bindrakhiya along with Ishita Arun. After joining films, she
espoused the screen name of "Mallika", meaning "empress", to circumvent
confusion with other actresses named Reema. "Sherawat" is her mother's
maiden name. she debuted as a character artist in "Jeena Sirf Mere Liye"
along with rising stars like Kareena Kapoor and Tushar Kapoor. In this film
she was credited as Reema Lamba. Soon, Mallika garnered notoriety for the
amount of flesh she displayed in her onscreen as well as off-screen
appearances. She created a huge uproar with her 17 on-screen kisses in the
movie Khwahish (2003) which was, by conservative Indian standards quite
appalling. "I used the age-old route of exploiting my sexuality to get
ahead," Sherawat reportedly told India Today. Later that year, she starred
in Murder, a film that again raised eyebrows because of her daring act as a
bored housewife getting entangled in an extramarital affair. Nevertheless,
Ms. Sherawat did get nominated in the 'Best Actress' category at the Zee
Cine Awards for her performance.
The year 2005 saw her act in some B-grade movies like Bachke Rehna Re Baba
and Kis Kis Ki Kismat, which were complete disasters in the box office in
spite of boasting impressive star casts like Rekha in the former and
Dharmendra in the latter film in a comeback role. But the same year, she
shocked the media by turning out to be the first Bollywood actress to act
opposite Jackie Chan in his Hollywood production "The Myth". However,
despite the hype, her role was no more than an extended cameo. Time Magazine
film critic Richard Corliss, after meeting her at the Cannes film festival
where the film was screened, referred to her as "a young woman, so gorgeous,
curvaceous and genial, and so open in her ambition to be the next big thing,
that she surely will be. Striding down the Croisette, making the paparazzi
pop their bulbs, Sherawat summoned old-timers' memories of a festival 50
years ago, when the vision of the young Brigitte Bardot on the beach first
sold the world on the notion of this Riviera resort as the home for
unbuttoned movie glamour. The movies may have grown dourer, but the stars
still make it smile. As Cannes was, so Cannes is."
Mallika was temporarily blacklisted by the Bollywood film
producers' union IMPAA in July 2004 after filmmaker Ramesh Sharma lodged a
complaint that she breached her contract by not showing up, as promised, for
the shooting of Kab Kyun Kahan (started in 1999). Recently, she was featured
in Mani Ratnam's film Guru in a hot item number along with Abhishek Bachchan.
Mallika has been shunned by critics who claim that she tries to hide her sad
lack of talent by the skin show and cheap publicity stunts. But her
popularity has not waned.
Filmography:
. Preeti Eke Bhoomi Melide (Kannada) (2007)
. Fauj Mein Mauj (2007 or 2008)
. Dasavatharam (2006) ... (announced)
. Sivaji: The Boss (2006) ... Special Appearance (song)
. Welcome (filming)
. Guru (2007)
. Pyaar Ke Side Effects (2006)
. Shaadi Se Pehle (2006)
. Darna Zaroori Hai (2006)
. Bachke Rehna Re Baba (2005)
. The Myth (2005)
. Kis Kis Ki Kismat (2004)
. Murder (2004)
. Khwahish (2003)
. Jeena Sirf Merre Liye (2002)
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