THE STAR - Wednesday, 16 Sept, 2005s And the one thing no one is ready for is Mallika’s modesty. This is, after all, the woman who shook Bollywood with her dare-to-bare image and her willingness to portray Indian women as more than just damsels in distress. In person, Mallika is more than just a pretty face with a sexy style – she’s intelligent, gracious and friendly. The 24-year-old actress was in Kuala Lumpur recently along with Jackie Chan to promote the film The Myth, which is scheduled to open in Hong Kong and Malaysia simultaneously on Sept 23. In the film, she plays an Indian citizen who bumps into Chan’s character during one of his archaeological explorations in a small village in India. Although it is a small role, it is one that has elevated her credentials considerably. In May this year, she made her unforgettable debut at the Cannes Film Festival when she appeared in Chan’s arms wearing a sexy lengha. While back in her homeland the press slammed her for her brazenness, Mallika flaunted herself gleefully for the cameras overseas. The actress riled the Indian press by flaunting herself at the 58th Cannes Film Festival in May. At this exclusive interview with The Star, Mallika instantly smiled when Cannes was mentioned. She said with a faint Indian lilt: “It was great fun conquering Cannes. It was fantastic especially when Time magazine, which I think is the grandest of all magazines, endorsed me. And being compared to legends like Brigitte Bardot and (Marilyn) Monroe, it was a very rewarding experience.” Immediately one understands that Mallika is only too ready to be recognised as an international sex symbol. Yet she manages to shock us by being a classy act rather than a spoiled brat from Bollywood. When the special photo shoot took longer than expected, and the makeup artist didn’t turn up, Mallika remained game for more outfit changes and did her own hair and makeup. No diva antics from this young lady, thank you very much. It’s as if Mallika’s image is something that is part of her and yet it is not. For one, she loves Bollywood too much to leave it completely even when Hollywood beckons. “I am where I am because of Bollywood. It’s my bread and butter. But I do want to be part of the global cinema because I feel more challenging parts are written for actresses abroad. I will try my level best to bring those challenging parts to Bollywood, so more actresses get to do that,” she explained. Then she added, “But I love running around trees.” Mallika has already made her presence felt. In the 2003 film Khwahish where she made her debut as a lead actress, her character goes out to buy condoms as she does not want to get pregnant so early in her married life. In last year’s Murder her character – a desperate housewife trapped in a loveless marriage – has an affair with her ex-boyfriend and rediscovers passion. “As far as we can remember, Indian women have been portrayed as femmes fatales or innocent child-women who don't know anything. But that is not how women are in real life. We have our likes and dislikes. We can be passionate; we can be hateful. There are so many aspects to a woman’s personality.” In The Myth, she plays a woman who is beautiful and able to fight off the baddies. Wanting to impress both Chan and the director, Stanley Tong, Mallika insisted on doing all her stunts. With a little tutoring from Chan, she managed just that. “It was a very painful experience. I was bruised all over. I cried ... I howled ... I complained ... I fought with Jackie. But I did it and it turned out very well. It was all worth it.”
“I come from a traditional family. They are not happy with me,” she put it plainly but with an obvious sadness in her voice. “But one does what one has to do.” Growing up in a small town in Haryana as Reema Lambha she would watch Hema Malini, Sanjeev Kumar and Jaya Bachchan on screen and knew then where her destiny lay. “I’m not going to sit here and be dishonest and say, ‘Oh, I got here by chance.’ No. I always wanted to be an actress as far as I can remember.” But the odds were stacked against her – she didn’t know anyone in Mumbai or have an influential family connection in the film industry like other starlets and at every audition there would be 500 talented beautiful girls auditioning for the same part. Her luck changed when she made an automobile commercial with Shah Rukh Khan and was noticed by director Govind Menon who gave her the lead role in Khwahish. By then she had changed her name – Sherawat is her mother’s maiden name, and Mallika, she said, sounds like a queen. Having participated in some theatre productions during her tertiary years in Delhi University, she armed herself further by learning the finer points of acting through books and movies. Still, Mallika admits to being very nervous on the first day of filming Khwahish as the script required her to lock lips with her male co-star 17 times! “Anyone would be nervous. You stand in front of the camera and the first scene is a kissing scene, god! And my co-star had (just eaten) onions, on top of it all. It was a very bad experience. It had scarred me for life,” she said laughingly. But Mallika is one of those people who get back on track fast. “I believe acting is a constantly evolving process; you are learning all the time. I make a lot of mistakes but I learn from these mistakes and carry on.” The Myth opens in Malaysia on Sept 23. |
Mallika would rather shop for books than clothes.