Mallika Sherawat

Mallika Sherawat

(Hindi: मल्लिका शेरावत, born Reema Lamba) is an Indian actress who appears mainly in Bollywood films. Known for her bold onscreen attitude,[1] Sherawat has been frequently featured in the media as a sex symbol.[2] She is one of the few Bollywood stars trying to crossover to Hollywood,[3][4] with films like Hisss and Politics of Love.[5]Contents [hide]
1 Early life
2 Career
2.1 Hollywood
3 Filmography
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

Early life

Sherawat was born Reema Lamba in Rohtak, Haryana to a Jat family.[6] Mallika was born in the family of Seth Chhaju Ram, a leading Jat philanthropist.[7] She was born on October 24, though the year is unknown.[8] She adopted the screen name of "Mallika", meaning "empress", to avoid confusion with other actresses named Reema.[9] "Sherawat" is her mother's maiden name[8] She has stated that she uses her mother's maiden name because of the support that her mother has provided her.[9] Although relations with her family were strained when she entered the film industry,[10] now Sherawat's family have accepted her career choice and reconciled their relations.[7]

Sherawat went to school at Delhi Public School, Mathura Road.[11] She has obtained a degree in philosophy from Miranda House, Delhi University.[12] During the initial days of her career, she claimed to have come from a very conservative small town family, and that she faced many hurdles from her family in pursuing her career.[13] However, Mallika's family has refuted this as a story created by her to give her an aura of a small town rustic girl who made it big in Bollywood.[10] It has been reported that she was married for a short while to a Jet Airways pilot Captain Karan Singh Gill.[10]
Career

Before entering films, Sherawat appeared in television commercials with Amitabh Bachchan for BPL and Shahrukh Khan for Santro.[14] She also appeared in Nirmal Pandey's Maar Dala and Surjit Bindrakhia's Lak Tunoo music video.[15] She debuted in films with a small role in Jeena Sirf Merre Liye where she was credited as Reema Lamba.[16]

Sherawat attracted notice with her appearance in the 2003 film, Khwahish. In 2004, she starred in Murder, a film inspired by Hollywood's Unfaithful. She received a nomination for Best Actress at the Zee Cine Awards for her performance in Murder. The film went on to become one of the biggest hits of the year.[17]

Since then, Sherawat has been known for expressing her opinions in public, as well for the reaction to some of her statements.[18]

In 2005, Sherawat acted in The Myth, a Chinese film, co-starring with Jackie Chan. She played the role of an Indian girl who saves Chan's character from a river. The Myth was her first International film. Her appearance at the Cannes Film Festival[19] to promote the film grabbed a lot of attention with Time Magazine's Richard Corliss calling her "the next big thing".[20]

Her performance in the 2006 film Pyaar Ke Side Effects, co-starring Rahul Bose, won her praise from around the industry,[21] and the film also did moderately well at the box office.[22]

Her first release in 2007 was Mani Ratnam's Guru, in which she appeared in a special song, "Mayya Mayya". She also played a guest role in Himesh Reshammiya's Aap Ka Suroor - The Real Love Story and reportedly charged Rs. 15 million for a 10-minute appearance.[23] Her last release of 2007 was Welcome, which also did well at the box office receiving blockbuster status