Mallika Sherawat

Reema Lamba (born 24 October 1976<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>), better known as Mallika Sherawat, is an Indian actress who predominantly works in Hindi language films. Known for her bold onscreen portrayal in films like Khwahish (2003) and Murder (2004),<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Sherawat has established herself as a sex symbol in Bollywood.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She is also known for appearing in several popular item numbers.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Sherawat's role in the romantic comedy Pyaar Ke Side Effects (2006) was well-received.<ref name="in.rediff.com">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She subsequently starred in Aap Ka Suroor, Welcome (both 2007), Dasavathaaram (2008) — her biggest commercial success so far — and Double Dhamaal (2011). Apart from Indian films, she has appeared in the Chinese films The Myth (2005) and Time Raiders (2016).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She was one of the few Bollywood stars trying to cross over to Hollywood,<ref name="WSJ">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> with films like Hisss (2010) and Politics of Love (2011).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Early life

Sherawat was born as Reema Lamba in Moth,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> a small village in Hisar district of Haryana to a Jat family.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Mallika's father is Mukesh Kumar Lamba and she was born in the family of Seth Chhaju Ram, a leading Jat philanthropist.<ref name=lambafamily>Template:Cite news</ref> She adopted the screen name of "Mallika", meaning "empress", to avoid confusion with other actresses named Reema.<ref name="outlook">Template:Cite magazine</ref> "Sherawat" is her mother's maiden name.<ref name="websitetriv">Template:Cite web</ref> She has stated that she uses her mother's maiden name because of the support that her mother has provided her.<ref name="outlook"/> Although relations with her family were strained when she entered the film industry,<ref name=express>Template:Cite news</ref> Sherawat's family has now accepted her career choice and they have reconciled.<ref name=lambafamily/>

Sherawat went to Delhi Public School, Mathura Road.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She has a degree in philosophy from Miranda House, Delhi University.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> During the initial days of her career, she claimed to be from a very conservative small-town family and that she faced many hurdles from them in pursuing her career.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> However, Sherawat's family has rebutted this as a story created by her to give her an aura of a rustic girl who made it big in Bollywood.<ref name="express" />

Career

Before entering films, Sherawat appeared in television commercials with Amitabh Bachchan for BPL and Shah Rukh Khan for Hyundai Santro.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She also appeared in Nirmal Pandey's "Maar Dala" and Surjit Bindrakhia's "Lak Tunoo" music video.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She debuted in films with a small rôle in Jeena Sirf Merre Liye where she was credited as Reema Lamba.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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 was noticed for her bold role with critic Narbir Gosal writing, "she has the chops to pull off a role like this one. She´s confident and sexy as Simran and handles her emotional scenes with dignity."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Since then, Sherawat has been known for expressing her opinions in public, as well for the reaction to some of her statements.<ref name=controversial>Kulkarni, Ronjita. Hot and Controversial Template:Webarchive. Rediff.com. Retrieved 18 November 2007</ref>

File:Mallika Sherawat at White House Correspondents Dinner.jpg

Sherawat at White House Correspondents Dinner

In 2005, Sherawat acted in The Myth, a Chinese film, co-starring with Jackie Chan. She played 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<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> to promote the film secured a lot of attention, with Time magazine's Richard Corliss calling her "the next big thing."<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Her performance in the 2006 film Pyaar Ke Side Effects, co-starring Rahul Bose, won her praise from around the industry,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> with critic Raja Sen commenting, "Mallika steals the show with her disarming candour."<ref name="in.rediff.com"/> and the film did moderately well at the box office.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Her first release in 2007 was Mani Ratnam's Guru, in which she performed the song "Mayya Mayya." She 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Her last release of 2007 was Welcome, which did exceptionally well at the box office. Her performance received very favourable reviews with noted film critic Taran Adarsh writing, "Mallika Sherawat is electrifying."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Her 2008 releases were Ugly Aur Pagli and Maan Gaye Mughal-e-Azam. Both were unsuccessful at the box office. Sherawat's next Bollywood release was Double Dhamaal, which went on to becoming a moderate success at the box office, receiving 'above average' status at the box office, by Box Office India. She also appeared in item numbers in films such as Thank You (Razia Gundon Mein Phas Gayi), Bin Bulaye Baraati (Shalu Ke Thumkey) and in Osthe (Kalasala), which is a Tamil film. In 2012, she was featured in an item number in Tezz (Laila). Sherawat has also performed in Kismat Love Paisa Dilli, in which she will be playing a Haryanvi.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On 23 October 2013 Mallika staring reality dating show called Bachelorette India - Mere Khayalon ki Mallika was aired which was adopted from The Bachelorette to find the perfect bachelor for herself.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

File:Mallika Sherawat Mahesh Bhatt still11.jpg

Mallika Sherawat with Mahesh Bhatt, 2007

In 2009, Sherawat starred in a Hollywood film named Hisss, co-starring Irrfan Khan and directed by Jennifer Lynch. The story, based on the legend of Nāga, is an independent co-production between the United States and India.<ref name="WSJ"/> Endeavour Independent bought the distribution rights of Hisss.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Sherawat promoted it with live snakes at the Cannes Film Festival 2010.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Hisss was released in all major Indian languages on 22 October 2010.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Sherawat starred in another Hollywood film, Politics of Love, aka Love, Barack, directed by William Dear.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She plays Aretha Gupta, a devoted local Obama volunteer coordinator. The film is a romantic comedy set during Barack Obama's campaign for the US presidency. A first look of Love, Barack was unveiled by Sherawat at Cannes 2010.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It was released in 2011.

Sherawat won the 2008 Renaissance Artist Award at the 16th Annual Diversity Awards held in California.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On 14 August 2009, Sherawat received honorary citizenship of Los Angeles in recognition of her career achievements and charitable work.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2012 Sherawat featured with American pop star Bruno Mars in his parody video of Salt-n-Pepa's "Whatta Man" for the comedy website Funny or Die.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Personal life

During her brief stint as an air hostess, Sherawat married Delhi-based pilot Karan Singh Gill in 1997. She later divorced him.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She kept her marriage a secret as the stigma of divorce would've prevented her rise in Bollywood.<ref name=":0" /> She dated French real estate agent Cyrille Auxenfans in 2017.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Sherawat is a vegan.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Activism

Sherawat has been involved with women's rights activism, discussing women's issues at the 65th United Nations DPI/NGO Conference in 2014.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> During the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, Sherawat had herself locked in a cage for twelve hours to support the Free A Girl India NGO.<ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:CbignoreTemplate:Dead Youtube links</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Filmography

Film

Year	Film	Role	Notes	Template:Refh
2002	Jeena Sirf Merre Liye	Seema	Special appearance; credited as Reema Lamba
2003	Khwahish	Lekha Khorzuvekar
2004	Kis Kis Ki Kismat	Meena Madhok
	Murder	Simran Saigal
2005	Bachke Rehna Re Baba	Padmini a.k.a. Paddu/Alka/Meera
	The Myth	Samantha	Chinese film
2006	Pyaar Ke Side Effects	Trisha Mallick
	Shaadi Se Pehle	Sania
	Darna Zaroori Hai	Riya
2007	Guru	Champa	Special appearance in item number
	Aap Ka Suroor - The Real Love Story	Ruby James
	Ee Preethi Yeke Bhoomi Melide		Special appearance; Kannada film
	Welcome	Ishika
2008	Dasavathaaram	Jasmine	Tamil film
	Ugly Aur Pagli	Kuhumini
	Maan Gaye Mughal-e-Azam	Shabnam
2010	Hisss	Naagin	English, Hindi crossover film
2011	Thank You	Razia	Special appearance in item number	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
	Bin Bulaye Baraati	Shalu	Special appearance in item number
	Double Dhamaal	Kamini Nayak
	Politics of Love	Aretha Gupta	English film	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
	Osthe	Mallika	Special appearance; Tamil film
2012	Tezz	Laila	Special appearance	<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
	Kismat Love Paisa Dilli	Lovina
2015	Dirty Politics	Anokhi Devi
2016	Time Raiders	Snake Empress	Chinese film
2017	Zeenat	Ananta
2022	RK/RKay	Gulabo/Neha
2024	Pambattam	Mangamma Devi	Tamil film	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
	Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Wala Video	Chanda Rani		<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Television

Year	Television	Role	Notes
2005	Sarabhai vs Sarabhai	Sunehri	Guest; episode: "Sarabhais and Sunehri"<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2013	The Bachelorette India	Herself
2014	Hawaii Five-0	Farah Khan	episode: "Makani ʻolu a holo malie" "Fair Winds and Following Seas"
2018	The Story	Herself	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2019	Booo Sabki Phategi	Hassena	Web series
2021	Nakaab	Zohra Mehra	Series<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Music videos

List of music video credits

Year	Title	Singer(s)	Role	Template:Refh
2012	" Bruno Mars' Whatta Man "	Salt-N-Pepa	Girl with gun (heroine)	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Awards and nominations

List of Acting Awards And Nominations

Year	Film	Award	Category	Result
2004	Murder	Zee Cine Award	Best Actor – Female	Template:Nom
2005	Murder	Stardust Award	Superstar of Tomorrow – Female	Template:Nom
2007	Pyaar Ke Side Effects	Stardust Award	Star of the Year – Female	Template:Nom
2009	Maan Gaye Mughal-e-Azam	Screen Award	Screen Award for Best Comedian	Template:Nom
2011	Hisss	Gotham Screen Film Festival & Screenplay Contest	Best Actress	Template:Won<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2015	Dirty Politics	Indian Film Festival of Melbourne	Best Actress	Template:Nom<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2016	Dirty Politics	Screen Award	Best Actress (Popular Choice)	Template:Nom<ref name="Screen 2016">Template:Cite web</ref>

See also

• List of Hindi film actresses

External links

• Template:IMDb name
• Template:Bollywood Hungama person