Mallika Sherawat
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Reema Lamba (born 24 October 1976), better known as Mallika Sherawat, is an Indian actress who predominantly works in
Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
language films. Known for her bold onscreen attitude in films like ''
Khwahish ''Khwahish'' () is a 2003 Indian Hindi romance film directed by Govind Menon. The film stars Himanshu Malik and Mallika Sherawat. Plot Amar, rich, stubborn, and serious, meets Lekha in a shop. While Lekha is poor, (the daughter of a poultry fa ...
'' (2003) and ''
Murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...
'' (2004), Sherawat has established herself as a
sex symbol A sex symbol or icon is a person or character widely considered sexually attractive.Pam Cook, "The trouble with sex: Diana Dors and the Blonde bombshell phenomenon", In: Bruce Babinigton (ed.), ''British Stars and Stardom: From Alma Taylor to ...
and as one of the most popular celebrities in
Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...
. She then appeared in the successful romantic comedy ''
Pyaar Ke Side Effects ''Pyaar Ke Side Effects'' ( en, The Side Effects of Love) is a 2006 Indian Hindi romantic comedy film. It was produced under the banner of Pritish Nandy communications and was written and directed by first time director Saket Chaudhary. Malli ...
'' (2006) which won her much critical acclaim. Since then, she has appeared in successes like '' Aap Ka Suroor'', ''
Welcome A welcome is a kind of greeting designed to introduce a person to a new place or situation, and to make them feel at ease. The term can similarly be used to describe the feeling of being accepted on the part of the new person. In some context ...
'' (both 2007) — her biggest commercial success so far — and ''
Double Dhamaal ''Double Dhamaal'' (also known as ''Sequel of Dhamaal'') () is a 2011 Indian Hindi-language comedy film and a sequel to the 2007 hit film ''Dhamaal'', and the second installment of '' Dhamaal film series''. The film is directed and produced by Ind ...
'' (2011). She is one of the few Bollywood stars trying to cross over to Hollywood, with films like ''
Hisss The Handheld Isothermal Silver Standard Sensor (HISSS) project was sponsored by DARPA in the 2000s to develop a hand-held sensor that is capable of identifying biological weapon threats across the entire spectrum including bacteria, viruses and tox ...
'' (2010) and ''
Politics of Love ''Politics of Love'' (also known as ''Love Barack'') is a 2011 romantic comedy film directed by William Dear. Bollywood actress Mallika Sherawat and American actor Brian J. White play leading roles. Plot The film involves the unexpected romance ...
'' (2011).


Early life

Sherawat was born as Reema Lamba in Moth, a small village in
Hisar district Hisar district is one of the 22 districts of Haryana, India. Hisar city serves as the district headquarters. Hisar district has four sub-divisions that is, Hisar, Barwala, Hansi and Narnaud, each headed by an SDM. The district is also part of H ...
of
Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ar ...
to a
Jat The Jat people ((), ()) are a traditionally agricultural community in Northern India and Pakistan. Originally pastoralists in the lower Indus river-valley of Sindh, Jats migrated north into the Punjab region in late medieval times, and su ...
family. Mallika's father is named Mukesh Kumar Lamba and she was born in the family of
Seth Chhaju Ram Seth Sir Chhaju Ram Lamba (1861–1943) was a Jat tycoon from Bhiwani district of then Punjab (British India) (now Haryana state) and made a fortune in Calcutta during the British Raj period. A philanthropist, he undertook many social improvemen ...
, a leading Jat
philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...
. She adopted the screen name of "Mallika", meaning "empress", to avoid confusion with other actresses named Reema. "Sherawat" is her mother's maiden name She has stated that she uses her mother's maiden name because of the support that her mother has provided her. Although relations with her family were strained when she entered the film industry, Sherawat's family has now accepted her career choice and they have reconciled. Sherawat went to
Delhi Public School, Mathura Road Delhi Public School situated on Mathura Road in New Delhi, India, is a private co-educational day and boarding school with 6500+ students. It is run by the Delhi Public School Society and is a member of the Indian Public School Conference. ...
. She has a degree in
philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
from
Miranda House Miranda House is a constituent college for women at the University of Delhi in India. Established in 1948, it is one of the top ranked colleges of the country and ranked as number 1 for consecutively six years (as of 2022). History Miranda ...
,
Delhi University Delhi University (DU), formally the University of Delhi, is a collegiate central university located in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly and is recognized as an Institute of Eminence (IoE) ...
. 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. 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.


Career

Before entering films, Sherawat appeared in television commercials with
Amitabh Bachchan Amitabh Bachchan (; born as Amitabh Shrivastav; 11 October 1942) is an Indian actor, film producer, television host, occasional playback singer and former politician known for his work in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of the most succe ...
for BPL and Shah Rukh Khan for Santro. She also appeared in
Nirmal Pandey Nirmal Pandey (10 August 1962 – 18 February 2010) was an Indian Bollywood actor who was known for his role of Vikram Mallah in Shekhar Kapur's '' Bandit Queen'' (1994),and Dajjal in Television Series Hatim, for portraying a transvestite in ' ...
's "Maar Dala" and Surjit Bindrakhia's "Lak Tunoo" music video. She debuted in films with a small rôle in ''
Jeena Sirf Merre Liye ''Jeena Sirf Merre Liye'' () is a 2002 Indian Hindi-language romance film starring Tusshar Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor in the lead roles. It is directed by Talat Jani and produced by Vashu Bhagnani. The film is an official Hindi remake of the 2001 ...
'' where she was credited as Reema Lamba. Sherawat attracted notice with her appearance in the 2003 film, ''
Khwahish ''Khwahish'' () is a 2003 Indian Hindi romance film directed by Govind Menon. The film stars Himanshu Malik and Mallika Sherawat. Plot Amar, rich, stubborn, and serious, meets Lekha in a shop. While Lekha is poor, (the daughter of a poultry fa ...
''. In 2004, she starred in ''
Murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...
'', 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." She received a nomination for 'Best Actress' at the
Zee Cine Awards The Zee Cine Award (ZCA) is an Indian awards ceremony for the Hindi film industry. They were instituted in November 1997 to award "Excellence in cinema - the democratic way". They were first held in Mumbai until 2004, when the ZCA went internat ...
for her performance in ''Murder''. The film went on to become one of the biggest hits of the year. Since then, Sherawat has been known for expressing her opinions in public, as well for the reaction to some of her statements.Kulkarni, Ronjita
Hot and Controversial
Rediff.com. Retrieved 18 November 2007
In 2005, Sherawat acted in '' The Myth'', a Chinese film, co-starring with
Jackie Chan Fang Shilong (born 7 April 1954), known professionally in English as Jackie Chan and in Chinese as Cheng Long ( zh, c=成龍, j=Sing4 Lung4; "becoming the dragon"), is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker, martial artist, and stuntman known for ...
. 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 The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...
to promote the film secured a lot of attention, with ''Time'' magazine's
Richard Corliss Richard Nelson Corliss (March 6, 1944 – April 23, 2015) was an American film critic and magazine editor for ''Time''. He focused on movies, with occasional articles on other subjects. He was the former editor-in-chief of '' Film Commen ...
calling her "the next big thing." Her performance in the 2006 film ''
Pyaar Ke Side Effects ''Pyaar Ke Side Effects'' ( en, The Side Effects of Love) is a 2006 Indian Hindi romantic comedy film. It was produced under the banner of Pritish Nandy communications and was written and directed by first time director Saket Chaudhary. Malli ...
'', co-starring
Rahul Bose Rahul Bose (born 27 July 1967) is an Indian actor, director, screenwriter, and social activist. Bose has appeared in Bengali films such as '' Mr. and Mrs. Iyer'', '' Kalpurush'', ''Anuranan'', ''Antaheen'', ''Laptop'' and ''The Japanese Wife''. ...
, won her praise from around the industry, with critic Raja Sen commenting, "Mallika steals the show with her disarming candour." and the film did moderately well at the box office. Her first release in 2007 was
Mani Ratnam Gopala Ratnam Subramaniam (born 2 June 1956), known professionally as Mani Ratnam, is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer who predominantly works in Tamil cinema and few Hindi, Telugu and Kannada films. Ratnam has won six ...
's ''
Guru Guru ( sa, गुरु, IAST: ''guru;'' Pali'': garu'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: traditionally, the guru is a reverentia ...
'', 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. Her last release of 2007 was ''
Welcome A welcome is a kind of greeting designed to introduce a person to a new place or situation, and to make them feel at ease. The term can similarly be used to describe the feeling of being accepted on the part of the new person. In some context ...
'', which did exceptionally well at the box office. Her performance received very favourable reviews with noted film critic
Taran Adarsh Taran Adarsh (born 13 June 1965) is an Indian film critic and trade analyst. He is best known for giving trade figures and box office updates on social media. Career Taran Adarsh started his journalism career at the age of 15 with ''Trade Gui ...
writing, "Mallika Sherawat is electrifying." Her 2008 releases were ''
Ugly Aur Pagli ''Ugly Aur Pagli'' ( en, Ugly and Crazy, italics=yes) is a 2008 Indian Hindi comedy film starring Ranvir Shorey and Mallika Sherawat. It is directed by Sachin Khot and produced by Pritish Nandy. The film tells the story of the strange relationsh ...
'' and ''
Maan Gaye Mughal-e-Azam '' Maan Gaye Mughal-E-Azam'', is a 2008 Indian Hindi-language crime comedy film about a group of actors who attempt to prevent an underworld conspiracy from destabilizing the Indian government. The film is set in 1993 after the communal riots tha ...
''. Both were unsuccessful at the box office. Sherawat's next Bollywood release was ''
Double Dhamaal ''Double Dhamaal'' (also known as ''Sequel of Dhamaal'') () is a 2011 Indian Hindi-language comedy film and a sequel to the 2007 hit film ''Dhamaal'', and the second installment of '' Dhamaal film series''. The film is directed and produced by Ind ...
'', 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 number In Indian cinema, an item number or item song is a musical number inserted into a film that may or may not have any relevance to the plot. The term is commonly used within Indian films (Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, Punjabi, and ...
s in films such as ''
Thank You "''Thank you''" (often expanded to ''thank you very much'' or ''thanks a lot'', or informally abbreviated to ''thanks'' or alternately as ''many thanks''Geoffrey Leech, ''The Pragmatics of Politeness'' (2014), p. 200.) is a common expression of ...
'' (Razia Gundon Mein Phas Gayi), ''
Bin Bulaye Baraati ''Bin Bulaye Baraati'' is a 2011 Indian dark comedy film written by Praful Parekh and M.Salim and directed by Chandrakant Singh. The stars Aftab Shivdasani, Priyanka Kothari, Rajpal Yadav, Om Puri, Sanjay Mishra, Shakti Kapoor and Vijay Raa ...
'' (Shalu Ke Thumkey) and in ''
Osthe ''Osthe'' (''The Best'') is a 2011 Indian Tamil-language action comedy film directed by S. Dharani, a remake of the 2010 Bollywood film ''Dabangg''. It starred Silambarasan, Richa Gangopadhyay, Sonu Sood, Jithan Ramesh, Santhanam, VTV Ganesh ...
'' (Kalasala), which is a Tamil film. In 2012, she was featured in an item number in ''
Tezz ''Tezz'' () is a 2012 Indian action thriller film directed by Priyadarshan. It stars Ajay Devgn, Anil Kapoor, Kangana Ranaut, Zayed Khan, Sameera Reddy and Boman Irani. Malayalam actor Mohanlal appears in an extended cameo appearance. Upon rel ...
'' (Laila). Sherawat has also performed in ''
Kismat Love Paisa Dilli ''Kismet Love Paisa Dilli'' () is a 2012 Bollywood comedy thriller film directed by Sanjay Khanduri. The film features Vivek Oberoi opposite Malika Sherawat in lead roles. It was released on 5 October 2012. Plot The film is set on a winter ni ...
'', in which she will be playing a Haryanvi. On 23 October 2013 Mallika staring reality dating show called '' Bachelorette India - Mere Khayalon ki Mallika'' was aired which was adopted from ''
The Bachelorette A bachelorette is an unmarried woman. Bachelorette may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Bachelorette'', a reality television dating show part of ''The Bachelor'' franchise with numerous versions: ** ''The Bachelorette'' (American TV ser ...
'' to find the perfect bachelor for herself. In 2009, Sherawat starred in a Hollywood film named ''
Hisss The Handheld Isothermal Silver Standard Sensor (HISSS) project was sponsored by DARPA in the 2000s to develop a hand-held sensor that is capable of identifying biological weapon threats across the entire spectrum including bacteria, viruses and tox ...
'', co-starring
Irrfan Khan Irrfan Khan () (born Sahabzade Irfan Ali Khan; 7 January 196729 April 2020), also known simply as Irrfan, was an Indian actor who worked in Indian cinema as well as British and American films. Widely regarded as one of the finest actors in In ...
and directed by
Jennifer Lynch Jennifer Chambers Lynch (born April 7, 1968) is an American filmmaker. The daughter of filmmaker David Lynch, she made her directorial debut with the film '' Boxing Helena'' in 1993. Following a troubled production, the film was a critical and co ...
. The story, based on the legend of
Nāga The Nagas (IAST: ''nāga''; Devanāgarī: नाग) are a divine, or semi-divine, race of half-human, half-serpent beings that reside in the netherworld (Patala), and can occasionally take human or part-human form, or are so depicted in art. ...
, is an independent co-production between the United States and India. Endeavour Independent bought the distribution rights of ''Hisss''. Sherawat promoted it with live snakes at the
Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...
2010. ''
Hisss The Handheld Isothermal Silver Standard Sensor (HISSS) project was sponsored by DARPA in the 2000s to develop a hand-held sensor that is capable of identifying biological weapon threats across the entire spectrum including bacteria, viruses and tox ...
'' was released in all major Indian languages on 22 October 2010. Sherawat starred in another Hollywood film, ''
Politics of Love ''Politics of Love'' (also known as ''Love Barack'') is a 2011 romantic comedy film directed by William Dear. Bollywood actress Mallika Sherawat and American actor Brian J. White play leading roles. Plot The film involves the unexpected romance ...
'', aka '' Love, Barack'', directed by
William Dear William Dear (born November 30, 1943) is a Canadian actor, director, producer and screenwriter. He is known for directing the films ''Harry and the Hendersons'', '' If Looks Could Kill'', '' Angels in the Outfield'', '' Wild America'', and ''San ...
. She plays Aretha Gupta, a devoted local
Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
volunteer coordinator. The film is a romantic comedy set during
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
's campaign for the US presidency. A first look of ''Love, Barack'' was unveiled by Sherawat at Cannes 2010. It was released in 2011. Sherawat won the 2008 Renaissance Artist Award at the 16th Annual Diversity Awards held in
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
. On 14 August 2009, Sherawat received
honorary citizenship Honorary citizenship is a status bestowed by a city or other government on a foreign or native individual whom it considers to be especially admirable or otherwise worthy of the distinction. The honour usually is symbolic and does not confer an ...
of
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
in recognition of her career achievements and charitable work. In 2012 Sherawat featured with American pop star
Bruno Mars Peter Gene Hernandez (born October 8, 1985), known professionally as Bruno Mars, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is known for his stage performances, retro showmanship, and for performing in a wide range of musical s ...
in his parody video of Salt-n-Pepa ''
Whatta Man "What a Man" is a song written by Dave Crawford, and originally recorded for Stax Records' Volt imprint by Linda Lyndell, whose recording reached number 50 on the '' Billboard'' R&B chart in 1968. The song was sampled and reinterpreted as "Wha ...
'' for the comedy website
Funny or Die Funny or Die is a comedy video website and film/television production company owned by Henry R. Muñoz III that was founded by Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, Mark Kvamme, and Chris Henchy in 2007. The website contained exclusive material from a re ...
.


Personal life

During her brief stint as an air hostess, Sherawat married Delhi-based pilot Karan Singh Gill in 1997. She later divorced him. She kept her marriage a secret as the stigma of divorce would've prevented her rise in Bollywood. She dated French real estate agent Cyrille Auxenfans in 2017.


Activism

Sherawat has been involved with
women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...
activism, discussing women's issues at the 65th United Nations DPI/NGO Conference in 2014. During the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, Sherawat had herself locked in a cage for twelve hours to support the Free A Girl India
NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...
.


Filmography


Film


Television


Awards and nominations


See also

*
List of Hindi film actresses This is a list of notable actresses who have starred in Hindi cinema, the commercial Hindi-language film industry based chiefly in Maharashtra. The following are some of the most popular Indian actresses of their decades: ...


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sherawat, Mallika 1976 births Living people Indian film actresses Female models from Haryana People from Hisar district Delhi University alumni 21st-century Indian actresses Actresses from Haryana Actresses in Hindi television Actresses in Kannada cinema Actresses in Tamil cinema Actresses in Hindi cinema