AHMEDABAD: She became controversy’s favourite child with her bold statements and devil-may-care attitude. Upfront, confident and having a ton load of chutzpah and oomph factor, actress Mallika Sherawat bowls you over. And the actress makes sure that she attracts attention wherever she goes.
Mallika, who shifted her base to Los Angeles, was in Ahmedabad recently to promote her upcoming flick. “I was practicing some Gujarati words for my fans here. Back home in LA, I have a set of Gujarati student fans, who regularly delivered dhokla at my residence. Gujaratis are very warm.” For someone, who did not have a filmi lineage to fall back on, Sherawat has come a long way.
“I remember those days when people used to say, ‘she will soon be out’. It is high time Bollywood comes out of this ‘camps’ and ‘dynasty’ issues. I had to fight against this nepotism that prevails in Bollywood. It should be a fair game.” It seems Hollywood has connected with this sexy siren. So, is it a sign that she will bid adieu to Hindi films? “Of course not! I would love to work in Bollywood if I am given good scripts like “Murder” and “Pyar Ke Side Effects”.
If there are special projects etched out for me, I would love to do those. The world is going global today and there should be no problems in crossing over. When I did scenes that involved ‘kissing’ and ‘showing skin’ on the big screen, I received severe criticism from other actors. Today, every female actor in Bollywood is doing it. So, what is the point in harping on?” asks the actor.
“The world likes to talk of equal rights for women. But when a girl shows an ambitious attitude, they can’t stand it.” Mallika does not care that her role opposite Jackie Chan in “The Myth” was dismissed off as a blink-and-miss role. “How many actors even get the opportunity to work opposite Jackie Chan? I agree that some of my recent Bollywood movies did not work but then all actors make wrong choices,” she quips.
Mallika will soon work opposite Sanjay Dutt in “Dhamaal 2” and feature in a romantic Hollywood comedy, “Love, Barack”. “Yes, I am excited about both. But more so for “Love, Barack” as it is a different concept. Even former US President Bill Clinton was impressed with the idea of a political, comic love story and he expressed a wish to watch its preview.”
Having firmly established ground in LA, Mallika claims that Hollywood has always been fascinated by India as a country of snake-charmers and so they portray it in their movies. “Hollywood has been fair to me. They have given me good opportunities. I think now Bollywood should make a real good crossover film. At the international film festivals there are intelligent film-makers from China, Europe and US doing crossover films. So, why not India?”
