Mallika Sherawat born Reema Lamba in Rohtak, adopted the screen name of “Mallika”, meaning “empress”, to avoid confusion with other actresses named Reema.
Before entering films, Sherawat appeared in television commercials with Amitabh Bachchan for BPL and Shahrukh Khan for Santro. This way, her star had begun to rise much before she entered Hindi films.
But obviously, all people remember of Mallika Sherawat’s first appearance on the silver screen are the 17 kisses in her debut film ‘Khwahish’. 17 kisses may seem nothing now, but in that era, ten years ago, Mallika Sherawat was the actress who opened the doors for onscreen kissing with her bold personality. She was the bombshell of Bollywood.
The big turnabout in Mallika Sherawat’s life came just a short while later with Mahesh Bhatt’s movie ‘Murder’ opposite Emraan Hashmi. ‘Murder’ turned out to be a huge success and Mallika Sherawat became the talk of the town. She became a dream girl for every man. She was put on the cover of every popular magazine be it Femina, Cosmopolitan or Filmfare.
At the same time, she went on to act in more actor-oriented roles, sticking to the genre of comedy. From ‘Kis Kis Ki Kismat’ to ‘Shaadi Se Pehle’ and ‘Pyaar Ke Side Effects’, some of them worked, some didn’t, but that did not discourage Mallika Sherawat.
But it was not just Indian magazines and films she was aiming to be the cover girl and actress for.
Mallika starred alongside international superstar Jackie Chan in ‘The Myth’. She played the role of an Indian girl who saves Chan’s character from a river. Time Magazine’s Richard Corliss calling her “the next big thing”.
In 2009, Mallika Sherawat starred in a Hollywood film named ‘Hisss’, co-starring Irrfan Khan and Divya Dutta, based on the legend of the Naagin, a famous Indian movie trope. Mallika Sherawat even promoted the film with live snakes at the Cannes Film Festival 2010. Talk about daring!
She has reduced her films in Bollywood a lot, only to return to Indian television with ‘The Bachelorette’. We don’t know if Mallika Sherawat will marry or not, but we do hope her birthday is full of love.
We wish Miss Mallika Sherawat a very happy birthday. She is and always will be the bombshell of Bollywood.
