Mallika Sherawat

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." 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.

Mallika Sherawat (born Reema Lamba) is an Indian actress who appears mainly in Bollywood films. Known for her bold onscreen attitude in such films as Khwahish (2003) and Murder (2004) Sherawat has been frequently featured in the media as a sex symbol. She than appeared in successful romantic comedy Pyaar Ke Side Effects (2006) which won her much critical acclaim. Since then, she has appeared in successes like Aap Ka Suroor - The Real Love Story, Welcome (both 2007)- her biggest commercial success so far- and Double Dhamaal (2011). She is one of the few Bollywood stars trying to crossover to Hollywood, with films like Hisss (2010) and Politics of Love (2011).

Early life

Sherawat was born Reema Lamba in Rohtak, Haryana to a Jat family. Mallika was born in the family of Seth Chhaju Ram, a leading Jat philanthropist. She was born on 24 October, though the year is unknown. 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, now Sherawat's family have accepted her career choice and reconciled their relations.

Sherawat went to school at Delhi Public School, Mathura Road. She has obtained a degree in philosophy from Miranda House, Delhi University. 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. 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. It has been reported that she was married for a short while to a Jet Airways pilot Captain Karan Singh Gill.

Career

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

Her 2008 releases were Ugly Aur Pagli and Maan Gaye Mughal-e-Azam. Both films 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 also featured in an item number in Tezz (Laila). As of May 2012, Sherawat is expected to appear in two films which will feature her in full fledged roles, which are Kismat Love Paisa Dilli, in which she will be essaying the role of a Haryanvi, and Lucky Unlucky.