Mallika Sharavat ...brave moves

The crackling laughter of the vivacious young Mallika was heard loud and clear on the set of her film, Jeena Sirf Merre Liya. The actress couldn’t help notice the fake padded bra and padded hips of one of the  dancers. “Can’t she understand that her fakes are going in one direction while her real ones are going in the opposite?” she couldn’t stop laughing for a while. On the set of this film, writer Archana Aithal noted that all the stars were at their finest behaviour and fake best. Mallika was as cool as an icebox. A pucci jat is what Mallika calls herself, as she spoke to Aithal about her background. “I’m from Haryana, and I’m the first Jatni (term used to describe the traditional women of Haryana, India) ever to set foot in Bollywood. So in a way it is making a museum piece of extreme historic value,” she muses. So, what were her aspirations when she left the Jat land? “I graduated from Delhi, and came down to Bombay to try my hand at films. I always wanted to be an actress,” she spoke with an air of bravery about her. She added that her folks were very disappointed when she revealed her career option to them. “All hell broke loose. My parents are very old fashioned. They were not at all in this with me. But I wasn’t one to give up easily. Maybe some cosmic intervention helped. I managed everything on my own and moved my bags and baggage to Bombay. Eventually, they came around,” she tells her tale.

Unlike the newcomers who attend scores of auditions to get a break, Mallika had it relatively easy. She started doing ads for Santro opposite the top star Shah Rukh Khan. Then she got the Elle18 eyeliner ad, which gave her the publicity she needed. Then she hit the spotlight in the Govind Menon’s film Khwahish alongside model Himanshu Malik. It was during the filming of Khwahish that she also landed a role in the film, Jeena Sirf Merre Liya (JSML). Mallika was lost in the cast of JSML, because of the presence of Kareena Kapoor and Tusshar. Commenting on this release, she said that producer Vashu Bhagnani did not publicise her much. “This is because I told him about my debut film, Khwahish. I didn’t want to be overexposed before that. Also, I didn’t think that JSML would be released before Khwahish, she informs.” A look at the promos of Khwahish, reveals it breathes fire. Full-blown mouth to mouth kissing scenes blew steam into the film. Newcomers are extremely cautious about their image. Every debutante would like to chew on their end of their orni vainly, and throw demure glances at their heroes pretending to be Virgin Marys. Isn’t she pit-stopping her career with her own hands by doing such bold scenes? “I don’t care about the norms, really. Khwahish is a very frank love story. Everything about the film is blatantly honest. So, for change we don’t have background dancers dancing aerobics style in a synchronised fashion,” she says sarcastically, “Also, when the hero is grabbing the heroine and kissing her, the director hasn’t shown birds flying or flowers touching.

That is so lame. Himanshu is my husband in the film and every scene is realistic,” she said. She continues to point out  that the audiences throughout the world are maturing and its time to shed the ridiculous masks. “We are in the MTV age. So, let’s not have this sham,” she preaches. “Besides, I’m very open about my sexuality. This is work, at the end of the day everything is professional. I only hope I don’t get typecast after this. I’m here to do varied roles, and this is not all there is to me,” she states. Two newcomers in one film seem a dicey situation. At least one established star assures the film some success. “Himanshu Malik is going to surprise you totally. He is really good in the film. Talking about stars helping the film to succeed, tell me who is the star in Bend It Like Beckham or Jism with Bipasha Basu?” she asked. To end the interview with Aithal she said, “ I’ve worked my best in Khwahish. The rest is up to the producers,” she points skywards. “I’m keeping fingers crossed,” she says. For the pure greed of having an actress who makes swell copy, and wakes us up from our routine slumber, Aithal wished Mallika really sets the celluloid ablaze.