Mallika Sherawat

Reema Lamba (born 24 October 1976), better known by the stage name Mallika Sherawat, is an Indian actress who predominantly works in Hindi language films. Known for her bold onscreen portrayal in films like Khwahish (2003) and Murder (2004), Sherawat has established herself as a sex symbol in Bollywood. She is also known for appearing in several popular item numbers.

Sherawat's role in the romantic comedy Pyaar Ke Side Effects (2006) was well received. She subsequently starred in Aap Ka Suroor, Welcome (both 2007), Dasavathaaram (2008) — her biggest commercial success so far — and Double Dhamaal (2011). Apart from Indian films, she has appeared in the Chinese films The Myth (2005) and Time Raiders (2016). She was one of the few Bollywood stars trying to cross over to Hollywood, with films like Hisss (2010) and Politics of Love (2011).

Sherawat was born as Reema Lamba in Moth, a small village in Hisar district of Haryana to a Jat family. Mallika's father is Mukesh Kumar Lamba and she was born in the family of Seth Chhaju Ram, a leading Jat philanthropist. 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. She has a degree in philosophy from Miranda House, Delhi University. 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.

Before entering films, Sherawat appeared in television commercials with Amitabh Bachchan for BPL and Shah Rukh Khan for Hyundai 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 rôle in Jeena Sirf Merre Liye where she was credited as Reema Lamba.

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.

Since then, Sherawat has been known for expressing her opinions in public, as well for the reaction to some of her statements.

In 2005, Sherawat acted in The Myth, a Chinese film, co-starring with Jackie Chan. 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 to promote the film secured a lot of attention, with Time magazine's Richard Corliss calling her "the next big thing."

Her performance in the 2006 film Pyaar Ke Side Effects, co-starring Rahul Bose, 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.

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 have prevented her rise in Bollywood. She dated French real estate agent Cyrille Auxenfans in 2017.

Sherawat has been involved with women's rights 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.