Mallika Sherawat has reportedly been dropped as a contender to host India's Sexiest Bachelors.
The actress demanded an "astronomical fee" for the role, according to Mid Day.
A source told the tabloid: "As the channel was launched in May, they are looking at grabbing eyeballs. The show would feature hot hunks, so they felt the sexy siren was the best bet to anchor the show.
"Initially, Mallika showed interest but when the monetary talk began she was like a diva who refused to budge."
Ranbir Kapoor, Siddartha Mallya and John Abraham are all slated to appear on the series, the paper claims.
Sherawat has previously hosted the Indian dance reality show Chak Dhoom Dhoom.
However, she was ousted as a judge after allegedly throwing tantrums on set and refusing to talk to the press.
Producers of India's Sexiest Bachelors are said to have brought in television anchor Shibani Dandekar to present the programme.
Mallika Sherawat's extended bathing sequence in the upcoming comedy Double Dhaamal has been cut by its producers.
The Hisss actress is upset about the decision to shorten the scenes, The Times of India claims. "We haven't entirely removed Mallika's bikini scene. But we've voluntarily diluted it. Earlier it was an elaborate bathing sequence. But, now it is just a passing shot," producer Ash Thakeria told the paper.
He added: "We don't want Double Dhamaal to be considered a sex comedy. Double Dhamaal is a clean fun family comedy."
Sherawat reportedly refused to have any shots of her lower body taken for the film. In January, she won a court case against a man who had accused her of dancing obscenely in footage broadcast on television in 2006.Double Dhamaal will receive its premiere when it opens the International Indian Film Academy Awards in Toronto tomorrow.
Mallika Sherawat adds another tantrum to the list. Apparently for Shalu, an item number in Bin Bulaye Baraati, she refused to shoot with other actors.
Veteran actors like Gulshan Grover, Om Puri and others like Rajpal Yadav, Mukesh Tiwari and Johnny Lever were to be a part of the song. Most wouldn't be dancing, but would simply be watching Madame M dance.
This was the initial plan, but Mallika apparently, wanted to do the item number on her own, without these actors around.
Notes one of the actors, "It was shocking. We had gone for the shoot thinking we'd be filming together.
The choreographer Ganesh Acharya shook hands with us but when we went to get our make-up done, he had vamoosed. The film's director, Chandrakant Singh took over and directed the song."
As it turns out, Acharya had been pressurised to only choreograph Mallika on a separate day. A unit member says, "This must be historical. The other actors were shot separately and then added together with the item number."
However, there was a dance step which Mallika had to do with Aftab Shivdasani and Priyanka Kothari. The source adds, "That was one shot Mallika agreed to do with them and that was done on a later date."
Ganesh confirms that he shot separately with Malli but denies that she demanded it. "There was no such problem. Mallika was supposed to shoot alone with the rest of the actors joining her at the end of the song."
Gulshan confirms that he shot separately with other actors but expressed ignorance on the reason. "Om Puri, Mukesh and I shot separately along with many other actors.
I don't know about the reason. It could be due to convenience, time constraints, cost cutting or date problems. But it was a bit strange to shoot separately, " he says.
The film is scheduled to release on 8 July 2011. A source close to Mallika states that she never put forth any such condition.
The Tantrum queen Mallika threw tantrums on the reality show Chak Dhoom Dhoom and was later shown the door. Had issues wearing a bikini in Double Dhamaal. Reportedly gave Kangna Ranaut the cold shoulder while working on Rascals.
Her films might be getting bombarded at the box office, but B-town sizzler Mallika Sherawat added one more feather to her cap as she met with US President Barack Obama on Thursday.
According to media reports, the ‘Murder’ girl was invited by Obama over a cup tea on Thursday at Los Angeles.Obama asked Sherawat to invite her for the premiere of her upcoming Hollywood film titled ‘Politics of Love, Barack’.
“Truly, one of d great highlights of my life, tweeps:) xo!!!” Sherawat tweeted.
The sexy B-town actor had recently acted in another Hollywood venture titled ‘Hisss’. But the film failed at the box office.
Mallika Sherawat's US film Love, Barack is reportedly going to release straight to DVD.
Following the poor performance of her last Hollywood project Hisss, and the current economic climate, the film is said to be unable to find distribution.
A source for Mid Day revealed: "It's not easy to get distribution for a film that has a African-American hero unless you are Will Smith or Denzel Washington. Also the distribution market is still grappling with post-recession woes, especially smaller studios."
The William Dear-directed production is set against the backdrop of the US Presidential elections.
The film, which has the alternate title Politics of Love, looks increasingly uncertain to have a theatrical release.
"Politics of Love was planned to release last year to cash in on the Obama craze, but now it seems too late. No-one is interested in buying the film now," the insider added.
Barack Obama was recently featured as a character in Karan Johar's US-shot My Name Is Khan.
MUMBAI: Hot item songs have become the order of the day, yet again. In between, item songs had gone extinct in Hindi films, but after 'Munni' (Dabangg) and 'Sheila' (Tees Maar Khan), item songs are back and how! In fact, several film-makers attempting masala films are ensuring that there's scope for at least one item number in the film.
What's even more surprising is the fact that the top league actors are more than enthusiastic when it comes to featuring in item songs, looking at the popularity of these numbers.
Mallika Sherawat's 'Razia' from Thank You and Deepika Padukone's 'Dum Maaro Dum' from Dum Maaro Dum have just been released, while David Dhawan has just filmed an item song on Sanju and Lisa Haydon for Rascals and Ready will feature a song on -- you guessed it right -- Salman Khan.
That's not all, there's talk that SRK will feature in an item song in his home-production Always Kabhi Kabhi, directed by Roshan Abbas.
Sri Lankan beauty Jacqueline Fernandez, who is starring opposite Emraan Hashmi in Bollywood film "Murder 2", is all praise for Mallika Sherawat, the lead actress in "Murder".
"I have seen 'Murder' and I loved Mallika's performance. I think she is extremely daring and that's something we can all learn from her," Jacqueline, who was here for a promotional event of energy drink Burn at the ongoing Lakme Fashion Week (LFW), told reporters.
"As an actress, it's so nice to see someone so bold, so daring and so brave and I think that's what she stands for, which is great."
According to reports, the 25-year-old actress will be seen in a bold avatar, doing some intimate scenes with Emraan in the film.
Asked to comment on the film, she said: "When you get into a field like acting, a lot of other things become immaterial. So if the role and the script demands something, you do it."
Jacqueline, who has worked in films like "Aladin" and "Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai", will also be seen in the sequel of Sajid Khan directorial "Houseful".
So is she becoming the replacing queen?
"I don't think it's a matter of replacing anyone. I'm in a 'Murder' sequel, which is a totally different narrative as compared to the original film. And 'Houseful 2' is also a completely different narrative from its original. It's got a completely different star cast for the girls this time. So it was not a matter of replacing anyone," the actress said.
"When people will watch 'Murder 2', they'll realize that it's such a different movie. So I don't think that they'll be able to compare even if they want to because both the films are not at all alike. If it was along the same story line or a continuation, then I would understand but here the situation is different," she added.
Jacqueline, who was crowned the Miss Sri Lanka Universe 2006, made her debut in Bollywood in 2009 with Sujoy Ghosh's "Aladin". She is happy of finally getting plump projects in the industry.
"This year things are looking a little up for me, which is great because the kind of movies I'm doing now and the kind of work I'm getting, I think I've kind of found my place in Bollywood," she said.
Mallika Sherawat is currently "on the make" in Hollywood, according to Indian acquaintances.
The actress recently made her US debut in the horror film Hisss, helmed by Jennifer Lynch.
Mahesh Bhatt, who cast the actress in Murder, told Mumbai Mirror: "She has that Indian quality that attracts foreigners. They find her exotic. I met her when she was promoting her last film Hisss and I just knew that she was on the make."
Sherawat made an appearance at the Oscars, along with fellow Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan.
At the after-party, the former model tweeted followers that Scarlett Johansson was "supacool".
Sanjay Dutt has been offered a film that is a remake of his dad Sunil Dutt's film Amrapali.
He showed interest in the film, but when he learnt that the makers wanted Mallika Sherawat to play the role of the lead actress essayed by Vyjayanthimala, he had second thoughts about the project.
It is not clear whether he was opposed to the actress on a personal level, or if he had doubts about her ability to pull off the role, but he made it amply clear that he didn't want to work with the bold actress.
A source reveals, "When the makers first went to him, they hadn't zeroed in on the actress. At the time, Sanju was open to discussing the possibility of being a part of the film.
When they returned to him a few weeks later, and suggested casting the Hissss actress in the film, he decided to back out. He said he had date problems and excused himself from the project."
Dutt and Sherawat are working in Dhamaal 2 together, but they are not paired with each other.
They've shot for one schedule already and it was obvious to everyone present on the sets that there is no love lost between them. They haven't managed to break the ice and keep two-keep distance from each other.
A source from the production adds, "Sanju and Mallika have an cold war going on. It has something to do with the comfort he shares with Kangna Ranaut, who's also acting in the film.
He is very fond of his Knock Out co-star, which has obviously not gone down well with Mallika. Also, he disapproves of her raunchy image.
In fact, he had named her a badly dressed celebrity on Koffee with Karan a few seasons back."
Now that Dutt has turned out the project, the producers are figuring out who to cast in place of him, opposite the Sexy Sherawat.
'Family film' it may be, but Mallika Sherawat brings in the sizzle
Mallika Sherawat recently shot for a raunchy item number for Akshay Kumar and Sonam Kapoor starrer Thank You. Yes, she wore a revealing dress.
It is learnt that when the bold actress heard the song titled Razia Gundo Mein Phans Gayee and she declared it was made for her.
On the day of shooting, director Anees Bazmee found the outfit styled by Mallika's designer, a little too sexy and asked the actress to get it toned down as theirs is "a family film.
Madame M then had to embellish it with beads and tassels. And here's how it now looks.
Mallika Sherawat might be feeling a lot relieved after court relieved her from a four year old obscenity case. In 2006, Mallika performed on December 31 at a five star hotel, which was later aired by various news channels.
Her performance ended without any problem but a social activist named Vinod Jain found it an obscene act when it was shown at the news channels. He filed a case against the actress and the suburban five-star hotel. The news it headlines of all the leading media houses at that time.
The ordeal continued for more than four years since then. Now, the Session court has finally dismissed the case saying that there was nothing objectionable.
Mallika is now free from the case and out of the lengthy legal hassles. On the other hand, the complainant Vinod Jain said that the actress might have been freed by the Session court but he will move to the High Court. Jain said that he provided evidence in the form of a CD so he is hoping for the best when he appeals in the High Court.
Sherwat's lawyer Farid Karichiwla, who is also a partner at Wadia Gandhi and Company, said that he is representing her in this matter and court concluded that there was no obscenity in her performance.
The actress preferred not to comment in this matter but she must be taking a sigh of relief after the court's decision.
Frantic activity bordering on hysteria was precipitated earlier this week when Mallika Sherawat performed an item song with Akshay Kumar. Anees had to borrow her dates from Indra Kumar who was shooting some intricate group shots with Sanjay Dutt (who plays Mallika's husband),Kangna Ranaut, Riteish Deshmukh and Arshad Warsi for Double Damaal.
Says a source, “Indra Kumar's first impulse was to say no. He had the combined dates of all the busy stars and they were shooting in a huge bungalow in Karjat that was supposed to represent Macau. There was no way he could let Mallika go. But Anees and Akshay were adamant. They left the goodnatured Indu with no choice.'
Apparently Indra Kumar had to fudge Mallika's shots in the group scenes pretending about her presence when in fact she was at a different venue shaking her booty with Akshay Kumar to the song Razia goondon mein phans gayi. The song was apparently called Sheila gundon mein phans gayi. But Akshay Kumar who had lately done a spectacular Sheila number with Katrina Kaif in Tees Maar Khan put his dancing foot down. So Razia it was.
Coincidentally during the shooting of the reality show Chak Dhoom Dhoom Mallika's shots had to be fudged. According to channel sources when Mallika walked out in a huff for being served a working-lunch her shots had to be faked in the first two episode of the dance show before Urmila Matondkar takes over.
Director Indra Kumar of Double Damaal denies he had to use a body double when Mallika was 'lent' to Anees Bazmi. Says the mild-manners movie-maker, “No, we didn't use a body double. But I had to adjust her shots in the group scenes so she could be away for five days.
Mallika Sherawat has confirmed that she is no longer a part of the reality TV show Chak Dhoom Dhoom.
The Hisss actress insisted that the decision is due to scheduling conflicts and fatigue from her work load, despite previous reports suggesting that she had been cut after falling out with producers.
"I had developed date issues and spoke to the channel regarding the same. We have parted ways amicably," she said.
According the Mumbai Mirror it was not only dates that were causing problems with the actress. A source told the paper that her diva-like behaviour was making working with her difficult.
"Mallika's tantrums were becoming too hard to handle and one just had to put an end to them. Hence we had to close the chapter with her," said the source.
She enjoys typical Bollywood dancing, but now "Maiyya maiyya" girl Mallika Sherawat is keen to learn lavani, a popular folk dance of Maharashtra.
"I'm not a trained dancer, but I enjoy dancing. My favourite dance is Bollywood dance, but now I want to learn lavani. I'm not getting a teacher, but as soon as I get a good one I'll start my lessons," Mallika told IANS.
Currently the actress is hosting a dance reality show "Chak Dhoom Dhoom" on Colors channel. I never follow a pattern: Madhur Bhandarkar
After making hard-hitting movies, three-time National Award winning filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar has moved to comedy with "Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji" and says he tried the gnere because he wanted to explore new avenues and take fresh challenges.
"I'm a person who never plans a film. I never follow a pattern. For me, it's challenging to try something new and I think as a filmmaker one should always take challenges and I feel one should explore different genres of cinema," Bhandarkar told IANS.
Releasing Jan 28, "Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji" revolves around three bachelors, played by Ajay Devgn, Emraan Hashmi and Omi Vaidya, and their love life.
Abhay, Emraan will break stereotypes in 'Shanghai': Dibakar Banerjee
Filmmaker Dibakar Banerjee, who has brought actors Emraan Hashmi and Abhay Deol together for the first time for his film "Shanghai", says they will be seen in a new light in his movie.
"I have been aware of how people look at Abhay... they see him as this black sheep and dark horse. And I know when people think of Emraan, they think of a kiss. But in this film, equations will change and they will be seen in a very different light," Dibakar told
"I needed two characters who were dramatically different in this film. Abhay came in first and then I pursued Emraan. They'll be breaking all kinds of stereotypes in this film," added the director of "Khosla Ka Ghosla" and "Love Sex Aur Dhokha".
MUMBAI: Bollywood item songs Munni in Dabangg and Sheila in Tees Maar Khan recently rocked the world; now it is turn for sizzling Razia (Mallika Sherawat) to tread the same trek.
Mallika will be seen gyrating to the tune of Razia Gundo Mein Phas Gayi in a film ‘Thank You’ by Anees Bazmi.
Mallika, who is reported to be the first choice for the item number, is doing the song for free.
Mallika will be seen grooving with Akshay Kumar, Bobby Deol and Sunil Shetty on music waves of Razia gundo mein phas gayi composed by Pritam.
Bazmi said, "Mallika is a very dear friend and suits perfectly for this song.”
Mallika has earlier worked with Anees Bazmi in Welcome.
Mallika Sherawat is reported to have been replaced as a judge on reality show Chak Dhoom Dhoom.
The Murder actress has fallen out with the programme's producers, Mumbai Mirror claims.
A source revealed to the tabloid: "A few days ago the actress stormed out of the sets of the show, as she complained of not getting a proper break for lunch.
"In the past we have worked with a lot of stars, including Salman Khan, and they have been thorough professionals and have been there as and when required."
The star, who recently returned to India after being based in the US for two years, is also said to have walked out of a press conference.
"She turned up almost three hours late for the press conference and when it came to giving a one-on-one interview, she just spoke to a few people and told them to take joint bytes," added the source.
Sherawat's most recent release Hisss performed poorly at the box office.
Bollywood actress Mallika Sherawat will be performing at Seduction 2011, a New Year party organised by Hotel Sahara Star, here on Dec 31.
Besides Mallika's performance, the party will have laser shows, live DJ's and singers.
While Mallika's sensational act will scorch up the stage, DJ Hiren will spin some foot-tapping music to keep the adrenaline rush going.
The power packed performances will continue all night long with singing sensation Neeraj Shreedhar, Bollywood actress Mughda Ghodse, stand up act by comedian Kapil Sharma, performance by actress Marisha Parekh, along with international dancers. All acts will be choreographed by Pappu and Mallu.
Mallika Sherawat, I guess most men will agree, is hot. Until she opens her mouth in her movies. She doesn't say a word in this film. Great!
She appears butt-naked pretty much throughout, makes love to a snake (her soul-mate); pushes her tongue almost down the serpent’s throat as the thick, slithering animal makes its way up her thigh. Hush. This is pornography for the hormonally demented teen. Or maybe this is erotica. The only difference between pornography and erotica is probably in the lighting of the room!
The skin-tight snake-suit makes Ms Sherawat Anaconda of the east. She gobbles men alive. Rightly. They’re all wife-beaters and rapists anyway. A cop with the designation of detective as from the American force, Irrfan Khan, investigates these serial deaths.
The snake-woman’s main target is an old white gent who growls in Bob Christo’s Hindi: “Mein naag mani legi” (I’ll get the snake’s jewel). It seems he needs it to cure his cancer. He lives in a cave, shoots his servants dead, forces them to untangle two snakes while they’re having sex and captures the male one alive.
The separated female snake is the gorgeous “icchadhari nag" (serpent who changes form at will). She wants her lover back. Blame yourself first for films you fail to figure.
The mythology of the “icchadhari nag”, this film informs us, dates back to India’s history from 2300 BC. We know it from Bollywood alone (Nagin, Nigahen, Nagina). One of those movies under an assumed title ‘Pratigya’ plays on a screen within this screen. My personal all-time favourite from the genre has to be Jaani Dushman (2003). This one’s lame compared to that curio.
The snake is, I suppose, a strange Indian phallic symbol, worshipped among unmarried girls, pouring milk. Its female human form, a buxom woman in movies, bays for the male blood, while she can’t resist the sound of the ‘been’ (snake-charmer’s flute-like instrument). She begins to instantly dance for our pleasure. This stuff can warp many brains. It did Deepa Mehta's recently (Videsh). It’s evidently affected one Ms Jennifer Lynch, daughter of a well-known Hollywood name David Lynch (Mulholland Drive, Eraserhead, Blue Velvet). Well.
I walk out of the theatre and hear popcorn vendors, ushers go, "Hiss, hisss, hissss, hisssss…." Hilarious! Nag, punch me. Please.
Mallika Sherwat has given her best to turn into an international 'naagin' for her upcoming Hollywood flick Hisss. As per the international viewpoint, clothes obstructs one's metamorphosis into a 'naagin', so the actress had to shed clothes several times in the film when she was required to transform into a snake.
Now, everyone is curious to know whether Mallika has performed the nude scenes herself or a body double was used for the same. There is a report that the nude scenes were mostly performed by Mallika herself.
Considering the bold attitude of the actress, it is not very tough to believe.
However, her brother Vikram Lamba and co-producer Ratan Jain have repeatedly claimed that a body double was used for the nude scenes in Jennifer Lynch directed Hisss.
Govind Menon, co-producer of Hisss, has also confirmed the news. Menon was quoted saying that being a committed artist, Mallika wanted to give authentic feel to the scenes so she has done most of the nude scenes herself.
He added that Mallika was very comfortable doing the scenes because she was working with a woman director.
Menon added that if they want to compete with the best films of the world, they should be prepared to undertake whatever is performed by the leading actresses like Angelina Jolie and Salma Hayek.
He informed that body double was used in a scene where Mallika's character was required to crawl in the mud. This was used because of the cold weather and the mud scenes were physically burdensome.
The body double has also performed one or two stunts, as it was very dangerous for Mallika to jump.
The co-producer further said that the body double was not used in any of the transformation scenes. He said that the nude scenes are justified here because when one transforms into a snake, she can't wear a dress or even a small piece of cloth and jewelery.
However, the producer said that they did not zoom onto the private parts while taking the frontal nude shots and the full nude scenes were done aesthetically.
