Mallika Sherawat earns praise from Travancore royal

Nalapat plays a prominent role in the multi-lingual film and said that she was happy to be making her debut with the "highly talented" artiste.

"Mallika is a very hardworking and dedicated actor. She spent hours to perfect a four-minute snake dance scene in the film," Nalapat told reporters here today about the movie which releases across India on October 22.

The wife of eminent journalist M D Nalapat and daughter-in-law of celebrated writer late Kamala Surayya, said it was purely by chance that she came to be associated with the movie.

"The director of 'Hisss', Govind Menon is a friend of mine and it was he who invited me to act in the movie", she said."'Hisss' has a interesting theme exploring various dimensions of faith, superstition and religion," she said.

The film revolves around the arduous journey of an American man into the heart of the Malabar coast, believed to be the dwelling place of the snake goddess.Asked if the film justified superstition and ancient practices like snake worship, she replied, "It is for the audience to judge."

Mallika and Nalapat had yesterday offered prayers at the famous Sree Nagaraja temple at Mannarasala, one of the most important serpant temples in Kerala.After 'Hiss' which was directed by American director Jennifer Lynch, Nalapat said that she has been offered a role in an India-China joint venture movie.