'I don't listen to anyone'

Sultry siren

During her visit to the City, she was surrounded by many of her ardent fans as she spoke about her latest release — Hissss. Making an appearance with a snake, she was her usual chirpy self and spoke to Metrolife about the movie, her foreign expedition and Barrack Obama.

Dressed in casual jeans and a top, she looked nothing like the Ichadhari Naagin she plays in the movie. “The surprising thing is that even though the subject is old and well set in the Indian psyche, there have been no movies made on it for 24 years,” she says.

She also rubbishes the feelings of insecurity with regard to the actresses who have played this part in the past. “I don’t feel any sense of competition with them since they are all legendary actresses,” she says. “This movie’s subject is the same but the treatment is contemporary. It’s a desi film with a videshi tadka,” she adds.

Ask her about her brother’s objection to the movie’s content and she says, “I don’t listen to anyone. And brothers are possessive anyway.” Mallika, who has been out of sight for around two years, informs that global cinema is her calling. “Cinema has become very global and when I got the scripts from Hollywood, I couldn’t say no to them,” she says.

And she seems to have enjoyed her time there. “Hollywood is not judgmental and there is no nepotism. Everyone gets a fair chance over there and I must have done something right to be there,” she says. She also says it’s because of quality that she works on one project at a time.

“That is a policy I have followed from my first movie itself,” she says. After Hissss, she will be seen in the movie, Love, Barrack and Mallika seems to be an ardent fan of the American President herself.

“I like him very much. He is my hero,” she says. “And Mr Clinton promised me that he will surely watch the movie when it releases,” she adds.

Ask her about being tagged as an eye-candy and she seems nonchalant about it. “I am not the first one and certainly not the last one in this industry to be that,” she says. “I am here because of the people and the movie tickets they purchase from their hard-earned money,” she adds. Having been in the industry for quite a few years, how has she changed as an actor?

“I used to get exhilarated earlier when my movies released. I got sad when they flopped but now, I have learnt to detach myself from the outcome. I just leave everything to my audience,” she says.