Mallika Sherawat: Was thrown out of films as I refused to get intimate with co-stars off screen

Agencies
July 4, 2018

Mumbai, Jul 4: More than a decade ago, actor Mallika Sherawatshocked the audience with her uninhibited expression of sexuality on-screen, but she says the image came with a price as people, including directors and co-stars, thought she would easily "compromise".

Mallika, who shot to fame with 'Murder' in 2004, became synonymous with everything bold on-screen. The actor says this image became a point for people to pass judgements on her character.

In an interview, Mallika says, "There were so many accusations and judgements on me. If you wear short skirts, kiss on screen then you're a fallen woman with no morals. Men tend to take liberties with you. This happened with me too."

"I was thrown out of projects because heroes would say 'why can't you be intimate with me? You can do it on screen, what's the problem in doing that with me in private?' I've lost so many projects. It's very reflective of the society, what women deal with in our country."

The 41-year-old actor says she was aware that her film choices were unconventional and believes she could have done much better if she "wasn't swimming against the tide".

"I'm a very headstrong woman, I can't compromise. I've a lot of pride and self respect. There were times when directors have called me and said 'come to me at 3 am.'"

"I was so scared to talk about it because I thought they are going to blame me, that I must've behaved in such a way that prompted the director to say this. There is that victim blaming mentality which exists in our society and I always felt scared to talk about these things."

The initial phase of her career was interesting for Mallika as on one hand, her stardom was on the rise but on the other, she constantly felt being judged for her choices. "When people judged me, it made me very insecure, overtly critical of myself and question everything I did. It's not a healthy space. At that time, a large section of the media was antagonistic towards me. They were always interested in sensationalism, which hurt me."

"My story, where I come from and what I battled, was overlooked, and it was all about how many kissing scenes I had. It made me insecure because I thought I had so much more to offer. But there was only one aspect of mine being highlighted and I really suffered because of that."

She recalls a national TV interview with a senior journalist who asked her "horrendous, overtly sexual questions" but no one came to rescue. "I cringe when I watch it today. I had just begun my career, 'Murder' had released and I was so intimidated by this lecherous old man. There was no support for me, I felt so lonely, that was so painful."

Mallika has shared one of her "traumatic" experiences on a web series which chronicles real life incidents of actors. The episode, which recently went online, features the story of a crazy stalker from Haryana who tried to kill the actor before the police nabbed him.

"He used to tell me, why do you wear short skirts, you're giving Indian culture a bad name, why can't you wear sari. I thought why are you telling me what to wear and is this an invitation for you to misbehave with me?"

"I thought, 'let's do this episode', even though it was traumatic to relive that again. In the episode we talked about self defence. I had to put my story out there," she adds.

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News Network
July 14,2020

New Delhi, Jul 14: Going down the memory lane, late Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput's close friend and actor Rhea Chakraborty recalled her memories with the departed actor as Rajput's untimely demise completed one month on Tuesday.

This marks the 'Jalebi' actor's first social media post dedicated to Rajput after his demise.

Chakraborty took to Instagram to post two pictures of herself with the 'Kai Po Che!' actor and complimented the post with a long emotional note.

She began the note by stating how she is "still struggling" to face her emotions and said that she will never come to terms with the actor's demise.

"Still struggling to face my emotions.. an irreparable numbness in my heart. You are the one who made me believe in love, the power of it," she wrote.

"You taught me how a simple mathematical equation can decipher the meaning of life and I promise you that I learnt from you every day. I will never come to terms with you not being here anymore," she added.

Terming Rajput as the "greatest physicist," the 'Mere Dad Ki Maruti' actor then recalled Rajput's passion for astrophysics.

"I know you're in a much more peaceful place now. The moon, the stars, the galaxies would've welcomed "the greatest physicist "with open arms," Chakraborty wrote.

Full of empathy and joy, you could lighten up a shooting star - now, you are one. I will wait for you my shooting star and make a wish to bring you back to me," she added.

Remembering the bond that she shared with him, Rhea wrote, "You were everything a beautiful person could be, the greatest wonder that the world has seen. My words are incapable of expressing the love we have and I guess you truly meant it when you said it is beyond both of us."

"You loved everything with an open heart, and now you've shown me that our love is indeed exponential," she added.

The 28-year-old actor ended the note by stating how she will love Rajput for a "lifetime."

"Be in peace Sushi. 30 days of losing you but a lifetime of loving you....Eternally connected. To infinity and beyond," she wrote.

Chakraborty and Rajput were close friends and were also set to share the screen space in the film 'Happy Anniversary.'

Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead in his Mumbai residence on June 14. The investigation in the case related to Rajput's demise is currently underway for which Chakraborty was also interrogated by Mumbai Police.

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News Network
April 2,2020

New Delhi, Apr 2: After donating to UNICEF to combat COVID-19, actor Kareena Kapoor Khan on Thursday announced that she will also contribute to PM-CARES Fund and Maharashtra's CM Relief Fund along with her husband Saif Ali Khan and son Taimur Ali Khan.

Kareena made the announcement through an Instagram post and also urged others to do their bit by doing whatever is possible.

"We extend our support to the PM CARES Fund and the Chief Minister's Relief Fund (Maharashtra)," read an official statement post by Kareena on Instagram.

"In times like these, every helping hand and every rupee raised matters. Do Help wherever possible," the statement further read.

However, the amount of donation hasn't been revealed in the post.

The star couple has joined a list of celebrities including Akshay Kumar, Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt, Vicky Kaushal and others who too have extended support to PM CARES Fund to fight against coronavirus.

Earlier on March 31, the 'Jab We Met' actor had announced their contribution to UNICEF, GIVE INDIA and the International Association of Human Values (IAHV).

There are 1764 active coronavirus cases in the country, while 150 people have been cured and 50 have died, as per the Union Health Ministry. 

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Agencies
July 27,2020

Mumbai, Jul 27: Action director Parvez Khan, known for his work in films like Sriram Raghavan's Andhadhun and Badlapur, died on Monday after suffering a massive heart attack. He was 55. 

Parvez, who worked in the industry since 1986, was rushed to Ruby Hospital after he complained of chest pain, his longtime associate Nishant Khan told PTI. "He suffered a major heart attack in the morning. He was rushed to the hospital but was pronounced dead. He didn't have any health issues but felt chest pain last night," Nishant said.

Filmmaker Hansal Mehta, who worked with Parvez in the National Award winning 2013 drama Shahid, said the action director was extremely skilled. "Just heard that action director Parvez Khan is no more. We had worked together in Shahid where he executed the riots sequence in a single take. Very skilful, energetic and a good man. RIP Parvez. Your voice still rings in my ears," Hansal tweeted. 

Parvez started his career by assisting action director Akbar Bakshi in films like Akshay Kumar's Khiladi (1992), Shah Rukh Khan's Baazigar (1993) and Bobby Deol-starrer Soldier in 1998. It was with Ram Gopal Varma's Ab Tak Chhappan in 2004 that he started working independently and went on to have a long-standing collaboration with filmmaker Sriram Raghavan in films such as Johnny Gaddaar (2007), Saif Ali Khan-starrer Agent Vinod in 2012 and Badlapur, featuring Varun Dhawan. He is survived by wife, son, daughter-in-law and a granddaughter.

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