Mallika Shrerawat recently met Oliver Stone at the Global Brand Forum in Malaysia at a session chaired by Al Jazeera’s Riz Khan. She was knocked out by him. “It was a huge surprise for me to be invited to the global forum along with Oliver Stone,” she says, “And to share the same stage with someone who’s made great films like JFK and Platoon – all I can say is wow!”
The discussion went on to consider the different brands or personas that actors and directors create around themselves and the importance of that brand to their careers. “I guess for better or for worse both of us have our own brands,” Mallika explains, “And as Oliver says – people either love or hate his films. I feel it’s the same for me. On the one hand young people have embraced me, but on the other hand there are lots of people in the country, film industry and in advertising, who think I’m too controversial and radical for their liking.”
Mallika is currently making the film Hisss about a Nagin, directed by American Jennifer Lynch and also starring Irrfan Khan, who has said he would love to be swallowed whole by Mallika but unfortunately the script doesn’t call for it. She also picked up a the 2008 Renaissance Artist Award in California at the 16th Annual Diversity Award Show and will soon be filming The Aquarian Gospel, a movie about Jesus Christ based on the apocryphal gospel.
Meanwhile Mallika, who is currently single, is looking for a man – listen up, guys – and has outlined the job description – “He must be intelligent, educated, articulate, single, and financially independent. He shouldn’t be from Bollywood. He needs to be strong. I need a tough guy to handle me.”
