Ankur Pathak in Mumbai
The beach-facing hotel in Juhu, a suburb of Mumbai, bears an uncanny resemblance to the abandoned Titanic. Its massive structure stands like a haunted house, the sound of crashing waves adding to the eeriness.
But when Mallika Sherawat enters, it's as if the place has come alive. Guards dash about frantically, fans hopeful for an autograph or pictures cluster around as Mallika waits for her make-up man to do his stuff before she emerges from the car and enters the hotel.
Mallika has just returned from Hollywood to finish her Hindi film assignments. At the airport on Friday evening, she received the sort of welcome that would make her think twice before returning to Los Angeles.
'The love from the Indian media is exceptional'
Fans and paparazzi surrounded her as Vivek Oberoi, her co-star in an upcoming film, rose out of the open top of a car with a shattered windshield and greeted her dramatically with a bouquet of flowers.
"This is what I have been missing the most. The love from the Indian media is exceptional. In Los Angeles, the suited journalists ask boring questions in such a formal manner, you have to answer in measured tones. With you guys, I am at my candid best," Mallika told the media, as she announced her annual ritual -- the New Year performance -- which this year is Spanish-themed and called 'Fiesta with Senorita'.
With an eventful year full of chartbusting item numbers, which ones will feature in the scorching year-end bash?
"Like always, I will dance to my songs, and may be a few others. But this year's favourites are Razia and Jalebi Bai. My evergreen songs Maiyaa-Maiyaa, and Bheege Honth are also obvious inclusions. I will be performing on Kolaveri Di as well. As soon as I heard it, I started loving it and have decided to perform on it," she says.
Meanwhile, Mallika denied rumours that Mahesh Bhatt had offered her Jism 2 before he signed in Sunny Leone. "They never approached me with Jism 2. They haven't offered me anything. But if they come up with a good script, I would love to do a film with them again."
The Bhatts had given Mallika her first big hit, Murder, in 2004. But they decided to make the sequel with Jacqueline Fernandez. But that did not affect Mallika. "I have no regrets. It is their decision," she said.
'My fees, like my jalebees, are priceless'
There are reports that she is highest paid performer but ask her what she has been paid for this year's bash, and the irrepressible Mallika quips, "My fees, like my jalebees, are priceless."
A couple of years ago, she'd kicked up a storm for the outrageously revealing costume she wore to the Marriot's year-end bash. So, what's it to be this year?
"I sure hope I do wear something," she laughs out loud, adding that her designer Ashley Rebello is not yet ready with the design.
'Politics of Love got great reviews from publications'
Mallika is very satisfied with her Hollywood trip and the reception she received, and confirms that there are a couple of "really big" offers.
She is flattered with the kind of response her film Politics of Love, with Brien J White, has generated. "It's got great reviews from publications like the Los Angeles Times, and even with a limited release, it did well."
Any plans to bring it to India, so we too can see what our desi siren is up to?
"In a couple of days, I'm planning to screen it for the press," she replies; for the rest, it's on DVD.
'Barack Obama told me that America is proud to have an Indian actress like me among them'
Mallika was on a celeb-meeting spree in the States, where she met President Barak Obama, "He is such a gentleman. He told me that America is proud to have an Indian actress like me among them, and respected the fact that coming basically from nowhere, I've made a mark."
And superstar Jackie Chan "told me that I'm truly so sexy that if I happened to pass by a graveyard, the dead would jump back to life.
"I'm in constant touch with him. Had it not been for him, I'd face a lot more difficulty in entering the US market. I thank him for all the support."
'Yash Raj offered me a role but I didn't want to do it'
She hasn't done much this year apart from item numbers in films like Bin Bullaye Baraati, Double Dhamaal and Thank You. A source confirmed to this reporter that despite the dearth of Hindi films, Mallika refused an offer from Yash Raj films, one of the finest studios in the country.
"Yes, it is true. They offered me a role but I didn't want to do it," she confirmed.
Later she added, "They are one of the best in the world. I'd surely like to work with them when something great comes up."
'I have been meeting a lot of interesting people from all around the globe'
Her next films include Lucky, Unlucky where she plays a sprinter, and another film called, Kismat, Love, Paisa, Dilli, with Vivek Oberoi.
In an earlier conversation with this reporter, Mallika had said she would get married in 2012, so has she found her Prince Charming on foreign shores?
"Oh my! What do I tell you? I have been meeting a lot of interesting people from all around the globe."
'There are a lot of suitors, I can assure you. And a few of them are Academy Award winners'
Nobody suitable enough to walk down the aisle with?
"There are a lot of suitors, I can assure you. And a few of them are Academy Award winners. But when things are just about to work out, work assignment comes up and steals it away."
So is she telling us she's become one of those boringly work-obsessed actors with no time for a little romance?
"Yes, you can say that. I feel I have become like a nun!" she laughs.
'My brother can act. I might just launch him'
Her New Year resolution is noble but prosaic: to spend a lot of time with her brother Vikram Singh.
"I miss spending time with him. He is the person I love the most in this world. This year I'll make sure I'm around him for enough time."
She has ambitions for him, too, and thinks somebody from Bollywood should launch him, as they keep doing for their sons, daughters, nephews etc. "He can act. I might just launch him," she says.
'I am in touch with my mother'
The rest of her family severed ties with her a long time ago, so are relations any better now?
Taking the question as sportingly as the others, she says, "I am in touch with my mother."
Reports in the newspapers that her foray into the world of Western cinema was a bit of a damp squib, brings an instant rebuttal.
"Darling, I'm meeting Obama, I'm walking the red-carpet at Cannes, and I'm laughing all the way to the bank. You think I really care about what they write?"
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