I wasn't topless: Mallika Sherawat

With her much-hyped film “Hisss” up for release, a couple of strong Hollywood and Bollywood friendships to boast about, and a chance to pair opposite the Big B in a forthcoming Hindi flick, dusky beauty Mallika Sherawat has all the reasons to smile. She gets talking on all that makes her life livelier...

On “Hisss”

It’s such an incredible movie. People say it’s ground-breaking in many ways... Bollywood’s first FX creature-feature, directed by Jennifer Lynch, the daughter of a legendary Hollywood director David Lynch, about India’s ancient superhero, the Nagin! The Hollywood FX takes a little longer to look really good. But, I’m confident our snake looks as good, if not better, than the snakes in “Prince of Persia” and “Clash of the Titans”!

Influenced, Not inspired!

Nagin films are a rich tradition anywhere where Hinduism and Buddhism has travelled. Jennifer Lynch and the creative team looked at some of the previous films to make sure they would come up with new ideas for a more modern, global vision of the popular legend. The Vedic scriptures are very much a part of the film. The director even visited the snake temple at Nagercoil. But, at the same time, she also hung out with the herpetologists at the snake park in Chennai.

An experience of a lifetime

I had to shoot sometimes for 14 hours a day in a full-bodied snake suit with tail extensions, hair extensions, snake eye contact lenses... without even visiting the ladies’ room at my convenience! Tough days included lying in the mud, half-naked in the jungles of Kerala where it’s practically raining leeches, to running around a Mumbai market for the big chase scene, doing stunts in a burka. It’s been a tough journey. Nevertheless, interesting and enriching!

Grabbing eyeballs!

The supposedly ‘topless’ scenes in the movies have also generated a hype. I didn’t mean to offend anybody; it was a very artistic shot. But then again, I forgot I was the only one who knew I was clothed underneath in a skin-colored bodysuit! People say we do these things just to promote our movies, but I have lots of fun doing what I do, making movies, promoting them, and living life. Performing with a 15-foot python was one of the best moments of my life!

If only Hollywood had a Rajini

I’m a fan of the great Rajinikanth. The man is amazing; he’s blessed in a special way. And yes, if Hollywood had a Rajnikanth Film Festival for a night and the theatre was filled, I bet he’d become a cult-sensation there, too! Rajnikanth is like the Hollywood hero that Hollywood never had!