Mallika made her debut in the film industry with Khwahish in 2003. The same year, she also had a leading role in Murder. Both films were known for their bold scenes. Mallika was soon declared as a ‘sex symbol’.
“When I acted in Murder (2004), I was almost morally assassinated for those scenes I shot; I was seen as a fallen woman. Today, those things I did back then are common in our films. People’s perceptions have changed. Our cinema has changed.” Mallika said while speaking to a leading daily.
“But even now, when I think of it, nothing beats the cinema of the 50s and 60s. We had wonderful roles for women, but we lack that beauty in our films in a big way. I have waited for years to get a role that has substance,” she added.
Directed by Anurag Basu, Murder featured Mallika as Simran who starts a steamy affair with her former lover, Sunny (Emraan Hashmi) as she is stuck in an unhappy marriage with a workaholic man, Sameer. She soon gets overwhelmed with guilt and breaks ties with Sunny but he is determined to win her back.
People’s perspective on bold scenes has changed in a major way since then. Most of the movies and series have vulgar scenes in them nowadays.
Mallika has starred in movies; Pyaar Ke Side Effects, Aap Ka Suroor, Welcome, and Double Dhamaal. She has been a part of international projects including Jackie Chan-starrer The Myth, Politics of Love and Time Raiders.
In 2019, Mallika made her digital debut with the ALTBalaji series Booo Sabki Phategi, alongside Tusshar Kapoor. She played a ghost in the web series, also featuring Krushna Abhishek, Sanjay Mishra, Kiku Sharda, and Shefali Jariwala.
