Mallika Sherawat reveals: THIS director called her a slut for doing Murder, Top actors shamed her too

Mallika Sherawat is one of the most talented actresses in the industry. The actress made her mark in the industry alongside Emraan Hashmi in the 2004 romance thriller 'Murder' directed by Anurag Basu. 

In a recent chat with Ranveer Allahbadia on his podcast, Mallika Sherawat revealed several actors slammed her for her role, and even the filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt criticized her and called her a 'slut'. 

“Murder gave me stardom, but most importantly, it gave me economic independence,” Mallika shared. “For me, winning awards was never the goal. What mattered was being able to live life on my own terms and make decisions, regardless of whether they were right or wrong. Fame is just a byproduct.”

Mallika explained how people started treating her differently after working in Murder. She said, “Murder changed everything. Suddenly, everyone recognized me, and their attitude toward me shifted. Fame back then was much bigger."

“In the early 2000s, I carved out a space for myself, but today’s newcomers have to deal with a different reality. No matter how big a hit a film is, it fades from memory within two weeks because of the tsunami of content," she added. 

Mallika further admitted that, in 2004, the culture was not ready for an actress like her or a movie like Murder. She said, “The culture wasn’t ready for me back then, and it wasn’t ready for Murder either. Only now has Bollywood caught up to where I was in 2004."

She added, “At that time, actresses were expected to follow a certain code of conduct. They were shy, while I was unapologetic. With Murder, a femme fatale was introduced.”

Mallika also opened up about several actors in the industry shaming her. She said, “There are some big-name actresses in Bollywood whose names I won’t take, but they were condescending to my face." She talked about this with her mentor Mahesh Bhatt. “I ran to him crying, and he told me, ‘So many sluts in Bollywood, one more won’t matter.’ There was so much slut-shaming. They wanted to make me feel ashamed of the bold scenes I did.”