Mallika Bags Hollywood Movie

What's with Mallika Sherawat impressing foreign directors? At first, it was Jackie Chan in Myth, and now it is Bill Bannerman, Hollywood stalwart Clint Eastwood's right-hand man. After screening faces across continents for his mainstream Hollywood film Unveiled, the director has given the nod to Mallika.

Mallika's will be seen in a highly performance-oriented role (finally!). Bannerman says, "Behind the dark burkha, there lies a sexy, manipulative victim, whose life is in grave danger. But she is very dangerous too." The film revolves around the life of a Muslim woman who has two husbands and a lover. It will be a blend of film noir, thriller and dark drama.

Bill has been working on the casting for a long time now and considered many actresses for the role, before zeroing in on Mallika, that is. Sources reveal, "Hillary Swank and Penelope Cruz had shown interest, but they wanted the actress to be a South Asian or from the Middle East so that she could portray the character of a Muslim woman from the Middle East, and lend a degree of authenticity in terms of accent, body language, knowledge of customs, etc."

Closer home, Mallika managed to beat actresses Aishwarya Rai and Shilpa Shetty to it. "Aishwarya Rai and Shilpa Shetty were strong contenders. But speculations are rife that Aishwarya Rai had date problems and her impending marriage plans would have been a possible hindrance. As for Shilpa Shetty, she only has a big name. In reality, she still hasn't signed anything worthwhile so far," says a source.

Bill Bannerman is arriving in Mumbai today to make an official announcement.