Mallika Sherawat (born October 24, 1981 as Reema Lamba in Rohtak, Haryana, India) is an Indian actress and model.She has a degree in philosophy from Miranda House,Delhi University. Today, she is considered the sex symbol of India. She has been married to and is now divorced from Karan Singh Gill, a pilot.

Sherawat's birth name is Reema Lamba; she says that adopted the screen name of "Mallika", meaning "empress" to avoid confusion with other actresses named Reema. "Sherawat" is her mother's maiden name. She has stated that she uses her mother's maiden name because of all the support her mother has provided for her.
There is also a controversy regarding her age. A news channel in India had alleged that she was already a graduate before starting to work as an airhostess and hence she can't be as young as she claims.

Mallika's onscreen debut was in Lak Tunoo, a music video by Surjit Bindrakhia.
Her first film appearance was in Jeena Sirf Mere Liye. She was the supporting actress in that movie in a side role.

Mallika became popular for her show of skin and several kisses in her movie Khwahish (2003] which was, by Indian standards quite scandalous, as it featured seventeen on-screen kisses. Ms. Sherawat appeared in a number of revealing costumes.

Later that year, she starred in Murder, a film inspired by Hollywood's "Unfaithful" that again challenged Indian film standards.
She received a 'Best Actress' nomination at the Zee Cine Awards for her performance in "Murder" as it went on to become the biggest hit of the year.Since then, Sherawat has been known as the "Controversy Queen" of Bollywood as she continues to make headlines through her outfits and blunt statements.

She also made news when she won a small role in a Jackie Chan movie, "The Myth", where she again appeared in "sexy" costumes. She made a widely publicized appearance at the Cannes Film Festival to promote "The Myth".Since her debut, Mallika was often accused of simply being a sexy woman without talent.

Her performance in 2006 Pyaar Ke Side Effects co-starring Rahul Bose won her praise from around the industry and the film also garnered decent collections.The movie stamped Mallika as an actress who started off as an item girl and joined the main stream later on.

She is now beginning to work in the Kollywood (Tamil) film industry as well.She plays the second fiddle in Dasavatharam starring Kamal Haasan,Asin and Jayapradha.

Her latest project is a 11-minute role in Himesh Reshammiya's Aap Ka Suroor - The Real Love Story, which has been called a "vampish role". Mallika herself has protested, saying that it is a negative role but not a vamp role.With Aap Ka Suroor she has become the most expensive "Item Girl",as she charged Rs. 1.5 crore for her role in the movie. However, she has insisted on a "no kissing" clause in her contract for the film.

In July 2004, the Bollywood film producers' union IMPAA temporarily blacklisted Mallika. Filmmaker Ramesh Sharma complained that she had committed a breach of contract when she failed to turn up, as promised, for the filming of "Kab Kyun Kahan" (started in 1999).

Mallika, who has earned her reputation by shocking the Indian middle class, was the first Indian woman to get an offer to pose nude for Playboy magazine. She turned down the offer, citing her morals and upbringing.

Mallika Sherawat has been voted as one of Asia's 100 most beautiful people by the Hong Kong based fashion and beauty magazine, Cover.