Rumor has it that Mallika Sherawat will either launch the Playboy perfume range in India or even endorse the Playboy perfume in India.

Mallika Sherawat

It will be good to see her back, doing what she does best. Sexy.

Which is not to say that sexy is the only facet to her personality. If she does endorse the brand, she will definitely bring unique character traits like her spunk, intelligence, and forthrightness to the table.

I, personally, don’t think she or anyone else will be a brand ambassador for Playboy perfumes. The perfumes are not a mainline product for Playboy.

Playboy magazine is struggling to keep its market share, with competitors snapping at its heels. It is putting its bunny-ear logo on perfumes, lingerie, and so on, to leverage the brand, to stoke profits.

Playboy perfume range for men photo

In 2008, four new Playboy perfumes, Hollywood Playboy, Malibu Playboy, Miami Playboy and Vegas Playboy, were launched. The perfumes are pretty cheap costing $15 for a 50 ml bottle.

The Playboy perfumes come in round glass bottles with a wrap-around black band (Frankly, it looks like a black ink pot to me).

The Hollywood Playboy comes in a black silver bottle, Malibu Playboy in Blue, Miami Playboy in orange, and Vegas Playboy in red. The liquid is tinted with the color of its bottle.

The Hollywood Playboy, its glam, seductive perfume, has citrus notes like mandarin, thyme, bergamot to elemi, and a heart of Lavender, rosewood and jasmine and cedar wood. The Hollywood Playboy perfume has undertones of vetiver, musk, warm amber, vanilla and sandalwood.

The Malibu Playboy, the sporty perfume, has opening notes of tangy citrus, apple, mint, leafy green and verbena. The heart notes are a combination of jasmine, iris plus, lemony coriander, and smooth, woody cedar. The base is a blend of musk, tonka, sandalwood and cashmere.

The Miami Playboy, perfume for the smooth guy, has starting notes of Bergamot, leafy green, apple and ozone. The heart of the Miami Playboy perfume blends rosewood, cyclamen and jasmine, while the undertones mix musk, amber and cedar wood.

The Vegas Playboy perfume is aimed for the wild boy. It opens with apple, basil and tea. The heart is a blend of lavender, jasmine and geranium, while the base is a mix of Musk, vanilla, tonka and georgywood.

Mallika Sherawat in Hisss

Mallika Sherawat was last seen in Maan Gaye Mughal-E-Azam and Ugly Aur Pagli. Her most talked about forthcoming release is Hisss, directed by Jennifer Lynch, in which Mallika plays a vengeful snake woman. The movie is expected to release in 2009.

Mallika’s other forthcoming releases in 2009 include the long-in-the-making Fauj Mein Mauj and Unveiled.

The Aquarian Gospel book cover

And for once, she is not doing sexy. In The Aquarian Gospel, Mallika Sherawat plays Saraswati, a good friend of Jesus and an ascetic, whom she accompanies on his travels.

The Aquarian Gospel will be directed by Drew Heriot and co-written by John F. Sullivan and Keenan.

The Aquarian Gospel, a book first published in 1908, chronicles the missing years in Jesus Christ’s life, from 13 to 30. In the missing years, according to The Aquarian Gospel, Jesus travels around the world, from Israel through India, Tibet, Persia, Greece and Egypt. He is said to have wandered all over India and taken inspiration from Eastern philosophies.

This movie is going to stir up a hornet’s nest in so many ways, that the mind boggles.

Roman Catholics are going to denounce this as heresy. Sure they like watching Mallika Sherawat too, but in some distinctly non-religious movies. Placing a Mallika Sherawat named Saraswati alongside a celluloid Jesus, oh my.

Even if they do grudgingly live with the notion of Jesus travelling to India, there is no way can accept Mallika Sherawat, oops Saraswati, as a co-traveller.

The Hindus will take offence at goddess Saraswati’s name being used on many counts.

a) Saraswati’s name being used in vain, in a Hollywood movie. Which are immoral, from the core.
b) Saraswati wandering all over India with Jesus Christ, that too unchaperoned. What the..!
c) And the most rankling reason of all: Mallika Sherawat, that queen of Oomph, that blot on Indian womanhood, to be named Saraswati! And then she hangs out with who?! MF Hussain is sure going to get some company soon!

Mallika Sherawat

Expect many coronaries, that is if the movie gets made.

There are some rumors that Saraswati may be the love interest of Jesus Christ. If that is true, expect bloodshed.

The Guardian had said that the Indian church has dismissed the movie as “Hollywood filmmakers in search of a new audience rather than the truth.”

John Dayal, president of the All India Catholic Union was quoted as saying, “I have personally investigated many of these claims and they remain what they first seem: fiction. I am sure it will make money but I do not think it will displace thousands of years of biblical thought.”

The Aquarian Gospel is described as a fantasy action adventure about Jesus’ early life. William Sees Keenan, producer and screenwriter of The Aquarian Gospel, have said, “We think that Indian religions and Buddhism, especially with the idea of meditation, played a big part in Christ’s thinking. In the film we are looking beyond the canonised gospels to the ‘lost’ gospels.”

The Aquarian Gospel will be made at a budget of $20 million.

The rest of the cast is yet to be decided.

Mallika Sherawat's Hisss costume

Then there is the problem of locomotion. Remember we said when Mallika Sherawat dons her snake suits, she is practically immobile unless she takes to dragging herself around the floor? It’s even worse in the jungles, where the mud, slime, and worms makes you feel pretty trapped.

Mallika Sherawat’s Hisss hooded snakesuit in the movie is lumbering and cumbersome. Considering Mallika’s snake woman can swallow humans whole, Jennifer Lynch wanted her snake suit to look huge.

Mallika Sherawat has to don the huge snakesuit for hours, and she can’t even go to the loo for 10 hours at a stretch. Besides, the jungle is full of leeches, and the unit has its work cut out in taking them out.

In Hisss, Mallika is not supposed to utter a word. Because she is a snake, she is not supposed to understand the human language. This is quite a change from other Indian snake movies, where the
snake women not only speak the human language, but are very often bilingual, and even manage to speak fluently in colloquial local languages!

Reports say Mallika celebrated her 31st birthday in the jungle. The crew members threw a party for her and got her a cake made of vegetables and nuts, since Mallika is very fitness conscious. Hisss revolves around a snake woman out for revenge. The movie is directed by Jennifer Lynch, with special effects by renowned make-up and special-effects artist Robert Kurtzman. Kurtzman has worked on Quentin Tarantino, Sam Raimi, and Robert Rodriguez movies.

Hisss is being shot in Chennai, Kerala, and Mumbai. The movie will be released in 2009. Mallika Sherawat will be seen next in Fauj Mein Mauj, although there are rumors that the movie has been shelved. The grapevine also says that Mallika will play the role of south siren Silk Smitha in a biopic on the tragic life of the depressive actress who committed suicide in 1996.

Photo: Mallika Sherawat's look in Nagin

Does not augur well for Hisss on the face of it. But, Hisss‘ costume, make-up, and special effects teasers have generated a lot of interest. You can see from the pictures here that this is not your standard Ramsay, or even Ramu (The Factory) horror film. Costume quality and makeup in the Hiss arfe definitely on Hollywood standards. We hold our judgement though on that ridiculous name Hisss – who chose that, some assistant director to the Ramseys?

The producers, Vikram Singh and Govind Menon, have roped in Robert Kurtzman, known for his expertise in make-up, special effects, and visual effects. Kurtzman has won the Saturn award in 1999, for make-up in the movie Vampires.

Mallika Sherawat

Mallika Sherawat is best known as the hottest bod in Bollywood. Mallika Sherawat was last seen in Maan Gaye Mughal-e-azam and Ugly aur Pagli, both of which were box-office disasters. She has also acted in The Myth with Jackie Chan.

Mallika Sherawat’s look has been crafted quite painstakingly in Hisss. In the movie, Mallika Sherawat has to wear huge contact lenses that even cover the white of her eyes. Mallika Sherawat has to take out the lenses every few hours to let her eyes breathe. The elaborate nagin elaborate costume has to be kept on for 8-10 hours at a stretch, and she has to be carried around.

Mallika cannot drink water or go to the loo during those 8-10 hours.

Photo: Mallika Sherawat in her Nagin avatar in Hisss

Mallika Sherawat was first noticed in Khwahish (2003), a movie that became famous for its seventeen kisses. The hero was forgotten, Mallika was both appreciated and condemned for her “boldness,” depending on which side of the fence you are on. Mallika Sherawat refused to apologise for her sexy image, rather she reveled in it.

Next came the 2004 Murder, which was a runaway hit. Mallika Sherawat played the role of a woman who has an extramarital affair.

All through her career, Mallika Sherawat has courted controversy because of her outspoken comments on sexuality.

Mallika Sherawat’s last hit has been Pyaar Ke Side Effects, a multiplex movie that did quite well, and gave her an opportunity to shed her sexy image.

Mallika Sherawat does not have any other films in her kitty right now, except the recently announced Unveiled. The other movie she was supposed to apppear in, Fauj Mein Mauj, has been shelved. Hisss is very important to Mallika’s career, in that sense.

Hisss revolves around a vengeful nagin (Mallika Sherawat), who shape shifts into a gorgeous woman and goes to the city to hunt for her mate, who has been captured from the jungle by an American, George States. Hisss also stars Irfan Khan who plays a cop who has to track her down to stop the destruction she unleashes in the city.

The vengeful nagin theme has been very popular in Indian cinema, with more than a dozen movies made on snakewomen, between 1925 and 1990. What is common among all the Nagin movies is the horrendous make-up and equally terrible special effects.

With good production values, Hisss might actually do justice to the tired theme. The last woman to play a Nagin in Bollywood was the sumptuous Sridevi in Nagina (1986). Nagina was a huge hit and even had a sequel.

Hisss will be released in 2009.