Bollywood actor Mallika Sherawat made it big in the early 2000s and was known for taking up non-traditional roles in Hindi films. In a recent interview, Mallika revealed that despite being quite successful in that era, she never worked with a big Bollywood actor because they expected her to compromise. "The only reason I have lost out on roles is because I refused to give in to male actors, big stars who wanted certain things from me, who wanted me to compromise. You know I come from Haryana, I have a lot of self respect, and a lot of pride. I said I will not compromise. I don’t need to be in your big movies, that’s why till date I have never acted with any A-lister male hero, and besides that I have survived, and that itself is a testimony," she told Pinkvilla. Mallika made headlines with her 2003 film Khwahish and with the 2004 film Murder, she became a household name. She made her debut with 2002 release Jeena Sirf Merre Liye. Mallika stated in the interview that she has never faced the casting couch "directly." "I haven’t faced it directly. My rise to stardom, I was very lucky, it was very easy. I came to Mumbai, I got Khwahish and Murder. I didn’t have to struggle much. But after the movies, because Murder was such a bold movie, and that kind of a bold image was established, a lot of male actors started taking a lot of liberties with me, and they said if you can be so bold onscreen, so you can be bold with us in person also," she said. She added that the big stars never worked with her because they could not differentiate between the on-screen and the off-screen persona. "They did not differentiate between the onscreen and offscreen persona, so that is where I faced a lot of difficult situations, because I am a very strong woman, and I would tell the male actor, ‘I am sorry, I am not going to compromise’. I haven’t come to Bollywood to compromise, I have come here to make a career. That’s why they have never worked with me," she shared. Mallika later appeared in films like Pyaar Ke Side Effects, Welcome, Ugly Aur Pagli among others. She was recently seen in the MXPlayer web series Nakaab.
