Is Mallika Sherawat 35? Find out

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Keywords: Chennai, Age Controversy

Chennai: The siren is back in the news. And she doesn't even have to try. The tabloids have gone into overdrive insisting that Bollywood star Mallika Sherawat is hiding her age. She is 35, they insist. The actress, who celebrated a birthday earlier this week, is meanwhile amused by all the speculation.

"You know something. I'm 45 and I have two grandkids (laughs). It's just that about me there's more misinformation than information. And surprisingly, they inflate all my positives and negatives. They inflate my ego, my success, my failure -- and now they've inflated my age!" Mallika tells CNN-IBN in an exclusive interview.

Currently shooting for a Tamil film in Chennai, Mallika seems determined to let her work do the talking for now. Having earned rave reviews for her performance in Pyaar Ke Side Effects, the actress is now set to appear on screen in an item song in Mani Ratnam's Guru and opposite Kamal Haasan in Dashavataram.

"Kamal Haasan introduced me to Monty Python. He introduced me to movies like The Holy Grail which is black, intelligent humour. I really had to concentrate hard to understand the movie. With Mani Ratnam, it was a fantastic experience. There was always a competition between him and me -- who's going to reach the sets before. Sometimes it would be him one minute before me, sometimes it would be me 5 minutes before," Mallika recalls.

Conspicuous by her absence in the media recently, Mallika has chosen to immerse herself in her movies instead. The actress, who not so long ago grabbed headlines for her blasé statements and her shocking quotes, seems to have turned over a new leaf. What's more, she seems just as comfortable away from the constant media gaze as she was when she was in the thick of it.

"I really haven't been keeping a low profile. I just think and believe that it is time for me to shut up and do some good work. I've blabbed enough," she says.