What Is Mallika Sherawat’s Real Name? Know Why She Changed It Before Entering Bollywood

Mallika Sherawat said she changed her name on a director’s advice because “Reema is not glamorous enough,” and adopted her mother’s maiden name after her father’s side disowned her. She first appeared in 2002 and rose to fame with Murder (2004).

Stage names are hardly rare in Hindi film, and Mallika Sherawat’s journey follows that familiar arc. The actor, currently seen on Amazon Prime Video’s The Traitors 2, entered the industry with a different identity — Reema Lamba — before a change reshaped how audiences would know her.

Speaking to Mashable India, Sherawat recalled the advice that set the switch in motion: there were already too many Reemas at the time and her given name didn’t have the sheen her team wanted.

“At the time when I entered the industry, I changed my name because there were so many Reemas in the industry. My director at that time said, ‘Reema screen pe accha nahi lagega. Naam change karte hain. Koi glamourous rakhte hain. Reema is not glamorous enough.'"

Why Reema Lamba became Mallika Sherawat

She added that the new first name came from her team and immediately clicked. “So I said, ‘Okay, rakh lo jo tumko rakhna ho.’ So they came up with the name Mallika, and I said that I liked the sound of it. That’s how Mallika happened, and Sherawat happened because my family kind of disowned me when I said I’m going to make movies and I want to go to Bombay," she said.

The surname was a response to that family break. Her father’s side of the family disowned her over the decision to pursue an acting career, prompting her to adopt her mother’s maiden name. “They were very traditional people, so I said, ‘Okay, I’ll disown your name only. What will you disown me?’ So I took my mom’s name."

Sherawat’s first on-screen credit arrived as Reema Lamba in Jeena Sirf Merre Liye (2002). She then adopted the screen name Mallika Sherawat and took on her first major role in Khwahish (2003), directed by Govind Menon.

Early credits and films that followed

It was Murder (2004), directed by Anurag Basu, that turned her into a household name. The erotic thriller became one of the biggest hits of the year and cemented her standing.

She followed with projects that kept her in the conversation, including Pyaar Ke Side Effects (2006) and Welcome (2007). Several other Bollywood actors changed their names before achieving stardom, including Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif, Saif Ali Khan, Rajinikanth, Tabu, Rekha, Mahima, Amitabh Bachchan, Kiara Advani, Tiger Shroff, and Nargis.