Mallika Sherawat always has a no-holds-barred approach to answering questions. And that’s why the actor doesn’t hesitate to admit that the existence of casting couch did impact her career in the Indian film industry. “All the A-lister heroes refused to work with me, because I wouldn’t compromise,” she reveals.

Elaborating further, she adds, “It’s very simple — they like actresses who they can control and who will compromise with them. I am not that, my personality isn’t that. I didn’t want to subject myself to someone’s whims and fancies,” says the 45-year-old, most recently seen in the film RK/RKay.

We probe her further to clarify what she means by compromise, and she replies, “Sit, stand, anything. If the hero calls you at 3 am and says, ‘Come to my house’, you have to go, if you are in that circle and if you are doing that film. If you don’t go, then you are out of the film.”

Sherawat is best known for her breakout role in Murder (2004), but over the years, she cut down on the number of Hindi films. When we ask her the reason, she says, “I tried to do my best. I tried to find good roles. I made some mistakes, like all of us do. Some roles were good, some not so good. It is part of an actor’s journey, but overall, it’s been fantastic.”

The actor went on to do international projects, such as The Myth (2005), Hisss (2010), Politics of Love (2011) and Time Raiders (2016). “I am from Haryana.. I got to do Murder, which was so popular that Jackie Chan (actor-filmmaker) cast me in his film! I met the then US President Barack Obama twice,” she remarks, reflecting on her almost two decades in cinema, and seems happy with the opportunities that came her way.