Mallika, who made a splash with her debut film Khwahish (2003) and then went on to do films like Welcome and Dhamaal, was last seen in the movie RK/RKay directed by Rajat Kapoor in 2022. The actress was supposed to be a part of Pritish Nandy’s next production The Royals, a web series which stars Ishaan Khatter and Bhumi Pednekar. Apparently, Mallika even did the look test for the project, which would have marked her reunion with Pritish after their last successful collaboration, Pyaar Ke Side Effects in 2006.

However, we hear that Mallika has opted out of the project. She was supposed to play Ishaan’s mother in the series.

A reliable source close to the actress shares, “Mallika was in two minds to play the character of a mother. However, she was okay to play one, if the role was meaty and was at par with her contemporaries. She was promised that the role would be on the lines of Moira Rose (from Schitts Creek), however, the character had no substance. If she is playing a mother that too of Ishaan she would expect the character to have meat. She walked out of the project."

Meanwhile, another source from the production adds, “Since the show is set in a particular time, we have auditioned multiple actors. The production only picked the actors that were appropriate for the character.”

When we reached out to Mallika, her publicist confirmed the news and said, "Mallika walked out of the project in Feb due to creative differences with the production house. The character wasn’t what they promised her to be. So after rounds of discussions, she eventually took the decision."

The 47-year-old actress was last seen in RK/RKay (2022). Meanwhile, The Royals is already on the floors and the cast is currently filming. The production house chose to not comment on the story till the time we went to the press.