Fenil and Bollywood: Antonio Banderas

As Antonio Banderas and Melanie Griffith's 18-year-old marry-go-round collapses, Mallika Sherawat's former stylist fantasises about a match made in Cannes
Roshmilla Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; June 28, 2014)

Her Hollywood career may still be in a limbo but Mallika Sherawat continues to grab headlines, globally. But this time the Rohtak-born actress just wants to be left alone. This uncharacteristic response came after Mallika was pointed out as one of the reasons for the recent demise of Hollywood couple Antonio Banderas and Melanie Griffith's 18-year-long marriage.

Since she metamorphosed into Mallika Sherawat from Reema Lamba, the actress whose last release was the 2012 dud Kismet Love Paisa Dilli, has been trying to live up to her royal name. After smooching her way to success with a murderous Emraan Hashmi she waltzed into Cannes with Jackie Chan and no, this was no Myth.

The French festival provided great photo opportunities for Mallika, who was clicked with Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz on the Red Carpet and claimed that her new 'best friends' were Nicole Kidnam and Salma Hayek. She was also 'caught' dancing intimately with Spanish heartthrob Antonio Banderas at a party in 2012. The picture arrived in this correspondent's mailbox on May 25, 2012.

And that image has returned to haunt Mallika as the actor-director-producer's marriage has ended with talks of a 'flirtation' with the Indian actress.

Mallika's Los Angeles stylist Ivan Bitton, who recorded a video of the couple's dirty dancing at Cannes, told RadarOnline, an American entertainment website, that Banderas "had a lot of public affection with Mallika".

"He was saying 'God you're so beautiful,' like a horndog would do, talking to a prey," added Bitton. According to him, however, the dancing continued, with Antonio whisking Mallika off for a European vacation. It was a discreet trip; just the two of them, and Melanie was in the dark.

The stylist claimed that Mallika even met some of Banderas's family members during the vacation. "That's how involved he was with her emotionally," says Bitton on RadarOnline, adding "but I had seen him with other women."

The episode was forgotten until Antonio and Melanie announced their separation on June 6. Bitton claims that during a run-in with Banderas at Cannes this year, he told the stylist that the video was the beginning of the end.

"He said that specifically started to cause problems with his wife. They probably had an arrangement that it's cool for him to have other [flirtations], as long as it's not public. With our case it became public and I think that's where she got mad," insists Bitton.

Mallika meanwhile took on Twitter to say, "Leave me alone" and then in a statement to E! News, a leading entertainment portal and channel based in LA, she clarified, "Antonio Banderas is a wonderful man, a great dancer and an acquaintance of mine.I did not go on any vacation with him, and I'm sorry he's going through a divorce."

She froze Bitton who she believes leaked the video, saying she had hired him as a stylist at Cannes, then fired him and hasn't been in touch with him since. "Whatever he's saying about me is ridiculous," she added.

When Mirror contacted her brother Vikram Lamba for a statement, he said that "Someone will get in touch," and hung up. Mallika's secretary Rakesh called back after a text message with a "no comments" stance.

End of the story? Not really because Bitton is saying that though Mallika is no 'homewrecker', she may have a 'happy ending' with the now single Antonio.

"She likes him. What's not to like? ...And I know he was really mesmerised by her," said the stylist on RadarOnline, even as rumours of Antonio's budding romance with Sharon Stone too continued to swirl online.

A few years ago, in an interview with this correspondent, Mallika had admitted that she missed sharing her success story with a soul mate. And it wasn't easy for a vegan girl who didn't smoke or drink, was a yoga freak and went to bed at 9 pm, to find the perfect match in LA.

So she came down to India and starred in the Indian version of Bachelerotte to find her Mr Right. But none of the 11 contestants matched up.

Will the 53-year-old Desperado star make the grade? We'll know if there's more dirty dancing!

MID-DAY (February 19, 2014)

Mallika Sherawat possesses a magic wand — at least that’s what it seems like when one looks at some of her ‘stellar achievements’ so far.

The actress, who shot to fame with her film Murder, has somehow found a way to stay in the limelight with her celeb appearances.

The latest news has it that the actress, who divides her time between LA and India, has been invited by the Oxford Union to address a panel discussion on gender discrimination. Despite having no hit film in the past three years, Mallika has grabbed headlines for her antics — be it singing Happy Birthday to a politician, making provocative statements or just her dressing sense.

One wonders how Sherawat — whose films make less noise than her celeb outings — ends up with such invitations. Clearly, her PR machinery has been on an overdrive.