Mallika Sherawat's the most wanted item girl

The actor does not have a fixed rate while charging for item songs

Mallika Sherawat has found an alternate career as an item girl. While she has sizzled in films like Welcome (2007) where she also had a running role as the common love interest of Nana Patekar and Anil Kapoor; post 2009 when Mallika relocated to Los Angeles; the Haryanavi sizzler has been most in demand as an item girl in Bollywood cinema.

"She is the first choice for doing an item song because she is very good," admits producer Ratan Jain, who recently got her to shoot for an item song in Tezz.

Mallika became the most obvious choice for an item song when she did Razia Gundon Mein Phas Gayi (Thank You). The film and the song didn't take off at the lightening speed it should ideally have done; however post this, Mallika's people admitted that they have been inundated with item song offers.

In 2011 alone Mallika was chosen for Shalu Ke Thumkey (Bin Bulaye Baraati); Jalebi Bai (Double Dhamaal); Kalasala (Oshti-Tamil).

In 2012, besides the number in Tezz; Sonu Sood requested Mallika to shake a leg with him in Maximum. Rumours say that ultimately the producers couldn't afford her remuneration.

That brings us to the question; how much money does Mallika charge for an item song? A leading Bollywood producer says, "She quotes ` 1.25 cr but will settle for ` 1 cr." One hears though that last year Mallika was reportedly paid ` 60 lakh by one producer; ` 80 lakh by two others. In other words her remuneration for a song is negotiable depending on factors like how good the song is; and how lavish is the scale of production.