Ask most stars what's their fashion mecca and the answer is most likely to be Paris, London and New York. However, outwitting her counterparts is the very sensuous and sexy Mallika Sherawat. If you ever wondered what makes her off-screen and on-screen appearances have such a close resemblance, it's her involvement with fashion and style.

Apparently, every time Mallika goes on a shopping spree abroad for her personal wardrobe, she also picks up other stuff that she feels would go with her on-screen characters. Once back in India, she then hands them over to designer Ashley Rebello who ensures that some of the styles are incorporated in Mallika's on-screen costumes.

Talking about Mallika's involvement in designing her costumer, Ashley Rebello said: "Mallika has an extremely sexy and stunning image not just off-screen but also when it comes to the roles she portrays. And to ensure that her style comes across just as she herself wants to, Mallika keeps a track on styles and trends that are in vogue. Not only does she browse through magazines and catalogues and makes it a point to sit down and discuss it with me, but she often picks up stuff from foreign trips for inspiration for her character's costumes."

Now with her designer spilling the beans on what constitutes Mallika's style statements, it is clear that the actress's fashion mecca is not restricted to one city but is a mobile phenomena. Rebello and Bhavnani (designers of Maan gaye Mughal-E-Azam movie) say that Mallika was absolutely cool about experimenting with new looks. She also gave her inputs but respected the final opinion of the designers.

Mallika was seen last year at all international film festivals and she sure raised some eyebrows with her dress there. The cost of the diamonds that Mallika wore at the Cannes Film Festival 2005 was Rs 45 million. They were sponsored by Orra Diamonds. Nine sets of jewelery were especially designed for Mallika, including diamond studded necklaces, bracelets and earrings.

One of Mallika's candid quote is: "Being sex symbol is lot of hard work, and requires Spartan discipline. I work out, I don't go to parties, I do not smoke or drink alcohol, I am Vegetarian and I am asleep by 10pm."

Trivia:

Birth name: Reema Lambha

Sherawat is her mother's last name and Mallika means the empress so she changed the name to Mallika Sherawat.

Date of Birth: 24 October 1981

Height: 5'6" or 1.69 m

Marital status: divorced

Ex-Spouse: Jet Airways pilot Captain Karan Singh Gill

Education: Graduate of Delhi University

Other facts: always wanted to be an actress in spite of strong opposition from her orthodox family

Languages: Hindi, English

Previously on Spotlight:
Neil Nitin Mukesh
Malaika Arora Khan
Sonam Kapoor
Shilpa Shetty
Kangna Ranaut
Rani Mukherji
Aamir Khan
Salman Khan
Amitabh Bachchan
Emraan Hashmi
Amisha Patel
Abhishek Bachchan
Shahid Kapoor
Priyanka Chopra
Neha Dhupia
John
Ash
Preity Zinta
Akshay Kumar
Shahrukh
Kajol
Katrina Kaif
Kareena Kapoor
Bipasha Basu
Saif Ali Khan
Deepika Padukone
Ranbir Kapoor
Hrithik Roshan