Mallika Sherawat, Bollywood Sex Symbol, Pins Hollywood Hopes On Dress

This is the tweet Bollywood's sex symbol Mallika Sherawat sent out before the Los Angeles premiere of Quentin Tarantino-directed Inglourious Basterds, teasing her fans, seductively setting the tone for what we saw on the red carpet later that night -- a black dress with a see through front, skimpy bits of black covering her modesty. Scandalous indeed.

Now it wasn't the embodiment of elegance, this S&M -meets-Xena-the-warrior-princess look. Not everyone liked the dress. In fact, some critics ripped it apart, calling it her 'Inglourious Moment'. But everyone wrote about it. And that's exactly what she wanted, this Bollywood star who's been known to use shock value as her formula to success. Her first Hindi feature film saw her nonchalantly asking a chemist for a pack of condoms (which she later put to good use, of course), followed by her next big banner film, which also made headlines for its racy content. While international publications preferred to showcase pictures of Tarantino and the star cast of Inglourious...Indian media -- online and offline -- were abuzz with Ms Sherawat's Los Angeles premiere ticket. Some even ran headlines like 'Hollywood's New IT Girl' and 'Mallika Upstages Jolie', as the curvaceous Bollywood star stood her on in front of the stick-thin Angelina.