by Subhash K Jha

Why do our stars open their mouth about their international career so prematurely? Years ago the formidable Shabana Azmi thought was doing a pivotal role in a film, the diamond caper Blake Edwards' Son Of Pink Panther.

Shabana of course stood by her decision to do what finally turned out to be a glorified cameo. Now it's the turn of another Indian performer, albeit belonging to another genre, to fall flat on her face.

Mallika Sherawat's much-vaunted "stellar" role in Stanley Tong's The Myth is just that—a myth. Audiences who saw the film are shocked to see her role is no more than a glorified cameo.

"What was all the fuss about? And why do we go on about our prospects out West when Hollywood has no patience for us?" says filmmaker Hansal Mehta.

"Mallika repeatedly made goof-ups in the press conferences. Apparently at a press conference Jackie Chan was asked why he chose to have Mallika in his film. He turned around and said she had great pair."

According to members of the Indian film fraternity at the Toronto Film Festival Mallika's presence was a complete non-event.

"At the Festival she looked out of place with her assets hanging out as though they had nothing better to do," jokes a sporting fellow-actor.

"Seriously her female colleague Kim Hee Seon conducted herself with so much dignity. Mallika was spilling out all over the place making absurd statements about how in India doing a Jackie Chan film was like doing a James Bond film. What did she mean? Was she belittling James Bond or Jackie Chan? And then, after all the gushing, her role in The Myth was nothing more than a glorified cameo."

While responses to Mallika at Toronto ranged from lukewarm to indifferent, audiences and critics were far more categorical in their dismissal of the film. The Myth has been declared a certifiable dud. The plot has Chan in a double role as a Ming warrior in ancient times and an archeologist in present times. Neither of the story works.

Says a prominent Indian director who was present at the Toronto film festival where the film was screened, "After the screening of any film at the Festival the papers next day are filled with news and views.

"There was hardly anything at all about The Myth. There was a cold indifferent silence to the film and to Mallika Sherawat. One feels sorry for the girl because she had pumped up her presence in it as some kind of a grand event. This is more like a damp squib."

Critics have rated The Myth as arguably the worst film of Jackie Chan's career. Where does Mallika go from here? Back to the Bollywood grind? She has a brief role in one segment of Ram Gopal Varma's Darna Zaroori Hai with Anil Kapoor and a part in Satish Kaushik's Shaadi Se Pehle with Suniel Shetty.

What a sad impasse in the career of a spunky and sensuous actress who virtually re-wrote the rules of female stardom in Murder.

It's now up to Aishwarya Rai , who incidentally was the first choice for The Myth, to break the increasing belief that Indian actors have no place in the West.

As for Mallika, she should learn to keep her peace specially when that's the only option left open to her.