Controversies follow Mallika Sherawat like rains after gathering clouds. To no one's surprise, Mallika has whipped up a storm of protests while playing Bhanwari Devi, the slain Rajasthani nurse, in K C Bokadia's Dirty Politics. In Indore for the shooting, Mallika apparently had unwanted visitors from a particular political party who claimed the Bhanwari Devi scandal was being dug up at another political party's behest. But Bokadia, who knows real-life stories court controversies, has decided to take the safe route out. He has made radical changes in the script. And the film is no longer being touted as Bhanwari Devi's story.

"My film is not about Bhanwari Devi. First of all Mallika is named Anokhi Devi in the film. Secondly, Bhanwari Devi was a nurse. Mallika is not a nurse in my film. The character in my film is not like the controversial nurse at all. People are unnecessarily jumping to their own conclusions," says Bokadia with a poker face. Until recently, both Bokadia and Sherawat couldn't stop talking about the real-life antecedents of her character. One hears there was a reality-curb placed on Bokadia's Dirty Politics after Mallika began getting threat calls.

Says a source close to Bokadia, "We decided to steer away from the whole headline thing when politicians jumped into the fray. We didn't want to face what Shekhar Kapoor had to go through during Bandit Queen or what Ekta Kapoor had to face during The Dirty Picture." Mallika, one hears, has also been advised to go easy on talking about the biographical aspect of the film. And for those Mallika's fans, who are dismayed to see the bold actress wrapped up in a saree, here's some heartening news. She will be doing some hot sizzling dance numbers. Says Bokadia, "Mallika plays a dancer. She will do whatever the role requires."