Isha Koppikar has carried the moniker “Khallas Girl” throughout her professional life. On September 19, Isha will turn 46. When Ram Gopal Varma offered her an “item number,” the actress, who began her debut appearance with Ek Tha Dil Ek Thi Dhadkan and thereafter worked in Telugu, Tamil, and Kannada films, said in interviews that she was content and at ease with her girl-next-door persona. After some trepidation, she agreed to the task, but she had no idea that the song would eventually become a part of who she was.

In Ram Gopal Varma’s (2002) crime drama Company, which also starred Ajay Devgan, Mohanlal, Vivek Oberoi, and Manisha Koirala, Isha Koppikar played the lead in the song Khallas. She gained the moniker “Khallas Girl” thanks to the sultry chart-topping dance choreographed by Ganesh Hegde. As she continued to act in films like Ishq Samundar in Kaante, Qayamat Qayamat in Qayamat: City Under Threat, and Aashiqui Mein Teri in 36 China Town, among others, she also gained popularity for doing dance numbers.

Isha compared her “Khallas Girl” moniker to Hema Malini’s “Dream Girl” moniker and expressed her pride in it in an interview with UNI in 2006. After being referred to as “Raj Kapoor’s Dream Girl” on the cover of her 1968 film Sapno Ka Saudagar (The purveyor of dreams), Hema Malini gained notoriety as the “Dream Girl.” The label came to be associated with her, and in 1977, she made an appearance in the movie Dream Girl. Isha added after contrasting the two tags, “I’ll never get sick of being the “Khallas Girl.” After all, it was the song “Khallas” in Ramgopal Verma’s “Company” that made me popular with both the public and the entertainment industry. It gives me great joy to be tagged, just like Hema Malini was referred to as the “Dream girl.” Isha stated that she would want to play a full-fledged character as opposed to being an item girl in movies.

Isha, who turns 21 on Monday, will next be seen in the political satire Love You Loktantra, in which she plays the role of Gulab Didi, a politician. Additionally, she will appear in the bilingual drama Alien and the web serial Suranga.