Readers may think it’s April 1st again, but this is no joke, it’s true: Mallika Sherawat refused to take off an article of clothing yesterday.

Thinking she would be mobbed, Mallika arrived at the international airport in a burkha. When asked by officials at the counter her to show her face for identification before boarding, in true Mallika Sherawat style, she began her typical diva routine by throwing a tantrum.

An eyewitness is quoted as saying, "She refused to lift her burkha till her manager sorted it out. With big stars like John Abraham, Kareena, Shahid and Zayed Khan around, who wants to look at Mallika Sherawat anyway?"

The actors, all part of the Rock Stars ensemble, were leaving for a tour to the UK, USA and Canada.

The scene had actually begun outside the airport. A photographer for another news agency was taking photographs of the arriving actors, when suddenly Mallika's male friend (who was accompanying her and brother Vikram) threatened to smash the photographers camera.

Says the photographer, "I was taking pictures when Mallika arrived in a Mercedes. I told the guy who had come with Mallika and her brother to move away from the car, so that I could photograph them."

"He refused, so I went to the entrance and started taking pictures of the others. The other stars were all very polite, and cooperative. Mallika was wearing a burkha, and as I started taking pictures of her, her friend came to me and said that if I didn’t stop, he would break my camera," he added.

Mallika in a burkha is something airport authorities are accustomed to seeing, but oddly, when Mallika will turn up in a burkha is any ones guess. There seems to be no pattern to her decision to venture out covered from head to foot or not.

An actress who went on the Rock Stars tour to Dubai last month has reportedly said, "Mallika didn’t wear a burkha at all, while going or coming back. She wore designer stuff, including her accessories — from Gucci pants to a Louis Vuitton top and Chanel shoes. Maybe that was because Salman was there. She kept talking about how she has become elusive because the media hounds her so much."

Last year, Sherawat had a catfight with Celina Jaitley, at the airport, about clothes — do we see a pattern here? She wanted Celina to change her clothes, as Mallika and she were wearing the same colour. They don’t call her a diva for nothing.