Vidya Balan
Vidya Balan is an Indian actress. Known for pioneering a change in the portrayal of women in Hindi cinema with her roles in female-led films, she is the recipient of several awards, including a National Film Award and seven Filmfare Awards. She was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2014. She was invited by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to join the Actors Branch in 2021.
Vidya aspired to a career in film from a young age and had her first acting role in the 1995 sitcom Hum Paanch. While pursuing a master's degree in sociology from the University of Mumbai, she made several unsuccessful attempts to start a career in film, and featured in television commercials and music videos. She made her film debut by starring in the Bengali film Bhalo Theko and received praise for her first Hindi film, the drama Parineeta. This was followed by several commercial successes including Lage Raho Munna Bhai and Bhool Bhulaiyaa, but her subsequent roles were met with negative reviews.
Vidya established herself by starring as headstrong women in five consecutive commercial successes, which also earned her critical and awards recognition. These were in the drama Paa, the black comedy Ishqiya, the thrillers No One Killed Jessica and Kahaani, and the biopic The Dirty Picture. The last of these won her the National Film Award for Best Actress. Following a downturn, Vidya made a career comeback by playing cheerful women balancing work and family life in Tumhari Sulu and Mission Mangal. After starring in the Amazon Prime Video films Shakuntala Devi, Sherni, and Jalsa, Vidya had her highest-grossing release in the comedy horror sequel Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3.
Vidya also promotes humanitarian causes and supports the empowerment of women. She is a member of the Indian Central Board of Film Certification and has hosted a radio show. Early in her career, she drew criticism for her fluctuating weight and dress sense, but was later credited in the media for her unconventionality. Vidya is married to the film producer Siddharth Roy Kapur.
Early life and initial career struggles
Vidya was born on 1 January 1979 in Bombay into a Tamil Brahmin family. Her father, P. R. Balan, worked as the executive vice-president of Digicable, and her mother, Saraswathy, is a homemaker. According to Vidya, they speak a mix of Tamil and Malayalam at her home in Palakkad, Kerala. Her elder sister, Priya Balan, works in advertising. Actress Priyamani is her second cousin. Vidya grew up in the suburban neighbourhood of Chembur and studied at St. Anthony Girls' High School.From a young age, Vidya aspired to a career in film and was inspired by the work of actresses Shabana Azmi and Madhuri Dixit. At the age of 16, she starred in the first season of Ekta Kapoor's sitcom Hum Paanch as Radhika, a bespectacled teenager. After the series ended, Vidya refused director Anurag Basu's offer to star in a television soap opera, as she wanted to concentrate on a film career. Her parents were supportive of the decision but encouraged her to complete her education first. She then studied at St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, to pursue a bachelor's degree in sociology and later earned a master's degree from the University of Mumbai.
While pursuing her master's degree, Vidya was cast as the female lead in the Malayalam film Chakram, opposite Mohanlal and was subsequently signed on for 12 other Malayalam language films. However, due to production difficulties, Chakram was shelved. The postponement of a film starring Mohanlal was an unheard occurrence in Malayalam cinema and producers blamed Vidya for bringing "bad luck" to the project; labelled her as a "jinx"; and replaced her in the films that she had been contracted for. She shifted focus to Tamil cinema. In 2001, she was cast as the female lead in N. Linguswamy's Run, opposite R. Madhavan. However, after completing the first shooting schedule, she was unceremoniously dropped and replaced by Meera Jasmine. She was signed up under false pretences for a sex comedy, a genre she was uncomfortable with, and decided to leave the project. She was also replaced by Meera Jasmine in Bala. Thereafter, she signed on for a third Tamil film, Manasellam, but was replaced by Trisha as the director was dissatisfied with her work. Kalari Vikraman, another Malayalam film that she completed work for in 2003, failed to get a theatrical release. After failing to start a film career, Vidya appeared in approximately 60 television commercials and in music videos for Euphoria and Shubha Mudgal; a majority of these were directed by Pradeep Sarkar.
Career
Early work (2003–2008)
Vidya's film debut came with the Bengali film Bhalo Theko, a drama directed by Goutam Halder. He cast her in the central role of Aanandi, a young woman reminiscing about her past, for the combination of innocence and experience that he found in her. Vidya was ecstatic about her involvement in Bengali cinema, later calling it a dream come true and highlighting its contribution to her subsequent progress.She was awarded an Anandalok Purashkar for Best Actress for her performance. On Pradeep Sarkar's recommendation, Vidya auditioned for the lead role in his directorial venture—the Hindi film Parineeta. The film's producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra initially preferred an established actress in the part, but agreed to cast Vidya after she underwent six months of extensive tests. Based on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's 1914 Bengali novel of the same name, Parineeta tells the love story between Shekhar, the son of the local zamindar, and Lalita, the dignified daughter of the family's tenant. Vidya's performance received praise from critics; Derek Elley of Variety found her to be an "acting revelation", adding that her "devoted but dignified Lalita is the picture's heart and soul". At the annual Filmfare Awards ceremony, she won Best Female Debut and received a nomination for Best Actress.
Continuing her collaboration with Chopra's company, Vidya starred opposite Sanjay Dutt in Rajkumar Hirani's comedy film Lage Raho Munna Bhai. She played a radio jockey and the title character's love interest, for which she met up with radio hosts and watched them at work. While she acknowledged not having a substantial role in the film, she agreed to the project as part of a conscious effort to work in different genres to avoid being typecast in her Parineeta image. With earnings of, Lage Raho Munna Bhai emerged as one of the highest-grossing Hindi films to that point. Vidya began 2007 by accepting the supporting role of a multiple sclerosis patient in Mani Ratnam's drama Guru, starring Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai, citing her desire to work with Ratnam. Raja Sen of Rediff.com bemoaned that she was "somewhat wasted in a role that isn't as well-etched". Her next two roles, in the ensemble films Salaam-e-Ishq and Eklavya: The Royal Guard, were similarly small, but she defended these choices as having been "part of my learning curve". Both films performed poorly at the box office, but the latter was selected as India's entry for the 80th Academy Awards. Citing date issues, Vidya refused Pradeep Sarkar and Sudhir Mishra's offers to star in their films Laaga Chunari Mein Daag and Khoya Khoya Chand, respectively; she has said that both filmmakers were upset with her decision.
In her next release of 2007, the comedy Heyy Babyy, she starred opposite Akshay Kumar in her first glamorous, westernised role. Her look was poorly received, with Namrata Joshi of Outlook writing, "Vidya is irritating, over-the-top, extremely affected and looks ghastly in figure-hugging frocks." She next teamed with Kumar once again in Bhool Bhulaiyaa, a comedy horror film from Priyadarshan, which served as a remake of the Malayalam film Manichitrathazhu. Played by Shobana in the original, Vidya was challenged by the role of a woman suffering from dissociative identity disorder; in preparation, she stayed in isolation for three days and once collapsed on set. Moreover, she was intimidated by the dancing that her role required and began learning kathak days before filming her scenes. Despite disliking the film and Vidya's dancing, Khalid Mohamed found her "bankably likeable", and Taran Adarsh described her as "splendid". Both Heyy Babyy and Bhool Bhulaiyaa were among the highest-grossing Hindi films of the year. The latter earned her a second Best Actress nomination at Filmfare.
In 2008's Halla Bol, based on the life of activist Safdar Hashmi, Vidya played a supporting role opposite Ajay Devgn. She next took on a glamorous role once again in the romantic comedy Kismat Konnection, co-starring Shahid Kapoor. She explained her choice of this part as a deliberate attempt to move away from her comfort zone, but she found it difficult to dance alongside Kapoor. Elvis D'Silva of Rediff.com found Vidya to be "woefully miscast" and criticised her look and wardrobe, as did Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express, who dismissed her as "determinedly frumpy". Both films had poor box office returns. Addressing her failure in portraying glamorous roles, Vidya has said that such parts did not suit her personality and blamed herself for "a complete lack of conviction on my part".
Established actress (2009–2012)
Vidya's career prospects improved in 2009 when R. Balki cast her in his comedy-drama Paa. She played a single mother struggling with her son's progeria. She was initially sceptical about playing the part, wondering if she could be maternal towards an actor of Bachchan's stature, who is over 30 years her senior. After insisting on a look test with Bachchan, she said that his effective transformation into a young boy had convinced her to accept the part. Comparing her acting style to that of Dimple Kapadia, the critic Sukanya Verma wrote, "Balan is poignant yet restrained and projects an impressive figure of grace and integrity"; Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India commended her for lending a "rare dignity to the image of the Bollywood mom". Paa was a commercial success, and won Vidya the Filmfare Award and Screen Award for Best Actress. Vidya has said that the film's reception gave her "courage to stick to my conviction".Vidya described her next role, in Abhishek Chaubey's black comedy Ishqiya, to be "an epitome of grey". In a departure from her wholesome on-screen persona, she starred as a seductive, manipulative widow from a village in Uttar Pradesh. The part required her to master the local dialect, which also involved the use of profanity. Anupama Chopra opined, "Vidya Balan's smoldering looks scorch the screen even as her eyes hint at tragedy. She proves that she is miles ahead of the cookie cutter Barbie dolls that clutter Bollywood and that sensuality has very little to do with showing skin." Vidya's work won her the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress, a second consecutive Best Actress award at Screen, and a nomination for Best Actress at Filmfare.
File:Vidya Balan at The Dirty Picture success media meet.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Vidya at an event for The Dirty Picture, for which she won the National Film Award for Best Actress
The year 2011 was key in Vidya's career, as she had starring roles in two commercially successful female-led films. In No One Killed Jessica, a thriller based on the murder of Jessica Lal, and co-starring Rani Mukerji, Vidya played the real-life character of Sabrina, who seeks justice for her sister's murder. Vidya was styled in men's dresses and loose-fitted clothing; several scenes were shot on location using hidden cameras, and she was pleased with the anonymity that her styling provided. Moreover, she spoke positively of her rapport with Mukerji, noting the rarity of two leading ladies within the same Hindi film. Sudhish Kamath of The Hindu took note of Vidya's ability to be "in sublime control over her emotions" and Savera Someshwar of Rediff.com added that "her hesitant body language, her faith, her helplessness, her rage, her sorrow and her gratitude all come across beautifully". Vidya earned another Filmfare nomination for Best Actress. In the same year, she made a guest appearance in the Malayalam film Urumi and a retrospective of her films was held in Australia as part of the Bollywood and Beyond festival.
The New York Times reported that with her role in The Dirty Picture, a drama based on the controversial Indian actress Silk Smitha, Vidya had "redefine the Hindi film heroine". She was challenged by the overwhelming sexuality in the role, and spoke of the mental preparation she put into achieving a balance between the character's mix of innocence, vulnerability, and sex appeal. She gained to look the part. Khalid Mohamed observed of Vidya, "She's extraordinary: gutsy, consistently in character and unafraid of exposing her darker side. Here's the kind of complex performance which you haven't evidenced in years and years." With worldwide earnings of, The Dirty Picture emerged as Hindi cinema's highest-grossing female-led film to that point. Vidya won another Filmfare and Screen Award, in addition to the National Film Award for Best Actress.
She next starred in the thriller Kahaani, directed by Sujoy Ghosh. Set in Kolkata during the Durga Puja festivities, the film starred Vidya as a pregnant woman in search of her missing husband. Made on a shoestring budget, it was shot for over 64 days in the streets of Kolkata by means of guerrilla filmmaking. Vidya drew media attention for wearing a prosthetic belly while promoting the film. Pratim D. Gupta of The Telegraph wrote that Vidya "gets into the physicality of a pregnant woman with unfailing mastery". Sanjukta Sharma of Mint summarised, "Balan’s existence, and indeed her flourishing, says something about the Hindi film industry finally breaking away from the 'heroine' mould." As with The Dirty Picture, Kahaani too emerged among the biggest earning female-led Hindi films, grossing over worldwide. Vidya won a fourth consecutive Best Actress Award at Screen and a third Best Actress Award at Filmfare.