Vidya Balan (born January 1, 1978) is an Indian film and television actress. She is known for her parts in female-led films that pioneered a revolution in the image of women in Hindi cinema, and she has received multiple honors, including a National Film Award and seven Filmfare honors. In 2014, the Government of India awarded her the Padma Shri.
Vidya aspired to be an actress since she was a child, and her first acting part was in the 1995 sitcom Hum Paanch. She made repeated fruitless attempts to launch a career in film while obtaining a master's degree in sociology at the University of Mumbai, and appeared in television commercials and music videos. She made her cinematic debut in the Bengali film Bhalo Theko (2003), and her first Hindi feature, the drama Parineeta (2005), gained critical acclaim. Her financial successes in Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006) and Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2007) followed, but her succeeding roles did not move her career forward.
Vidya went on to establish herself as a strong female lead in five consecutive commercial triumphs, earning her critical and award recognition. These appeared in Paa (2009), Ishqiya (2010), No One Killed Jessica and Kahaani (2012), and the movie The Dirty Picture (2011). Her performance in the latter earned her the National Film Award for Best Actress. Vidya made a comeback after a career setback by playing joyful ladies juggling work and family life in Tumhari Sulu (2017) and Mission Mangal (2019). Her highest-grossing release was the latter. Vidya has since appeared in Amazon Prime Video films such as Shakuntala Devi (2020), Sherni (2021), and Jalsa (2022).
Vidya also supports humanitarian issues and women's empowerment. She runs a radio show and is a member of the Indian Central Board of Film Certification. She was chastised early in her career for her shifting weight and fashion choices, but she was later praised in the media for her unconventionality. Vidya is married to Siddharth Roy Kapur, a film producer.
Early life and career difficulties
Vidya was born on January 1, 1979, in Bombay (now Mumbai) to a Tamil Brahmin family. P. is her father. R. Balan is Digicable's executive vice president, while her mother, Saraswathy Balan, is a housewife. Vidya claims that they speak a mix of Tamil and Malayalam at home. Priya Balan, her older sister, works in advertising. Her second cousin is the actress Priyamani.
Vidya grew raised in the Mumbai district of Chembur and attended St. Anthony Girls' High School. She longed to be a film actress from an early age, inspired by the work of Shabana Azmi and Madhuri Dixit. At the age of 16, she appeared as Radhika, a bespectacled adolescent, in the first season of Ekta Kapoor's sitcom Hum Paanch. Vidya turned down director Anurag Basu's offer to star in a television soap opera when the series concluded because she wanted to focus on her film career. Her parents supported her desire but advised her to finish her studies first. She received a bachelor's degree in sociology from St. Xavier's College and a master's degree from the University of Mumbai.
Vidya was cast as the female lead in the Malayalam film Chakram, opposite Mohanlal, while completing her master's degree, and was then signed on for 12 other Malayalam language films. Chakram, however, was shelved due to production issues. The postponement of a Mohanlal picture was unprecedented in Malayalam cinema, and producers blamed Vidya for bringing "bad luck" to the production, dubbed her a "jinx," and replaced her in the projects for which she had been engaged. She transferred her attention to Tamil movies. She was cast as the female lead in N in 2001. Linguswamy's Run was released in 2002. However, when the first filming schedule was over, she was abruptly dropped and replaced by Meera Jasmine. She had joined up under false pretenses for a sex comedy, a genre she disliked, and decided to drop out. Meera Jasmine took her spot in Bala (2002). Following that, she signed up for a third Tamil film, Manasellam (2003), but was replaced by Trisha since the director was unhappy with her performance. Kalari Vikraman, another Malayalam film for which she completed production in 2003, was never released theatrically. Vidya starred in roughly 60 television advertisements and music videos for Euphoria and Shubha Mudgal after failing to launch a film career; the most of these were directed by Pradeep Sarkar.
Career
Work from 2003 to 2008
Vidya made her cinematic debut in the drama Bhalo Theko (2003), directed by Goutam Halder. For the blend of innocence and experience that he discovered in her, he placed her in the pivotal part of Aanandi, a young woman reflecting about her past. Vidya was overjoyed with her involvement in Bengali cinema, later calling it a "dream come true" and crediting it for her subsequent success. For her portrayal, she received an Anandalok Purashkar for Best Actress. Vidya auditioned for the lead part in Pradeep Sarkar's directorial debut, the Hindi film Parineeta (2005), on the advice of Pradeep Sarkar. Vidhu Vinod Chopra, the film's producer, initially preferred an established actress for the role, but consented to cast Vidya after six months of thorough testing. Parineeta, based on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's 1914 Bengali novel of the same name, chronicles the love tale of Shekhar (Saif Ali Khan), the son of the local zamindar, and Lalita (Vidya), the dignified daughter of the family's tenant. Critics praised Vidya's performance; Variety's Derek Elley called her a "acting revelation," adding that her "devoted but dignified Lalita is the film's heart and soul." She won Best Female Debut and was nominated for Best Actress at the annual Filmfare Awards ceremony.
Vidya continued her association with Chopra's firm by co-starring with Sanjay Dutt in Rajkumar Hirani's comedy flick Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006). She played a radio jockey and the title character's love interest, for which she met and observed radio DJs at work. While she admitted that she did not have a significant role in the film, she consented to work on it as part of a conscious effort to engage in varied genres in order to avoid being typecast in her Parineeta image. Lage Raho Munna Bhai became one of the highest-grossing Hindi films at the time, grossing 1.19 billion rupees (US$15 million). Vidya began 2007 by taking a supporting role in Mani Ratnam's drama Guru, starring Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai, claiming her wish to work with Ratnam. Rediff.com's Raja Sen lamented that she was "somewhat wasted in a role that isn't as well-etched." Her next two appearances, in the ensemble films Salaam-e-Ishq and Eklavya: The Royal Guard, were also modest, but she justified them as "part of my learning curve." Both films were box office duds, but the latter was chosen as India's entry for the 80th Academy Awards. Vidya declined Pradeep Sarkar and Sudhir Mishra's offers to star in their films Laaga Chunari Mein Daag and Khoya Khoya Chand, citing scheduling conflicts; she has stated that both filmmakers were disappointed with her decision.
In her second film, Heyy Babyy, she co-starred with Akshay Kumar in her first glamorous, westernized part. Namrata Joshi of Outlook wrote, "Vidya is irritating, over-the-top, extremely affected, and looks ghastly in figure-hugging frocks." She next teamed up with Kumar in Bhool Bhulaiyaa, a comedy horror film from Priyadarshan and a remake of the Malayalam film Manichitrathazhu (1993). Vidya, who played Shobana in the original, was troubled by the character of a lady suffering from dissociative identity disorder; in preparation, she spent three days in isolation and once collapsed on set. Furthermore, she was terrified by the dance required for her role and began practicing kathak days before filming began. Despite his dislike for the film and Vidya's dance, Khalid Mohamed praised her as "bankably likeable," and Taran Adarsh called her "splendid." Heyy Babyy and Bhool Bhulaiyaa were two of the year's highest-grossing Hindi films. The latter earned her a second nomination for Best Actress at Filmfare.
Vidya took a supporting part opposite Ajay Devgn in the 2008 film Halla Bol, which was based on the life of activist Safdar Hashmi. She then reprised her gorgeous character in the romantic comedy Kismat Konnection, co-starring Shahid Kapoor. She noted that she chose this part as a deliberate attempt to step outside of her comfort zone, although she struggled to dance alongside Kapoor. Vidya was described as "woefully miscast" by Elvis D'Silva of Rediff.com, who criticized her appearance and attire, as well as "determinedly frumpy" by Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express. Both films performed poorly at the box office. In response to her failure to play attractive roles, Vidya stated that such roles did not suit her personality and blamed herself for "a complete lack of conviction on my part."
(2009-2012) Established actress
Vidya's professional chances increased in 2009, when R. Balki cast her in Paa, his comedy-drama. She portrayed a single mother dealing with her son's (Amitabh Bachchan's) progeria. She was initially hesitant to take on the role, questioning whether she could be maternal to an actor of Bachchan's stature, who is over 30 years her senior. She added that after insisting on a look test with Bachchan, his convincing metamorphosis into a young boy convinced her to take the position. Sukanya Verma, a critic, compared her acting technique to that of Dimple Kapadia, writing, "Balan is poignant yet restrained and projects an impressive figure of grace and integrity"; Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India praised her for bringing a "rare dignity to the image of the Bollywood mom." Paa was a commercial success, and Vidya received both the Filmfare and Screen Awards for Best Actress. Vidya stated that the film's success given her the "courage to stick to my conviction."
Vidya characterized her next role as "an epitome of grey" in Abhishek Chaubey's black comedy Ishqiya (2010). She played a seductive, manipulative widow from a hamlet in Uttar Pradesh, a far cry from her pure on-screen character. The role required her to learn the local vernacular, which included the usage of obscenities. Anupama Chopra stated, "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 earned her the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress, a second consecutive Best Actress award at Screen, and a nomination for Filmfare.
Vidya's career took off in 2011, when she starred in two commercially successful female-led films. Vidya plays Sabrina, a real-life figure who pursues justice for her sister's death, in No One Killed Jessica, a thriller co-starring Rani Mukerji and based on the murder of Jessica Lal. Vidya was dressed in men's clothes and loose-fitting attire; some sequences were shot on site with concealed cameras, and she was thrilled with the anonymity given by her styling. Furthermore, she remarked positively of her relationship with Mukerji, pointing out the rarity of two main ladies in the same Hindi film. Vidya's ability to be "in sublime control over her emotions" was noted by Sudhish Kamath of The Hindu, and Savera Someshwar of Rediff.com added that "her hesitant body language, faith, helplessness, rage, sorrow, and gratitude all come across beautifully." Vidya was nominated for Best Actress again by Filmfare. She made a cameo appearance in the Malayalam film Urumi the same year, and a retrospective of her films was exhibited in Australia as part of the Bollywood and Beyond festival.
According to the New York Times, Vidya "redefined the Hindi film heroine" with her part in The Dirty Picture (2011), a drama based on the notorious Indian actress Silk Smitha. She was troubled by the role's overt sexuality and discussed the mental preparation she went through to strike a balance between the character's innocence, fragility, and sex appeal. She put on 12 kilograms (26 pounds) to look the part. "She's extraordinary: gutsy, consistently in character, and unafraid of exposing her darker side," Khalid Mohamed said of Vidya. "Here's the kind of complex performance you haven't seen in years and years." With worldwide earnings of 1.14 billion (US$14 million), The Dirty Picture became Hindi cinema's highest-grossing female-led film to that point. Vidya received another Filmfare and Screen Award, as well as the National Film Award for Best Actress.
She then appeared in Sujoy Ghosh's thriller Kahaani (2012). The film, set in Kolkata during the Durga Puja celebrations, features Vidya as a pregnant woman looking for her missing husband. It was shot on a minimal budget for over 64 days in the streets of Kolkata using guerilla filming. Vidya attracted media attention while promoting the film by donning a prosthetic tummy. The Telegraph's Pratim D. Gupta noted that Vidya "gets into the physicality of a pregnant woman with unfailing mastery." According to Sanjukta Sharma of Mint, "Balan's existence, and indeed her flourishing, says something about the Hindi film industry finally breaking away from the "heroine" mould." Kahaani, like The Dirty Picture, became one of the highest-grossing female-led Hindi films, grossing over $1 billion (US$13 million) worldwide. Vidya won a fourth consecutive Best Actress Award at Screen and a third Best Actress Award at Filmfare.
Setback and revival (2013-2017)
After serving as a jury member at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, Vidya starred in the comic thriller Ghanchakkar (2013). Playing a boisterous Punjabi woman opposite Emraan Hashmi, she explained that unlike her previous few films, her part in it was secondary to the male star. Sarit Ray of Hindustan Times dismissed her "shrill, garish-dressing, magazine-devouring Punjabi housewife" character as "caricature-ish". Vidya then provided the voice of Draupadi for Mahabharat, an animation film based on the Indian epic of the same name. She began 2014 with Shaadi Ke Side Effects, a romantic comedy about a married couple, in which she was pitted opposite Farhan Akhtar. Critics liked their chemistry, but were unimpressed with the film. She was next drawn to the title role of an aspiring detective in the comedy-mystery film Bobby Jasoos, after connecting with the character's struggle to prove herself. It required her to sport 12 elaborate disguises, and she trained with a language coach to adopt a Hyderabadi accent. Rohit Khilnani of India Today was appreciative of Vidya's performance but disliked the film's script and execution. All of these films were commercially unsuccessful, which led Vidya to admit that she felt "devastated" by their reception.
The series of poorly received films continued with the romantic drama Hamari Adhuri Kahani (2015). The writer Mahesh Bhatt, who based the film on his own mother, was keen to have Vidya play the lead role of a domestic abuse survivor. Shubha Shetty-Saha of Mid-Day bemoaned that she had been "saddled with a boring, outdated, weepy character" and that "there was nothing much even she could do". The following year, she took on the supporting part of a police officer in Te3n (2016), a thriller inspired by the 2013 South Korean film Montage, co-starring Amitabh Bachchan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui. She was drawn to playing a woman who commands respect and identified with her "silent aggression". Rajeev Masand criticised the film's predictable denouement, but liked Vidya's ability to act through gestures. She then portrayed the actress Geeta Bali in multiple songs for Ekk Albela, a Marathi-language biopic of Bhagwan Dada. Journalists speculated if Kahaani 2: Durga Rani Singh (2016), a spiritual sequel to Kahaani, would help overcome her career decline. It was not as well-received as the first film, but Vidya received a Best Actress nomination at Filmfare for her portrayal of a child sexual abuse survivor. In a mixed review of the film, Raja Sen of Rediff.com wrote that "with tremendous commitment to the part, [Vidya] gives us a stirring performance free of vanity or obviousness".
In Srijit Mukherji's period drama Begum Jaan (2017), a remake of the filmmaker's own Bengali film Rajkahini (2015), Vidya played the title role of a procurer from the 1940s. She worked with Mukherji to provide a backstory to her character and researched the era by reading The Other Side of Silence; filming in the barren landscape of rural Jharkhand was physically daunting for her. Anna M. M. Vetticad of Firstpost wrote that she "issues one-liners in a monotone, but is unable to dig deep and summon up a relatable human being". Vidya next played Sulu, a spirited housewife who moonlights as a talk radio host of a relationship counseling show, in the comedy-drama Tumhari Sulu. She identified with her character's lively personality and was pleased to play a rare comic part. She drew on her experience of playing a radio jockey in Lage Raho Munna Bhai and listened to late-night radio shows. Writing for The Times of India, Neil Soans commended Vidya for "infusing Sulu with an abundance of infectious optimism without being aggravating", and Shubhra Gupta complimented the way she used "her distinctive voice and full-bellied laughter to invest Sulu with real warmth". NDTV listed her performance as the best by a Hindi film actress that year, and she won her fifth Screen Award and fourth Filmfare Award for Best Actress. It also proved to be Vidya's first commercial success since 2012; she called the film's reception a "major confidence booster".
(2019-present) Professional expansion and streaming films
Vidya expanded into South Indian cinema in 2019, with roles in the two-part Telugu biopic, N.T.R: Kathanayakudu and N.T.R: Mahanayakudu, and the Tamil drama Nerkonda Paarvai. In the former two, about the actor-politician N. T. Rama Rao, she played Rao's first wife. Both films failed commercially. In Nerkonda Paarvai, a remake of the courtroom drama Pink (2016), she briefly played the wife of Ajith Kumar's character. Although not keen on remakes, she agreed to the project to bring attention to its theme of sexual consent. Srinivasa Ramanujam of The Hindu dismissed the portions involving Vidya as inessential. It emerged as one of the highest-grossing Tamil films of the year. Vidya teamed with Akshay Kumar for the third time in Mission Mangal, about the Mars Orbiter Mission, which marked India's first interplanetary expedition. She liked the idea of playing a seemingly ordinary homemaker who balances her family life with her work as a scientist, and she was also pleased to work with four other leading ladies. Joe Leydon of Variety found Vidya to be "drop-dead perfect from wire to wire", and she was awarded with another Best Actress nomination at Filmfare. With global earnings of ₹2.9 billion (US$36 million), Mission Mangal emerged as her highest-grossing release.
Vidya's first production venture was the short film Natkhat (2020), about a mother teaching her young son about gender equality, which premiered on YouTube as part of the We Are One: A Global Film Festival. She then portrayed the mental calculator Shakuntala Devi in an eponymous biopic, which could not be released theatrically due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was instead streamed on Amazon Prime Video.
The following year, Vidya starred in the environmental thriller Sherni (2021) as an Indian Forest Service officer tracking a man-eating tigress. In preparation, she met two forest officers and went on forest trails with them, as well as reading Peter Wohlleben's book The Hidden Life of Trees. Sukanya Verma opined that Vidya's "refreshingly subdued portrayal" was a departure from the "self-aware feminist"
Vidya will next be seen in an untitled romantic comedy starring Pratik Gandhi, and she will rejoin with Anu Menon in Neeyat, a murder mystery thriller.
Off-screen career and personal life
The media has frequently speculated about a romantic relationship between Vidya and her co-stars, but she has strongly denied these reports. In 2009, Vidya was embroiled in a controversy when she mentioned a previous relationship in which "caustic remarks" were made about her weight. She stated, "If someone who matters to you takes you down, it can break you." Someone whose approval I valued began to point out flaws in me on a regular basis. Though she refused to name the person, tabloid reports speculated that she was referring to Shahid Kapoor (her co-star in Kismat Konnection). Kapoor, however, denied the allegations. During an interview in May 2012, Vidya announced that she was dating Siddharth Roy Kapur, the CEO of UTV Motion Pictures. The couple married on 14 December 2012 in a private ceremony in Bandra, Mumbai.
Vidya studied Carnatic music and briefly studied Bharatnatyam and Kathak dance forms. When asked about her religious beliefs, Vidya stated, "I am a person with a lot of faith and I have conversations [with God] all the time but I am not so religious in the conventional, organised sense." She practices vegetarianism and was named "India's hottest vegetarian" in PETA polls in 2011 and 2012.
Vidya endorsed the World Wildlife Fund's Earth Hour campaign in India in March 2011, and she campaigned for the cause of nutrition in India for Child In Need Institute (CINI), a non-profit organization based in Kolkata. In September 2012, Vidya visited a village in Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh, where she participated in a campaign to promote children's education and women's empowerment.
Vidya served as grand marshal of the India Day parade in New York City in 2013, the same year she launched a technology-based learning platform for underprivileged children in Thanapur village, Uttar Pradesh, and the same year she hosted No More Kamzor, a television special on women empowerment. On International Women's Day in 2015, Vidya wrote an opinion column in Hindustan Times on the issues faced by women in India.
Artistry and media image
Following the success of Parineeta and Lage Raho Munna Bhai, Vidya's film roles were widely criticized. Vir Sanghvi noted that the films Heyy Babyy and Kismat Konnection were "strange films in which she tried to pretend to be what she is not — a Bollywood bimbette." Vidya described that period in her career as a "struggle to be someone else."
Her starring roles in Heyy Babyy and Kismat Konnection also drew significant media attention for her "questionable wardrobe," with several publications labeling her as the "worst dressed actress," and her costume designers blaming her inability to pull off western clothes on her weight and body structure. She was later praised for wearing saris at public events, with designer Niharika Khan explaining, "Vidya's beauty lies in her curves." She's at ease in her voluptuousness, and therefore in a sari." Vidya has since been recognized as embodying the idea of "raw Indian sensuality" and opposing "an anglicised idea of sexuality."
Vidya was credited in the media for pioneering a movement that breaks the stereotypical portrayal of heroines in Bollywood after portraying strong-willed protagonists in Paa, Ishqiya, No One Killed Jessica, The Dirty Picture, and Kahaani. The major commercial success of the latter two earned her the title of "female hero," and Kalpana Nair of Firstpost noted that with these two films Vidya spearheaded a change in the roles Looking at Vidya Balan, that change appears to be coming from the leading lady." In 2023, Rajeev Masand ranked her one of Hindi cinema's finest actresses.
India Today featured Vidya in their 2012 listing of the nation's most powerful women and noted that "she has toppled the all dominating hero, reducing him to a supporting role in a male dominated film industry". Vidya was featured by Forbes India in their annual Celebrity 100 list in 2012 and 2013. She occupied the top slot in Rediff.com's annual listing of the year's best performances for two consecutive years (2010–11). She also featured in the list for the years 2005, 2006, 2009, 2012, and 2016. In 2012, the magazine Verve featured her as one of India's "Young Power Women" and wrote, "In a reel world peopled by size zero-toned bodies and pretty-as-a-picture heroines, Vidya comes across as completely real and natural – a woman who has followed her own instincts and dared to live her destiny by being her own person and not morphing herself to fit into any conventional slot." Two years later, the magazine listed her as a power icon. In 2018, The Economic Times considered Vidya to be one of the most prominent celebrity brand ambassadors in India.
In 2014, Vidya received the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award, for her contributions to the entertainment industry. The following year, she received an honorary Doctor of Arts degree from Rai University, which also named a scholarship program for underprivileged girls after her. The university's chancellor, Harbeen Arora, stated, "Among the league of iconic actors, Vidya is a pioneer in every way." Her films exemplify a particular Indianness and a strong female."
Accolades
Vidya Balan has garnered a number of accolades and nominations.
Vidya has won seven Filmfare Awards, including Best Female Debut for Parineeta (2005), Best Actress for Paa (2009), The Dirty Picture (2011), Kahaani (2012), and Tumhari Sulu (2017), and Critics Award for Best Actress for Ishqiya (2010) and Sherni (2021).
Bio | |
---|---|
Real Name | Vidya P. Balan |
Nickname | Vidhi |
Profession | Actress |
Physical Stats & More | |
Height (approx.) | in centimeters- 163 cm in meters- 1.63 m in Feet Inches- 5' 4” |
Weight (approx.) | in Kilograms- 70 kg in Pounds- 154 lbs |
Figure Measurements | 35-30-35 |
Eye Colour | Dark Brown |
Hair Colour | Black |
Personal Life | |
Date of Birth | 1 January 1978 |
Age (as in 2023) | 45 Years |
Birth Place | Poothamkurussy, Puthur, Palakkad, Kerala, India |
Zodiac sign/Sun sign | Capricorn |
Signature | ![]() |
Nationality | Indian |
Hometown | Chembur, Mumbai , Maharashtra, India |
School | St. Anthony Girls' High School, Mumbai |
College | St. Xavier's College, Mumbai University of Mumbai, Mumbai |
Educational Qualifications | Masters degree in Sociology |
Debut | Film: Bhalo Theko (2003, Bengali film) Parineeta (2005, Bollywood film) TV: Hum Paanch (1995) |
Family | Father- P. R. Balan (Worked as Executive Vice-President of Digicable) Mother- Saraswathy Balan (Homemaker) Brother- N/A Sister- Priya Balan (Works for an advertising company) |
Religion | Hinduism |
Address | A sea facing flat in Juhu Tara Road, Mumbai |
Hobbies | Reading |
Favourite Things | |
Favourite Food | Thai cuisine |
Favourite Actors | Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Morgan Freeman, Al Pacino |
Favourite Actresses | Shabana Azmi, Madhuri Dixit, Kate Winslet, Julie Delphy, Julia Roberts |
Favourite Films | Bollywood: Gol Maal (1979) Hollywood: Before Sunrise, Before Sunset |
Favourite Directors | Gulzar, Hrishikesh Mukherjee |
Favourite Musicians | Zakir Hussain, Michael Jackson, Enrique Iglesias, Indian Ocean, Midival Punditz |
Favourite Colour | Red |
Favourite Perfume | Issey Miyake, Elizabeth Arden |
Favourite Destination | New York and New Zealand |
Boys, Affairs and More | |
Marital Status | Married |
Affairs/Boyfriends | Siddharth Roy Kapur (Businessman and Producer) |
Husband/Spouse | Siddharth Roy Kapur, Businessman and Producer (2012-present) |
Marriage Date | 14 December 2012 |
Children | Son- None Daughter- None |
Style Quotient | |
Cars Collection | Mercedes E-Class |
Money Factor | |
Salary (approx.) | 10 crore/film (INR) |
Net Worth (approx.) | $15 million |