Vidya Balan
Vidya Balan at WWF World Earth Hour event
Born	(1978-01-01) 1 January 1978 (age 34) Palakkad, Kerala, India
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2003–present

Vidya Balan (pronounced [ʋɪd̪jaː baːlən]; born 1 January 1978)^[1] is an Indian actress, who appears mainly in Hindi films, in addition to Bengali and Malayalam films. After graduating with a degree in sociology, she started her career starring in music videos, television shows and commercials, before making her feature film debut with the independent Bengali drama Bhalo Theko (2003). Balan received positive notice for her first Hindi film, Parineeta (2005), and followed it with a leading role in the blockbuster Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006), and other such hit films as Guru, Heyy Babyy and Bhool Bhulaiyaa (all 2007).^[2]

2009 marked the beginning of the most successful period in Balan's career as she portrayed five back-to-back roles to wide critical acclaim in Paa (2009), Ishqiya (2010), No One Killed Jessica (2011), The Dirty Picture (2011) and Kahaani (2012). These roles have further established her as one of the leading contemporary actresses of Hindi cinema and earned her several major awards.^[3][4] Balan has received one National Film Award for Best Actress, five Filmfare Awards, including two for Best Actress and one for Best Actress - Critics, as well as three consecutive Screen Awards for Best Actress.

Early life[link]

Vidya Balan was born in India in Ottapalam, Palakkad District, Kerala, to P. R. Balan (Vice President of ETC Channel) and Saraswathy Balan, a housewife mother in a Tamil speaking^[5] family.^[6] According to Balan, they speak at home "a mix of Tamil and Malayalam", but she is also well versed in Hindi, English and Bengali.^[7]

She did her schooling at St. Anthony Girls' High School,^[8][9] Chembur, Mumbai, and later attended St. Xavier's College where she majored in Sociology.^[10] She went on to study MA at the University of Mumbai, when she received her first film offer.

Career[link]

Career beginnings (2003–2004)[link]

Her acting career started when she signed up Chakram, a Malayalam film alongside Mohanlal, which was shelved. After that, she signed for the Tamil film, Run, but for reasons undisclosed, she was dropped after a first schedule and replaced by Meera Jasmine.^[11] She was also the first choice for the female lead in another Tamil film Manasellam, but was replaced by Trisha Krishnan during the production.^[12] When Chakram was restarted with Prithviraj in the lead, Meera Jasmine was again chosen ahead of Balan.

She then turned to television advertising. From 1998 onwards, she appeared in numerous television ads, many of which were directed by Pradeep Sarkar. She also took supporting roles in music videos, appearing with singers and bands such as Euphoria, Shubha Mudgal, and Pankaj Udhas. Balan also portrayed the role of Radhika Mathur in a few episodes of the later seasons of the comedy television serial Hum Paanch.

In 2003, she appeared in the Bengali film, Bhalo Theko directed by Goutam Halder,^[13] for which she won the Anandalok Puraskar Best Actress award in Kolkata.

Breakthrough (2005–2008)[link]

Balan made her Hindi film debut with Pradeep Sarkar's musical drama Parineeta. Before being cast for the film, Balan had to undergo extensive auditions for a period of 6 months.^[14] The film, an adaptation of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's novel of the same name, narrated the love story of an idealist Lalita (Balan) and an egoist Shekhar (Saif Ali Khan), the son of a capitalist businessman.^[15] Upon release, her performance in the film was acclaimed by critics,^[16] with Derek Elley from Variety writing, " An acting revelation is Tamil newcomer Balan, whose devoted but dignified Lalita is the picture's heart and soul."^[17] She eventually won a Best Debut (Female) award and received a nomination for Best Actress at the Filmfare Awards ceremony.

After the success of her first two films, the producer who dropped her from Manasellam was keen to sign her opposite Kamal Hassan for Dasavathaaram but she rejected the offer and Asin Thottumkal was signed instead. In 2006, she appeared opposite Sanjay Dutt in Rajkumar Hirani's musical comedy film Lage Raho Munna Bhai. Balan portrayed the role of Jhanvi, a radio-jockey and the love interest of the protagonist Munna Bhai. In order to prepare for her role, she met with a couple of radio jockeys and watched them at work.^[18] Once again her performance was well received by critics^[19] and the film became the second highest grossing film of the year with a net total of 118.57 crore (US$23.65 million).^[2]

In 2007, she featured in a supporting role in Mani Ratnam's semi-biographic drama Guru as a woman suffering from multiple sclerosis. The film, which starred Mithun Chakraborty, Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and R. Madhavan in leading roles, performed well at the box office.^[20] Despite generally positive reviews for her performance, critics such as Khalid Mohammad and Raja Sen noted that "her talent was wasted" in a "minuscule role".^[21][22] Her next release was Nikhil Advani's multi-starrer romance Salaam-e-Ishq: A Tribute To Love opposite John Abraham. The film, which narrated six individual love stories, saw Balan play the role of a television reporter, Tehzeeb Hussain, suffering from a memory loss condition. The film, which was a critical and commercial failure,^[20] however generated positive reviews for Balan with Sukanya Verma of Rediff.com writing, "Vidya's transformation from a self-assured working woman to a helpless, vulnerable person is superb."^[23] She subsequently featured in Vidhu Vinod Chopra's suspense thriller Eklavya: The Royal Guard alongside Amitabh Bachchan, Boman Irani, Sharmila Tagore, Saif Ali Khan and Sanjay Dutt. The film, which flopped commercially, met with positive critical reviews and was selected as India's official entry to the Oscars for the 80th Academy Awards.^[24]

Balan followed through with a leading role in Sajid Khan's comedy Heyy Babyy as Isha Sahni, a deceived, single mother. The film which also featured Akshay Kumar, Ritesh Deshmukh and Fardeen Khan emerged as a box-office success with a worldwide gross of 83.68 crore (US$16.69 million),^[20] but her performance met with mixed reviews. Criticism was directed towards her wardrobe and make-up, rather than her performance itself with Rajeev Masand writing, "Vidya Balan sticks out like a sore thumb".^[25] Her final release of the year was Priyadarshan's psychological thriller Bhool Bhulaiyaa alongside Shiney Ahuja, Akshay Kumar and Ameesha Patel. Her performance in the film as a woman suffering from dissociative identity disorder was praised with Taran Adarsh commenting, "Vidya is splendid, especially in the second hour".^[26] The film eventually earned 84 crore (US$16.76 million) worldwide^[20] and among several nominations, fetched Balan her second Filmfare nomination in the Best Actress category.

In 2008, she featured in a small role in Rajkumar Santoshi's male-dominated social film Halla Bol alongside Ajay Devgan and Pankaj Kapur. The film was a reference to "Jan Natya Manch", whose leader, the theater activist, Safdar Hashmi was killed by political rivals while performing a street play by the same name in 1989.^[27] Upon release, the film as well as her performance received a mixed response.^[28] Her next release was Aziz Mirza's romantic comedy Kismat Konnection opposite Shahid Kapoor. Balan received mixed comments from critics for her performance of Priya, however a review carried by The Economic Times mentioned, "As against the notion, Vidya Balan carries a graceful charm and is natural as ever."^[29] The film eventually underperformed at the box-office.^[30]

Success and critical acclaim (2009–present)[link]

In 2009, Balan played the role of Vidya, a young independent gynecologist who is also a single-mother struggling with her 12-year-old son's progeria syndrome, in Paa. Amitabh Bachchan played the role of Auro, Balan's son while Abhishek Bachchan played the titular character. The film was received well by critics and so was Balan's performance. Sukanya Verma from Rediff wrote, "Vidya Balan slips into the skin of a doting mom with such ease without the mollycoddling tone Bollywood's young mothers often resort to. Balan is poignant yet restrained and projects an impressive figure of grace and integrity, reminiscent of Dimple Kapadia in the 1980s.";^[31] Nikhat Kazmi from The Times of India noted, "Balan lends a rare dignity to the image of the Bollywood mom. With her quiet grace and controlled emotions, she is Mother Courage incarnate."^[32] Her portrayal ultimately won her a Filmfare Award for Best Actress and a Star Screen Award for Best Actress, among other awards. The film became a major turning point in her career and brought a new level of seriousness to her work.^[33]

In 2010, Balan acted in Vishal Bhardwaj's drama Ishqiya, directed by debutante Abhishek Chaubey and co-starring Naseeruddin Shah, Arshad Warsi and Salman Shahid. Balan's role was that of Krishna Verma, a sexually manipulative abandoned wife. Her character was described as a femme fatale, and her performance was applauded by critics, with NDTV's Anupama Chopra writing, "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."^[34] A review carried by The Telegraph mentioned, " Vidya makes Krishna such a fascinating character by never letting you know what’s going on in her head. She sucks one man’s thumb, she dresses the other man’s wound. She puts her head on one man’s shoulder, she draws the other man to her bed. In your bid to find out who she really wants, you will fall in love with Krishna." ^[35] Her work in the film brought her several more awards the following year including a Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress and a second consecutive Star Screen Award for Best Actress.

Balan's first release of 2011 was Raj Kumar Gupta's semi-biographic thriller No One Killed Jessica alongside Rani Mukerji, The film, based on the Jessica Lal murder case saw Balan play the first real-life character of her career, that of Sabrina Lal, Jessica's reticent sister who struggled for years to get justice. While preparing for her role, Balan avoided meeting Lal on the insistent of Gupta. She said, "Sabrina is an icon today. He (Gupta) said that the Sabrina we see today is different from the Sabrina a decade ago, when she had just lost her sister. This story begins at the time when Jessica is murdered."^[36] No One Killed Jessica as well as Balan's work earned positive reviews, with Anupama Chopra commenting, "Unlike her glamorous, party-girl sister [Jessica], Sabrina is painfully plain and sober. Wearing drab clothes and spectacles, Vidya is a portrait of anguish and strength."^[37] The film had a worldwide gross of 49 crore (US$9.78 million) and was noted for being a commercial success, despite the absence of a male lead.^[38] Balan eventually earned another Filmfare nomination in the Best Actress category.^[39] In March 2011 Balan was honoured with a retrospective of her work by Australia's Indian film festival, Bollywood & Beyond,^[40] during which she also introduced the opening night Australian premiere of No One Killed Jessica with director Raj Kumar Gupta.

Balan with co-stars Tusshar Kapoor (left) and Emraan Hashmi at the audio release of The Dirty Picture. Her performance in the film met with unanimous acclaim and among other wins, fetched her a National Award and a Filmfare Award for Best Actress.

December 2011 saw the release of Ekta Kapoor's The Dirty Picture, a biopic based on the life and death of the controversial Indian actress Silk Smitha.^[41] Balan was cast as Silk, who was—in Balan's words—"known for her brazenness and in-your-face sexuality."^[42] She described the role as the "boldest" she had ever played, one that "required a lot of mental preparation," and in order to look the part, she gained 12 kg.^[43] The film opened to major critical acclaim,^[44] and Balan received unanimous praise for her portrayal, which several reviewers regarded as her best performance to date. Khalid Mohamed observed, "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. This award-winning act bookended by her contrasting portrayal in No One Killed Jessica, reaffirms her as the finest artiste on the scene today."^[45] Her director Milan Luthria described her as the contemporary claimant of the sex-symbol title because of her unique sex appeal, and compared her "voluptuousness" to the likes of yesteryear actresses such as Sridevi and Vyjayanthimala.^[46] The film was eventually declared a blockbuster^[47][48] with a total gross of 117 crore (US$23.34 million), emerging as the biggest opening ever for a women-oriented film in the history of Indian Cinema.^[49] Balan won her first National Film Award for Best Actress,^[50] a second Filmfare Award for Best Actress and a third consecutive Screen Award for Best Actress that year along with several other awards in the same category for her performance in the film.

In March 2012, Balan featured as Vidya Bagchi, a pregnant woman in search of her missing husband in Sujoy Ghosh's Kahaani. The thriller, set in the city of Kolkata during the Durga Puja festivities earned Balan further accolades from film critics. Taran Adarsh mentioned, "Vidya, very nonchalantly, re-evaluates screen acting in Kahaani. She arrives with yet another enlivening, commanding character in this film and her portrayal of an expecting, frantic lady on a mission to trace her husband's inexplicable vanishing in an unfamiliar land is sure to win laurels by assessors and cinegoers uniformly. This is indeed Vidya's most eye-catching act. Her body language, her confidence, her vulnerability, her fury, her grief, all fall upon wonderfully."^[51] Rediff.com commented, "Vidya Balan has the gravitas to excel in a role that requires her to be sensible, adamant, sharp, vulnerable and pregnant. Like she's done with every subsequent release, Balan replaces the memory of her last performance (The Dirty Picture) with a sparkling new one. It's not a showy, act-out-loud delivery and that's what makes it so seamless."^[52] Kahaani emerged as a major commercial success both at the domestic and international box office, with a lifetime gross of 104 crore (US$20.75 million).^[53]

As of March 2012, Balan is set to star in UTV Motion Pictures' Ghanchakkar, to be directed by Raj Kumar Gupta opposite Emraan Hashmi.^[54]

Personal life[link]

During an interview in May 2012, Balan announced that she was dating Siddharth Roy Kapur, the CEO of UTV Motion Pictures.^[55]

Filmography[link]

Television[link]

Hum Paanch....Radhika

See also[link]

• List of Indian film actresses
• List of Tamil actors

References[link]

Further reading[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Vidya Balan

• Vidya Balan at the Internet Movie Database