"Dirty Picture" is a song by British R&B singer Taio Cruz, released from his second studio album Rokstarr (2009). The song was written and produced by Cruz alongside Fraser T. Smith, and later released as the album's third single on 5 April 2010. Originally, Cruz wanted the female vocals to be done by Lady Gaga but opted to switch to Kesha due to heavy influence by Dr. Luke and for finding her voice unique. It was released as the third single from Rokstarr on 5 April 2010 and was later re-recorded as an album bonus track for Kesha's debut album, Animal, dubbed the "Kesha edit". Lyrically, the song's message is about being able to send your significant other that you're missing a dirty picture.

Critical reception of the song was generally positive. Kesha and Cruz's collaboration and vocal work together on the track was generally praised although some critics noted that Kesha overtook the track, outshining Cruz. The song's simple but effective lyrics were also positively received by music critics. Commercially, "Dirty Picture" fared well on the charts. The song reached the top ten in Ireland and the United Kingdom, peaking at ten and six, respectively. The song also reached the top forty in Europe, Australia and Ireland. The song's accompanying music video was filmed in Los Angeles and in London and its concept is intended to be presented as a party.

Background and composition[link]

	"Dirty Picture" noicon "Dirty Picture" is an upbeat dance song that features a heavy synth backing and is reminiscent of Benny Benassi's song, "Satisfaction".
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

"Dirty Picture" was written and produced by Taio Cruz, in collaboration with Fraser T. Smith.^[1] While creating the track Cruz stated that he originally had wanted American singer Lady Gaga to feature on the track alongside himself.^[2] Following a meeting with Dr. Luke, Cruz agreed to switch to then upcoming singer Kesha. Luke had been working with Kesha and Cruz found Kesha's voice to be distinctive and opted to switch to her featuring on the track. Cruz commented on his decision, stating: "I was thinking about Lady Gaga at first, then I went to a meeting with Dr. Luke and he was telling me about this new girl he was working with. She hadn't done 'Tik Tok' or anything like that at that point. But I just thought she sounded really cool. A very unique-sounding voice. I like that with artists, that as soon as you hear them on a song on the radio, you know immediately who that is without having to be told. She looked really sexy, and I just thought she was talented. Her voice was awesome. It had this — I hope she won't mind me saying this, but her voice has this kind of yodely quality to it, the way that she does things and the way that she ends words. I just loved that quality about it."^[2]

"Dirty Picture" is song composed in the dance genre, that encompasses a techno beat infused in its backing, as well as synthesizers.^[3] The song features auto-tuned vocals by Kesha.^[3][4] According to Robert Cospey of Digital Spy, the song's chorus contains "trancey" elements and is reminiscent of Benny Benassi's song, "Satisfaction".^[5] Lyrically, Cruz explained the song's message saying, "the song is actually about sending sexy pictures to your significant other, if you miss each other and you can't see each other, you're far away from each other, you send pictures to remind each other of how sexy you are."^[6] According to sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by EMI Music Publishing, "Dirty Picture" is written in the time signature of common time, with a moderate beat rate of 125 beats per minute. The song is written in the key of F Minor; Cruz' vocal range spans from the note of Eb₄ to the note of F₅.^[7]

Reception[link]

Critical reception[link]

Kesha's (pictured) performance on the track was generally praised by music critics for her lyrical delivery.

"Dirty Picture" received generally positive reviews from music critics upon its release. Brad Wete of Entertainment Weekly compared the song to Cruz' prior single "Break Your Heart", noting that Cruz had "struck gold" with the song and that "Dirty Picture" was the only song on the album with "equal caliber."^[8] In a review of the album, Mike Diver of BBC wrote that the song was "the kind of track Sugababes should be patching up their every difference ever for."^[9] In a separate publication from BBC, Fraser McAlpine wrote that although the song's lyrics were dumb, silly and crude, "none of [these] are bad things in themselves."^[10] McAlpine complimented the overall sound of Kesha and Cruz's vocal work together on the song commenting that "the jarring clash between Taio's supersmooth soul-gentleman image and Kesha's sloppy drunken nonsense is genuinely fascinating. The song actually transforms from one kind of a thing to another, depending who has their hand on the microphone."^[10]

The Guardian's Caroline Sullivan first criticized Cruz for his evident "facelessness" in his music while reviewing his album; she, however, wrote that the song "saves the day" and wrote that it exemplified "British humour by impersonating a camera ('Snap, snap, click!')."^[11] Sara Anderson from AOL Radio was positive in her review of the song. Anderson wrote, "Building from strobing, techno back beats, Taio melodically, and bluntly, asks his muse to take a few, er, risque pictures for him, before transitioning into speaking voice with the help of party queen Kesha."^[3] David Jeffries of Allmusic listed the song as one of the album's three best tracks, alongside "Break Your Heart" and "Take You Back."^[12] Melanie Bertoldi of Billboard praised Cruz' vocal delivery, calling it the "most impressive" on the album.^[4]

Robert Copsey of Digital Spy gave the single three out of a possible five stars. Copsey wasn't convinced with Cruz's vocal work on the song commenting that Kesha takes over the track, "Cruz's vocals soar over the verses, his delicate tones fails to dent that deliciously trashy chorus. Luckily, guest star Kesha more than steps up to the mark [...] it's a bit of a shame that it's not her version of the song".^[5] Ken Capobianco from The Boston Globe was negative in his review of the song. Capobianco called the song "salacious", writing that it "features that notorious no-talent, Ke$ha, but with its galloping percussion it makes for salacious nonsense."^[13] Ash Dosanjh from NME wrote that Cruz' downfall on his album was when he acted as the "player", citing "Dirty Picture" as an example.^[14]

Chart performance[link]

In the United Kingdom, "Dirty Picture" entered the UK Singles chart at number twenty for the week ending date entitled 24 April 2010. On 9 May, after weeks of steadily ascending the charts, the single reached an eventual peak of number six for the week ending 15 May 2011.^[15] The single also managed to peak at number three on the UK R&B Charts.^[16] In Australia, "Dirty Picture" entered the charts at position thirty-one. On the song's third week on the chart it reached its peak position of sixteen where it remain for three weeks.^[17] It has since been certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for sales of 35,000 units.^[18] In New Zealand the single entered the charts at position thirty-eight, the following week the single rose to position twenty-one and then proceeded to fall off the charts.^[19] The song re-entered the charts on the week titled 14 June 2010 at twelve, the single reached its peak the following week at position eleven.^[19] It has since been certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ) for sales of 7,500 units.^[20] In the United States, "Dirty Picture" entered and peak on the Billboard Hot 100 at position ninety-six, the same week Rokstarr was released.^[21] In Canada, the song similarly reached its peak on its first week on the chart at position forty-nine.^[22]

Music video[link]

The music video for "Dirty Picture" was directed by Alex Herron^[23] and it premiered online on 24 May 2010.^[2] Recording of the video was done in both Los Angeles and in London. Cruz explain the video's simplistic theme and recording saying, "It was shot in this really cool basement in LA. We wanted it to look like a party scene, but not in a typical club, and it was really good fun. Kesha's shots were recorded in London because our schedules were all over the place, and then I shot the rest in LA."^[24]

The video opens with Cruz driving a car speeding through the desert. It then cuts to a new scene where Cruz is at a house party where everyone is drinking and sending dirty text messages. Throughout the scenes Cruz is seen taking pictures with different women and singing karaoke. Kesha's vocals cut in and she is seen standing in a bathroom stall standing on top of a toilet "asking that her man do the same [and send a dirty picture]."^[2] Once again the video then cuts to scenes of Cruz standing next to his car in the desert singing his verses. The video then cuts back to the party where all of the party goers are seen "sexting, kissing, touching and bumping and grinding as the flashes flash."^[2] Kesha's vocals once again cut in and this time she is seen laying on top of the bathroom sink singing her verses. The video ends with Cruz and Kesha standing next to each other telling their loved ones to "click, click, snap" that dirty picture their way.^[2]

Kesha version[link]

Kesha re-recorded "Dirty Picture" for her debut studio album, Animal.^[24] The song was selective in its release only being sold as an album bonus track in United Kingdom and Ireland, and was dubbed "Kesha edit"^[25] or "Dirty Picture, Pt. 2".^[26] The song is similar to the original recording of the song with the only noticeable change being that Kesha now sings the song's first verse. While being interviewed by Digital Spy Cruz explained how the cover initially came about and his view on the cover, "she asked me if she could do a version of the song where she sang the first verse and I thought that was a really cool idea. I really like both versions, and it's good that there are these two different versions out there, because fans of me get more of me on mine and [Kesha] fans get more of her on hers."^[24]

Track listing[link]

Credits and personnel[link]

• Songwriting – Taio Cruz, Fraser T. Smith
• Production – Taio Cruz, Fraser T. Smith
• Engineering – Beatriz Artola
• Mixing – Fraser T. Smith, Neil Tucker
• Mastering – Tom Coyne

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Rokstarr, via Photo Finish Records.^[1]

Charts and certifications[link]

Release history[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Taio Cruz – Dirty Picture ft. Kesha (Music Video)

Taio Cruz
Background information
Birth name	Jacob Taio Cruz
Born	(1983-04-23) 23 April 1983 (age 29) London, England, UK
Genres	Pop, dance
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, record producer, rapper, entrepreneur
Years active	2002–present
Labels	Rokstarr Entertainment Division, Island, Republic, Mercury (U.S.)
Associated acts	Kesha, Kylie Minogue, Ludacris, David Guetta, Cheryl Cole, McFly, Travie McCoy, Flo Rida
Website	TaioCruzMusic.co.uk

Jacob Taio Cruz (born 23 April 1983) known professionally as Taio Cruz^[1] (Portuguese: [ˈtaj.ju ˈkɾujʃ]) is an English singer-songwriter, record producer, occasional rapper, and entrepreneur.^[2] In 2008, he released his debut album Departure, which Cruz wrote, arranged and produced himself. It achieved initial success in the United Kingdom and earned him a MOBO Award nomination. In June 2010, Cruz released his follow-up album Rokstarr, which includes the number one singles "Break Your Heart" and "Dynamite". Cruz has collaborated with Kesha and Fabolous on the single "Dirty Picture", as well as Kylie Minogue and Travie McCoy on his single "Higher". Additionally, Cruz penned and recorded the song "Telling the World" as the lead single from the soundtrack to the 2011 animated film Rio.

Biography[link]

Early life and career beginnings[link]

Cruz was born in London, to a Nigerian father and a Brazilian mother called Beatriz Vitoria Olivera Bennati^[2], from Rio de Janeiro.^[3] He attended Bilton Grange, a private prep school in Rugby, Warwickshire.^[4]

Cruz began writing songs when he was 12. His songwriting career began at age 19 as part of Tricky Stewart's writing collective, RedZone Entertainment.^[5] Cruz achieved notability in 2005 when he was awarded a BRIT Award for co-writing Will Young's 2004 single, "Your Game".^[6] Cruz is the founder and chief executive of Rokstarr Music London, which in 2006 released his debut single "I Just Wanna Know". The single attracted significant attention from radio, and also from music industry insiders, who were already well aware of the artist's potential; manager Jamie Binns, who began representing Cruz at this time, later told HitQuarters: "He was a guy that everyone had earmarked to do damage in the future."^[7] Although the single received a reasonable amount of radio airplay, it did not perform as well as expected in either territory.^[7] However, rather than lose faith in Cruz, the labels were eager to negotiate an album deal, as by this time they had listened to his other songs and were ever more convinced by his capability.^[7]

Cruz's admirers included Island Records's Darcus Beese and \sex Monte Lipman, who, according to Binns, "both believed 'I Just Wanna Know' fitted the format on both sides of the Atlantic."^[7] In 2006, Cruz signed a split single deal with Universal Music Group companies, Republic Records and the UK branch of Island Records.

[edit] 2006–2008: Departure

Taio Cruz released his second single "Moving On" in September 2007 haö

which made the top 30 in the UK. In March 2008 his next single, "Come On Girl," featuring Luciana, peaked at No. 5 on the UK charts. The related album Departure appeared on 17 March and peaked at No. 17.[8][9] This was followed by the single "I Can Be," which reached No. 18 in May. On 18 August, "She's Like a Star" was released, which was a remix of the previous single and featured American rapper Busta Rhymes and girl-group Sugababes. The remix later appeared on the Sugababes studio album Catfights & Spotlights, which peaked at No. 20. It was later revealed that Cruz narrowly missed out on the chance to record the song "Umbrella" which was eventually recorded by Rihanna and ended up topping charts around the world.[5]

[edit] 2009–2011: Rokstarr, international breakthrough and The Rokstarr Collection

Cruz was featured on Tinchy Stryder's breakout single "Take Me Back" which peaked at No. 3 in the UK Singles Chart. According to Cruz's official Myspace blog, as of 1 January 2009, Rokstarr Music London officially changed its name to Rokstarr Entertainment Division and abbreviated to R.E.D Inc.^{[citation needed]} During 2009, he worked on his follow-up album entitled Rokstarr.^[10] It was released on 12 October through R.E.D Inc/Island Records and is entirely written and produced by Cruz, with co-writes and co-productions predominantly with UK producer Fraser T. Smith. The album's lead single "Break Your Heart" was released on 14 September and reached number one in the UK, where it stayed for three weeks.^[8] The success of the song attracted the attention of David Massey and Daniel Werner from Mercury/Island Def Jam who were excited and aggressive about releasing "Break Your Heart" in the US on their label.^[7] According to Cruz's manager Jamie Binns, the relationship with Monte Lipman at Universal Republic had "gone a bit quiet" by this point and as Taio wanted to be with the label that was most enthusiastic about his music, a move from Universal Republic to Mercury/Island Def Jam was engineered.^[7]

The single reached the top spot in the U.S. for one week on the Billboard charts.^[11] In an interview with The Guardian, it was stated that "Cruz was clever to have hooked up with a US rapper Ludacris on his breakthrough hit".^[12] In order to introduce Cruz into the US market, David Massey had suggested that the single feature an American rapper with chart credibility.^[7] The album spawned two other UK singles, "No Other One", and the top-ten hit "Dirty Picture" featuring American electropop singer Kesha. The album's fourth single (second in the US) titled "Dynamite" debuted at 26 ^[11] and despite peaking at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100, "Dynamite" peaked at number 1 on U.S. top 40 earning Cruz his second US number 1 record.

Rokstarr was followed by the compilation album The Rokstarr Collection which includes songs both from Departure and the international version of Rokstarr.^[13] Cruz later released four versions of his single "Higher" - one featuring Kylie Minogue, one featuring Travie McCoy, one featuring both, and one with just himself. Cruz has also been featured on the soundtrack of American reality TV series Jersey Shore.^[14]

[edit] 2011-present: TY.O

In March 2011, Cruz premiered an all-new song, entitled "Telling the World", which was written by Cruz and Alan Kasiyre for the Rio soundtrack. The track was not featured on any of Cruz's prior studio albums.^[15] On 23 May 2011, Cruz received his first billboard award in the United States, and announced live on stage that his third album would be released in the fourth quarter of 2011, and would be entitled Black and Leather.^[16] In June 2011, Cruz released a collaborative single, "Little Bad Girl", with French DJ David Guetta and American rapper Ludacris. The song was a worldwide smash, topping singles charts across the world.^[17] During July and August 2011, a series of unreleased songs, recorded during the album sessions, were leaked to YouTube. in an interview, Cruz promised a "fun" and "energetic" album, and claimed that due to the leak, none of the tracks posted on YouTube would be included on the album. Cruz claimed, "It's a shame really, because one person has spoilt it for all the fans. They could have had an album packed with 17, 18 tracks, and now, they're only getting eleven because of one stupid act of tomfooolery."^[18] During the interview, Cruz also claimed that the title of the album had been changed, and the album was now entitled Troublemaker, after one of the tracks included on the album. On 4 October 2011, the single "Hangover" was officially released in Germany and the United States, and it was rumoured that a solo version of the song, that features on the physical release, would be included as a bonus track on the album. However, these rumours were later quashed.^[19]. Around October 2011, the album was made available for pre-order, and as such, the album's final title, TY.O, was revealed. Cruz, via his Twitter account, made the decision to name the album TY.O after he expressed his annoyance at people constantly pronouncing his name wrong. The album was first released in Germany on December 2, 2011. It will be released in the United Kingdom on December 31, 2012. It was going to release in the US on May 17, 2012, but, now it has yet to be released.

Writing and production[link]

Cruz has written songs on albums by Cheryl Cole, JLS, The Saturdays, The Wanted and David Guetta. Cruz wrote and featured on Tinchy Stryder's hit single "Take Me Back". Pop rock band McFly recorded "Shine a Light" which not only features, but was also penned and produced by Cruz for their fifth studio album.^[20] 2011 will see him writing for Justin Bieber's next album.^[21] Jennifer Lopez's 2011 single "I'm Into You", featuring Lil Wayne, is also penned by Cruz. He also contributed significantly to David Guetta's fifth album Nothing but the Beat, penning two of his hit singles "Without You", featuring Usher and "Little Bad Girl", featuring Cruz himself and Ludacris.

Other ventures[link]

Rokstarr brand[link]

On 1 September 2009, Cruz launched the brand Rokstarr; the fashion and accessories brand has a focus on sunglasses. Musicians & Artists such as Kanye West, Shontelle, Keri Hilson, Steves Peeps and Kelly Rowland have been seen wearing them. Speaking in October to R&B writer Pete Lewis, Cruz stated: "There's a load of US celebrities that are all rocking the sunglasses already – Kid Cudi, Justin Timberlake, Kanye West... Then in the UK we have The Saturdays, JLS, Daniel Merriweather – who've all been twittering and writing on their blogs how much they love them. So yeah, it's definitely my new album 'Rokstarr' and the fashion brand that are my two main focuses at the moment."^[22]

Meanwhile, speaking again to Lewis in April 2010, Cruz revealed: "We're currently looking to expand the brand and possibly go into things like watches. I've also got a new subsidiary of Rokstarr called 'Rok By Rokstarr'. And we've just started doing things like jeans and T-shirts, and stuff that more of the fans of Taio Cruz can buy. Because with Rokstarr in itself being so expensive, a lot of the kids out there who want to buy Rokstarr things can't. So we're bringing in stuff that's a little bit more High Street and more affordable."^[23]

Discography[link]

• Departure (2008)
• Rokstarr (2009)
• TY.O (2011)

Awards and nominations[link]

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (April 2011)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Taio Cruz at the Internet Movie Database
• [1]
• Taio Cruz on justRHYMES.com
• Taio Cruz 'Blues & Soul' interview by Pete Lewis February 2008
• Taio Cruz at Billboard.com

Emraan Anwar Hashmi (Hindi: इमरान हाशमी Urdu: عمران انور ہاشمی; (born 24 March 1979) is an Indian actor who appears in Bollywood films. His successful films include Murder, Gangster (2006), Jannat, Raaz – The Mystery Continues,Awarapan,Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai,Murder 2,The Dirty Picture and Jannat 2. He has established himself as one of the industry's successful actors,^[1] and one of the most popular Indian film actors in Pakistan.^[2] He was chosen as the brand ambassador of LG mobile company in Pakistan.^[3]

Early life[link]

Hashmi was born to Anwar Hashmi and Maherah Hashmi.^[4] After briefly changing his first name to Farhan, he decided to keep his original name but later he changed his name as Emraan Hashmi .^[4]

Career[link]

Debut & Breakthrough (2003-2009)[link]

Hashmi entered Bollywood at the age of 18, as an assistant director on Raaz.^[5] He made his film debut in 2003 with the film Footpath, opposite Aftab Shivdasani, Bipasha Basu and Rahul Dev. Footpath did not do well at the box office.^[6]

In 2004, he and his co-star Mallika Sherawat shot to fame with the thriller Murder, which became a super hit at the box office. It was Hashmi's first release of the year and his second film. It became the tenth-highest grossing movie of the year.^[7]

In 2005, Hashmi appeared in several films such as Zeher, Kalyug,^[8] which did moderately well at the box office.^[9] He became notable as the "Serial Kisser" for his sex scenes in films.

In 2006, his film Gangster, opposite Shiney Ahuja and debutant Kangana Ranaut, was a semi-hit at the box office.^[10] His performance in it earned him a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Negative Role in 2007.

In 2007, Hashmi had three back-to-back releases: Good Boy Bad Boy, Awarapan and The Train. All failed at the box office.

In 2008, Hashmi had only one release, Jannat, opposite debutant Sonal Chauhan, which had a 100% opening, making it a critical and commercial success.^[11][12]

His first release in 2009, Raaz – The Mystery Continues, opened well and became the first box-office success of the year.^[13] His second film of the year, Tum Mile opposite Soha Ali Khan, opened to mixed reviews and was rated a box office failure.^[14]

Success (2010–present)[link]

In 2010, he appeared in Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai, which opened to positive reviews and was declared a hit at the box office.^[15][16] He was nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor.

In 2011, he starred in Mohit Suri's Murder 2, a sequel to the 2004 thriller Murder. The film opened well and was declared a blockbuster.^[17] His next film The Dirty Picture was released on 2 December 2011. The film received positive reviews from critics and was also a blockbuster worldwide, making it Hashmi's second success in a row.^[18][19]

His latest film, Jannat 2, has received mixed to negative review but nevertheless performed well at box office.^[20] The film gave Emraan Hashmi a triple success hattrick in a row. He is currently working on Shanghai, Rush and Raaz 3D^[21].^[22].Emraan Hashmi has also starred in the C.I.D (T.V.Serial) as Abraham.The Episode is named as "Raaz Khooni Awaaz Ka".It was broadcasted on 2 December 2011.

Personal life[link]

Hashmi graduated from Sydenham College in Mumbai, India.^[23] Pooja Bhatt, an actress turned writer and director, and director Mohit Suri are his cousins, while producers Mahesh and Mukesh Bhatt are his uncles.^[24] Hashmi married his long-time girlfriend Parveen Shahani on 14 December 2006.^[25] He became father to a baby boy on 4 February 2010 and named him Ayaan.^[26]

Awards and nominations[link]

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Emraan Hashmi at the Internet Movie Database
• Emraan Hashmi Short Bio

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]