Vidya Balan in conversation with Faye D’Souza in Chennai on Friday. | Photo credit: R Ravindran
Coming from a traditional family background and being typecast in her early days in the industry, actress Vidya Balan has spent most of her career breaking the mold. In conversation with journalist Faye D’Souza at an evening prepared for invited guests The Hindu Lit for LifeMs Balan traced her journey.
“I belong to a typical Brahmin family where joining the film industry was never an option. Like most parents, I was not in favor of joining the industry. However, as a child, I was Madhuri Dixit. I grew up watching him dance. one two Three And that instilled in me a burning desire to dance and act,” she reminisced.
As a film buff himself, he shared that his favorite film was one starring Kamal Haasan. Michael Madna Kama RajanWhile his favorite song is Aduthathu Ambujatha PathilaFrom Edhir Nechal.
Ms. Balan’s first audition was for a television show. “In 1995, I auditioned. We punch. I went to Film City with my mom and sister, and we waited all day. She eventually got a role, but had to give it up, as her attendance at college was abysmal and her parents told her in no uncertain terms that she could not compromise her studies.
The actress spoke about being dropped from several films because she was considered a jinx after her first film with a famous director closed. “When another producer replaced me in a film, he couldn’t tell me I was a jinx. Instead he said I didn’t look like heroine material. He made me feel so ugly. That, for six months, I couldn’t bring myself to look in the mirror,” said Ms Balan.
Finally, his big break came Parineeta, and never looked back. “I didn’t choose. Parineeta; Parineeta Chose me,” she said. After being typecast as the typical girl-next-door in many films, she got the chance to play offbeat roles in films. Ishqiya And The Dirty PictureWhere she played the role of actress Silk Smitha.
If given the opportunity, her ambition is to portray renowned Carnatic musician MS Subulakshmi, another South Indian woman who broke the mold.
