Vidya Balan spent the last few months promoting two films — The Dirty Picture (2011) and Kahaani (2012) — back-to-back, almost single-handedly. It was hectic and crazy. She is exhausted. The National Award winning actor has been working non-stop since December 2009 and now wants a vacation. She wants to read, listen to music, catch up on movies, spend time with her loved ones and sleep! Her parents have threatened to lock her in if she doesn't rest. Also Vidya had put on 12 kilos for The Dirty Picture, and hence she wants to hit the gym.
A few days back, she wrapped up the shoot for an item song for mentor-producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra's Ferrari Ki Sawari. Her moves are aggressive and the song oozes sensuality. It was difficult to do even with a Lavani dancer on the sets, but it's Vidya's favourite form and she enjoyed it. She has been getting plenty of scripts and she will go through them in her free time. Her next film, Ghanchakkar, will flag off in August-September. The actor is still open to exciting offers. She has been itching to do a comedy and she is glad it's with Rajkumar Gupta with whom she made No One Killed Jessica (2011).
Vidya was greatly praised for her portrayal of 80s soft porn star Silk Smitha. And next she came up with another brilliant performance in the film Kahaani. Many refer to Vidya as India's finest method actors. She has both imagination and intelligence. She is Indian cinema's feminist icon. She has filled a position left vacant by Tabu and before her, Shabana Azmi and Smita Patil. Some media persons refer to her as the fourth Khan after the release of The Dirty Picture, despite the strongly woman-centric roles she has played over the last few years.
Vidya badly needed a mainstream hit like The Dirty Picture and she got it. It was natural that when rare films such as The Dirty Picture or Kahaani got released, the Indian audiences and critics went overboard with their praise. Vidya plays 'Vidya' in two of her most prominent films, a rare privilege reserved for stars of some standing.
Vidya's role of Silk Smitha in The Dirty Picture was equally appreciated as Shabana Azmi's role as the hurt wife in Masoom or Smita Patil's spirited portrayal as a sex worker in Mandi or Kalki Koechlin's roles in That Girl in Yellow Boots and Shaitan.
Vidya deserves her Best Actress National Award because she had risked her credibility by portraying an unglamorous star living in the shadow of infamy. The belly fat was real and so were the layers she brought to the character. And then came Kahaani in which too she gave a brilliant performance. When she made her entry in the film Salaam-e-Ishq as John Abraham's girlfriend, her fresh innocence was startlingly similar to her character in Lage Raho Munnabhai. She did have her share of flops like Heyy Babyy and Eklavya but she didn't bother about them and continued her pursuit to achieve excellence. The best thing is she proved to be a success ultimately.
Meryl Streep is considered as one of the world's finest actors and nominated for an Academy Award 17 times before she won her second Best Actress award for The Iron Lady, a biopic of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. She is a perfectionist. She can imitate any dialect and she is said to have sat through a session at the House of Commons to observe British MPs while preparing for Iron Lady. Vidya prepared for The Dirty Picture in similar manner. Only great actresses like Nargis, Smita, Shabana, Madhubala and Meena Kumari would prepare that way. Vidya is rightly considered as a bankable actor who can carry a film on her shoulder. She should keep accepting such roles like the ones in The Dirty Picture and Kahaani in future too since she is very comfortable while playing such roles.
Director of the film Kahaani Sujoy Ghosh was committed to work with Vidya Balan for a long time, and she'is one of the few actresses in the industry, who's comfortable with making changes to her body. But that was not why Sujoy picked her to play the character of a pregnant woman. He simply wanted to work with her. She's a character-driven actress. If she agrees to portray, say, a ramp model, she'll do whatever her character demands. Vidya is also the most fearless woman you'll meet. When Sujoy would tell her during shoot, "Please go walk amidst the crowd," she'd go. The ease with which she did so, helped her blend in. The people on the streets wouldn't realize a film shoot is going on, till they would see the camera. She isn't the sort of actor, who comes with an entourage. She would arrive in an MUV, do her make-up and change in the car, and step out.
Kolkata is not the first city that comes to mind, when you think about crime. But Sujoy's film Kahaani is as much about Vidya as it is about a city and its streets. The movie is the story of one woman pitted against this mass, the only sad soul in the midst of happy people. That made Vidya's character stand out.
The question that is commonly asked is whether Kareena Kapoor's Heroine will beat Vidya Balan's Kahaani? After an age-long rule of the male stars in Bollywood, the current woman-centric scripts have paved a way to the actresses to play central characters in films. The current scenario is such that the actresses are at par with each other with the power of such challenging movies.
Vidya Balan's back to back success The Dirty Picture and Kahaani might face a threat from Kareena Kapoor's upcoming Heroine, since all these movies are based on female-centric themes. Vidya is now basking in the success of two superb movies The Dirty Picture and Kahaani.
But reports say that Madhur Bhandarkar's Heroine is one of the finest female centric scripts Bollywood has ever seen. In fact the filmmaker has even promised that the world will see Kareena as never before. While Vidya's performance is being talked about so much for Kahaani, Kareena's glamorous avatar is such that there would be fireworks all over again with Heroine.
Both the stories are based on different story lines, while a pregnant Vidya in Kahaani runs for her missing husband, Mahie Khanna (Kareena) in Heroine traces the meteoric rise and tragic downfall of the fictitious actress.
Anyway, Vidya had never been so much on top in Bollywood anytime before. She is indeed showing signs of retaining her position on top for many more days, possibly months, to come. Good luck, Vidya!
A few days back, she wrapped up the shoot for an item song for mentor-producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra's Ferrari Ki Sawari. Her moves are aggressive and the song oozes sensuality. It was difficult to do even with a Lavani dancer on the sets, but it's Vidya's favourite form and she enjoyed it. She has been getting plenty of scripts and she will go through them in her free time. Her next film, Ghanchakkar, will flag off in August-September. The actor is still open to exciting offers. She has been itching to do a comedy and she is glad it's with Rajkumar Gupta with whom she made No One Killed Jessica (2011).
Vidya was greatly praised for her portrayal of 80s soft porn star Silk Smitha. And next she came up with another brilliant performance in the film Kahaani. Many refer to Vidya as India's finest method actors. She has both imagination and intelligence. She is Indian cinema's feminist icon. She has filled a position left vacant by Tabu and before her, Shabana Azmi and Smita Patil. Some media persons refer to her as the fourth Khan after the release of The Dirty Picture, despite the strongly woman-centric roles she has played over the last few years.
Vidya badly needed a mainstream hit like The Dirty Picture and she got it. It was natural that when rare films such as The Dirty Picture or Kahaani got released, the Indian audiences and critics went overboard with their praise. Vidya plays 'Vidya' in two of her most prominent films, a rare privilege reserved for stars of some standing.
Vidya's role of Silk Smitha in The Dirty Picture was equally appreciated as Shabana Azmi's role as the hurt wife in Masoom or Smita Patil's spirited portrayal as a sex worker in Mandi or Kalki Koechlin's roles in That Girl in Yellow Boots and Shaitan.
Vidya deserves her Best Actress National Award because she had risked her credibility by portraying an unglamorous star living in the shadow of infamy. The belly fat was real and so were the layers she brought to the character. And then came Kahaani in which too she gave a brilliant performance. When she made her entry in the film Salaam-e-Ishq as John Abraham's girlfriend, her fresh innocence was startlingly similar to her character in Lage Raho Munnabhai. She did have her share of flops like Heyy Babyy and Eklavya but she didn't bother about them and continued her pursuit to achieve excellence. The best thing is she proved to be a success ultimately.
Meryl Streep is considered as one of the world's finest actors and nominated for an Academy Award 17 times before she won her second Best Actress award for The Iron Lady, a biopic of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. She is a perfectionist. She can imitate any dialect and she is said to have sat through a session at the House of Commons to observe British MPs while preparing for Iron Lady. Vidya prepared for The Dirty Picture in similar manner. Only great actresses like Nargis, Smita, Shabana, Madhubala and Meena Kumari would prepare that way. Vidya is rightly considered as a bankable actor who can carry a film on her shoulder. She should keep accepting such roles like the ones in The Dirty Picture and Kahaani in future too since she is very comfortable while playing such roles.
Director of the film Kahaani Sujoy Ghosh was committed to work with Vidya Balan for a long time, and she'is one of the few actresses in the industry, who's comfortable with making changes to her body. But that was not why Sujoy picked her to play the character of a pregnant woman. He simply wanted to work with her. She's a character-driven actress. If she agrees to portray, say, a ramp model, she'll do whatever her character demands. Vidya is also the most fearless woman you'll meet. When Sujoy would tell her during shoot, "Please go walk amidst the crowd," she'd go. The ease with which she did so, helped her blend in. The people on the streets wouldn't realize a film shoot is going on, till they would see the camera. She isn't the sort of actor, who comes with an entourage. She would arrive in an MUV, do her make-up and change in the car, and step out.
Kolkata is not the first city that comes to mind, when you think about crime. But Sujoy's film Kahaani is as much about Vidya as it is about a city and its streets. The movie is the story of one woman pitted against this mass, the only sad soul in the midst of happy people. That made Vidya's character stand out.
The question that is commonly asked is whether Kareena Kapoor's Heroine will beat Vidya Balan's Kahaani? After an age-long rule of the male stars in Bollywood, the current woman-centric scripts have paved a way to the actresses to play central characters in films. The current scenario is such that the actresses are at par with each other with the power of such challenging movies.
Vidya Balan's back to back success The Dirty Picture and Kahaani might face a threat from Kareena Kapoor's upcoming Heroine, since all these movies are based on female-centric themes. Vidya is now basking in the success of two superb movies The Dirty Picture and Kahaani.
But reports say that Madhur Bhandarkar's Heroine is one of the finest female centric scripts Bollywood has ever seen. In fact the filmmaker has even promised that the world will see Kareena as never before. While Vidya's performance is being talked about so much for Kahaani, Kareena's glamorous avatar is such that there would be fireworks all over again with Heroine.
Both the stories are based on different story lines, while a pregnant Vidya in Kahaani runs for her missing husband, Mahie Khanna (Kareena) in Heroine traces the meteoric rise and tragic downfall of the fictitious actress.
Anyway, Vidya had never been so much on top in Bollywood anytime before. She is indeed showing signs of retaining her position on top for many more days, possibly months, to come. Good luck, Vidya!
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