Madhureeta Mukherjee (BOMBAY TIMES; November 15, 2017)

The one thing you can’t miss about Vidya Balan is her fullthrottled laughter. It comes from the heart and that’s what makes you laugh along. It’s just like the way she plays her roles, with abandon. Not a shade of compromise. Whether she’s playing Silk or Sulu, she unleashes herself on screen fearlessly, letting her characters live long after the movie is over. With a spring in her steps, she talks about her upcoming Tumhari Sulu, directed by Suresh Triveni. Over a long chat and sips of nariyal paani, she tells us about her past, the voice women currently need to have in society and how to deal with scums at work. Read on...

Lately, the characters that you have portrayed onscreen were deep, intense, and even melodramatic (Begum Jaan, Kahaani 2, Te3n). After long, we will see you play a role that’s cheerful and vivacious Sometimes, it is nice to play a character that is closer to you in reality, isn’t it?
When Suresh (Triveni, director) narrated the story to me, I could see every character come alive. I could see the whole film in front of me. Usually I deliberate over scripts; this one was an instant ‘Yes’! Imagine hearing a one-line narration of a story, where a homemaker lands herself a job as a late night RJ. It is such an interesting visual — here is this woman doing household chores all day and turning into an RJ by night… and sexily saying, ‘Hello!’ You don’t reconsile these changes together. The script made me happy; it was pulsating with life. I like to believe that I am a happy person but after a certain age (and for me, post films like Bobby Jasoos and Hamari Adhuri Kahani, I’ve observed that people can’t see the more humorous side of you, unless you are being made fun of. However, new-age filmmakers are not limit ed in their thinking.

Women are stereotyped far than men. For instance, women often get to hear comments like ‘Oh, you don’t look married’ or ‘You don’t look like a mom’. Women are supposed to fit into a certain ‘type’ depending on their age, their relationship status and the phase of life that they are in. Of course, we are gradually breaking those stereotypes…
Yes, at this point, even in cinema, a lot of stereotypes are being broken. For instance, hats off to Ayushmann Khurrana for accepting a role like the one in Shubh Mangal Saavdhan, in a country where people don’t talk about such issues even with their partners. Fortunately, Suresh doesn’t associate interesting and exciting only with young people. As a woman, I feel as exciting, desirable and sexy as I did years ago.

That has not changed with time. Age, is a huge stereotype in our society. Someone recently asked me whether I had got any ‘jobs’ done. She said, ‘Don’t you think that it is important for a female actor to keep looking young?’ I told her that why should I want to age myself down, as long as I am feeling good and looking good? At 38, I am playing a role that is suitable to my age. Five years ago, I didn’t imagine that I would do the kind of work that I am doing today. I am playing my age onscreen, because someone has written that role for me. I am hoping that with time, the roles that I do also become as exiting and grow in that sense. I am not judging anyone who has got jobs done. If it works for them, it is great. I am comfortable being my age and looking my age on screen. Even if I wanted to, I could never play a 20-year-old (laughs).

Don’t you think that in urban India, the stereotypical concept of the housewife has also undergone a change to some extent? The preferred and better term (rightly so) is homemaker…
I have a huge problem with this term ‘housewife’. What is the meaning of housewife? Does it mean she is a wife who sits at home? Most often, they feel undervalued, because we undervalue them. Women also feel that they don’t have an identity outside of their husband. With Tumhari Sulu, we have toppled that entire stereotype. So what if Sulu is wearing a sari and doing household chores, she is a woman who has this zest for life. If that is the life which a woman wants, it is her choice, why should we judge her for it?

You come from a middle-class family and you have seen a fairly different life before you became a movie star. Would you say that the value system you imbibed from your earlier days still has a strong influence on you?
Yes, I come from a middle class family and there were times when we didn’t have as much, but I never felt the lack of it. We were happy with what we had and it was a completely joyous childhood. Often, people ask me if I always wanted to live by the beach, and my answer is — No! I never even thought of moving out of my childhood house in Chembur. I never thought of driving fancy cars and living in a big house. All I knew was that I wanted to be an actor; I didn’t think of what else came with it. I guess that is my upbringing. I was taught not to designate a (material) value to everything… ki itna ho toh achha hai. We were told, ‘Let it happen, maybe you will get more than you can imagine.’ That is exactly what has happened and I am grateful for it. My sister and I shared the load of the housework (like cleaning and sweeping) with my mom on days when the domestic help didn’t turn up. I remember, one of my teachers in the fourth grade telling me that you should always appreciate your mother for what she does, especially when she is at home. We often take our moms for granted and think that this is what she is meant to do. I have heard so many people say this about women, ‘Din bhar toh ghar pe baithi rehti hai’. What does baithi rehti hai mean? Even women say that about themselves, ‘Ki main toh sirf housewife hoon.' I tell them, 'sirf housewife hoon ka kya matlab hai?' They get this feeling that what they do for the house has no value.

Recently, after the Harvey Weinstein case made headlines, there has been an outpour by women on social media. The campaign #MeToo caught on and women started talking about their personal experiences that have scarred them. It is just a small step and it goes to show how uncomfortable we still are while talking about these issues.
Yes, it’s because women have always been told that, ‘It’s your fault’. Women are told not to wear short skirts and go out. And if we do, we are told, agar kissi ne haath lagaya, toh jaake mat bolna. We are told that we are the temptresses and we have provoked the men. There have been instances where even in rape cases, the woman has been blamed. Often, when a marriage doesn’t work, the tendency is to question the woman. Of course, today things are changing. I know that in a lot of cases, families say things like, ‘She was not adjusting enough. She was more focused on her career’. Talking about this case (Weinstein), imagine this happening in Hollywood, where you would think that with the kind of success and power they have, the women wouldn’t keep quiet. If someone propositioned me, I would kick him where it hurts. I have never had that experience, but I will admit that I have always been on the cautious side. If I ever feel that someone is not giving me that comfortable vibe, I walk away from there. Coming from a family that had no film connections, I was always scared. Initially, when I had to audition for advertisements, my mom would accompany me. Later, when I started doing films, she realised that it’s about how you handle yourself and by then, I had a team with me (make-up and hair staff), so I felt comfortable. In the beginning, I was always wary; in fact, I would never socialize with people or make friends at work. I think it stemmed from the fear that maybe if you are too friendly, people would misconstrue it. You don’t want to be in a situation where you think that a man propositioned you because you were over-friendly or over-familiar. I remember what had happened with John Abraham and me. I would keep laughing a lot with him, and we got along very well. Eventually, everyone thought that we were having an affair. So, on set I am friendly, but beyond that I still don’t socialise much.

But you have dropped your guard a little, and over the years, you have made friends in the industry. You are seen at B-Town parties along with your hubby, Siddharth Roy Kapur…
Now, I am a little better, but it has taken me so many years as I was always on the guard. I was always looking behind my shoulder. Sometimes, you might think that a person likes you, but because you have heard all sorts of stories, you are wondering if he is out to exploit you. I know that now no will take those chances with me; hence, I’m more comfortable. I completely understand the insecurity of girls who want to work here. Fortunately, my survival was taken care of and I never had to think of giving up my dream and going back to where I came from, if I didn’t get a pay cheque every month. That’s a privilege. I have seen cases where people have behaved absolutely well with me, and then behaved nastily with other girls. I tell those girls that don’t keep quiet, usko suna do. If you don’t want to make it a big issue, at least usko bol do ki he is scum, and that you don’t want this kind of work. I am aware that when it comes to speaking up, there is always a fear lurking that agar naam kharaab ho gaya, then people will look at you as a troublemaker and they wouldn’t want to work with you. We have heard of instances where married superstars have had affairs with actresses and then the actresses have gone out of work, because the rest of the industry shuns them. I remember telling someone down South while working on my first film that I don’t need the money, I am happy to work for free, but I will work on my own terms.

Exactly, you have set your own rules in the industry, whether it is the roles you pick, who you choose to work with, the way you style yourself — all of it. Isn’t that tougher, as you have no one to blame for your failure or success? In a sense, you are on your own.
Yes, and I am fine with it. I feel very proud of the fact that I have done it without any one person furthering my career, or having to depend on anyone. I am grateful for the opportunities and the people that came into my life, as each of us is a medium or instrument in another’s life. I’ve seen success and failure, but it’s my passion for what I do and my faith in myself that has brought me so far.

Even in your weakest moment, say after a film didn’t fare well, did you ever think, ‘I wish I had done a film with a superstar, instead’?
No! I have never regretted my choices or hoped that I had gone about my career differently. I evaluated my choices and asked myself some questions, but I never felt that I should have taken any other route. There are lots of benefits of doing the kind of films that others do and probably their success is that much larger, but I am happy where I am.

One role that changed that way you looked at your career?
Films like Heyy Babyy and Kismat Konnection. These films did well, but I wasn’t good in them, I was a source of embarrassment.

Tumhari Sulu is a light-hearted film, but have you ever thought of doing an all-out, madcap comedy?
I don’t mind doing a madcap comedy, as long as I have enough to do in it. In Tumhari Sulu, I got to do comedy. In Shaadi Ke Side Effects, the comedy was more driven by Farhan Akhtar’s character. There is rarely enough for female actors in terms of comedy, as we are only being reactors in such movies.