Dressed in a red Banarasi sari, Vidya Balan enthusiastically soaked in the Durga Puja festivities at the Chembur Durga Puja Association. The actress, who believes, “Ami mon theke Bengali (I am a Bengali at heart)”, immersed herself into the celebrations – from blowing the conch, playing the dhak to gorging on some irresistible Bengali mishti. She talks to us about her connect with Durga Puja, her Bengaliness and how Satyajit Ray has a role to play in her love for Bengali culture.

While growing up, Vidya was more familiar with Navratri than Durga Pujo. She tells us, “We celebrated Navratri every year in the South Indian way. For us, Navratri meant ‘girl time’. My mom would call her female friends and their girls over for haldi kumkum and we would visit others too. My first visit to a Durga Pujo pandal was only in my early 20s. I’d done a music video, Kabhi Aana Tu Meri Gali, with Euphoria and Pradeep Sarkar (director of Parineeta). Since I lived in Chembur, dada’s then assistant Paula, invited me to this pandal because she was going to be singing here.”

As she revisits this pandal after 20 years, Vidya gets nostalgic. She says, “The image of Durga Maa instantly called out to me. What Durga Maa stands for resonated with me at a very deep level, even before I could articulate it or understand it. I’ve been fortunate to explore various facets of Durga Maa in some of my most popular films.”

The Kahaani actress loves the khichuri along with begun bhaja (brinjal fry) bhog served during pujo. One of the other highlights is, of course, dressing up in gorgeous saris. “I love wearing saris with the red bindi, and hair left loose, and now I also have my own shakha pola (the traditional Bengali white and red bangles). Bengalis are known for their beautiful women and their beautiful weaves. I wear all kinds of saris, but I love Bengali saris, the Dhakai, Baluchari and even the simple Bengal cotton saris. I remember on one of my early trips to Kolkata, I had gone to Punjabi House at Gariahat and bought my mom a sari for Rs. 135, and she still has it.”

Apart from the grand celebrations, the festival is also a tribute to the divine feminine, Maa Durga. Vidya shares, “I see Navratri and Durga Pujo as a celebration of the divine feminine and the power of Shakti. I guess my sister and I have imbibed that from my mother. Growing up, I had examples of a lot of strong women in my life, including my mother, aunts, neighbours and sister, who I’ve always said is my hero. They are all delicate, simple women, but women with a lot of strength. So, when you grow up with such role models, you believe that you can do whatever you want to do in life and that femininity is not an appendage, it is powerful.”

Vidya has had a strong association with Bengal and its culture. In one of her most outstanding performances, Kahaani, she was called Vidya Bagchi, and the final moment in the film culminated in a Dashami scene. She made her acting debut with a Bengali film, Bhalo Theko, and then her Bollywood debut with Parineeta, which was set in Bengal.

She says, “There’s something about the Bengali culture that just feels very familiar. You know, I visited Kolkata for the first time only in 2003, but the moment I went there, it felt like this was also home. I’ve also shot a lot of important films in my career, including Bhalo Theko (2003), Parineeta (2005), Kahaani (2012), Kahaani 2 (2016) and Te3n (2016) in Kolkata.”

“I think Satyajit Ray also has a role to play in my love for Bengali culture. I’ve watched a lot of Bengali films, and I know some songs and rhymes (like aabol-taabol) too. I couldn’t have imagined that my film debut would be in the land of Ray. I didn’t get an opportunity to work with him, but I’ve had a lot of people tell me that I look like one of his favourites, Madhabi Mukherjee (laughs)!”