Vidya Balan on her early struggles as an actress and how it helped forge a bond with her screen alter ego in her next, based on the Mars Orbiter mission
Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 12, 2019)

Today, who doesn’t know Vidya Balan. She is the lovelorn Lolita of Parineeta, the desi siren of Ishqiya, The Dirty Picture’s unabashed Silk, the surprise twist of Kahaani and housewife-next-door of Tumhari Sulu with a call-in-the-night radio show. And these are just some of her screen turns which have made the National Award-winning actress a household name. But there was a time when her aspirations made her cry.

“Coming from a non-filmi family I had no idea how to go about becoming an actress, yet I wanted to be one. It worried my family, though they have always supported me. It must have come as a relief to them when my first TV show, La Bella, shut down after a few months. They must have thought, ‘Chalo, abhi to bhoot utar jayega,’” she reminisces.

But Vidya continued to chase after her celluloid pipedream, despite friends telling her she needed to her studies or at least a back-up plan in plac She did enroll for her Masters to keep herself occupied after some of the offers she had been banking on fizzled out. “It was three years of constant rejections from down South and there were days when I would go to sleep in tears. But next morning, I and smiling, hop something good would happen, and Parineeta did,” she smiles. Perhaps it was her real-life struggle, along with the fact that in the last decade she has spearheaded many films which can get frustrating when things are not going right, that helped Vidya forge an instant connection with Tara Shinde, her character in the upcoming Mission Mangal. The Independence Day-release is inspired by India’s Mars Orbiter Mission which had once seemed like an impossible dream too. “But even when the challenges seem insurmountable, Tara refuses to give up,” says Vidya, pointing to the similarities between herself and her screen alter ego.

You wonder if as a child she had wanted to be an astronaut and reach for the stars, and she laughs, “The closest I have come to that is being on the sets of this film. In fact, I was nervous about spouting all the technical jargon because these concepts were so alien to me. I spent hours reading and watching the videos Jagan (Shakti, director) had given me for my prep.”

Her journey with co-star Akshay Kumar goes back to 2007, Heyy Babyy and Bhool Bhulaiyaa. How much has he changed in the years since, you wonder, and Vidya admits she was thinking the same thing before they started shooting. “But I quickly discovered that the madness is intact, while interestingly, Akshay has reinvented himself as an actor, exploring different genres, moving from action and comedy to socially relevant subjects which he feels strongly about. Which is perhaps why these films are working for him,” Vidya reasons. And for her, how different was it moving from a woman centric film to a women centric one? Vidya is quick to correct you, pointing out that both genders contributed equally to the Mars mission, though the five women, played by her, Taapsee Pannu, Sonakshi Sinha, Nithya Menen and Kirti Kulhari, have a significant role to play in this narrative. “Personally, I like all the girls and the work they are doing. All of us in our own ways are trying to push the envelope and do something interesting,” she avers.

Next up for her is the Shakuntala Devi biopic which kicks soon. Vidya admits that since it was reported that she is doing the film, several people, including her Kahaani director, Sujoy Ghosh, have told her that they had met the mathematician, and all of them have an interesting story to tell about the ‘human computer’. “For me, Shakuntala Devi was just a photograph in the newspapers—her head slightly tilted, a smile playing on her lips and a bindi dotting her forehead. Since I am a South Indian, academics come easily to me, still when I heard the narration, I was left gobsmacked!” she exclaims. Prod her on what impressed her the most, and she says, “She wasn’t only about numbers, she had a wicked sense of humour too.”

There was a time when Vidya was offered as many as eight biopics, but apart from the one on M S Subbulakshmi, which has hit a roadblock, she steered clear of the rest. “It’s not enough to just make a film on an imposing personality. The person should have a story to tell too,” she explains, sighing over the fact that she’d been approached for a Meena Kumari biopic soon after The Dirty Picture, and since their trajectories were similar, she’d turned it down. “Since then no one else has come forward, but I’d still love to play my favourite actress on screen.”

For now, she is working towards resurrecting our former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on screen, after having bought the rights to Sagarika Ghose’s book, Indira—India’s Most Powerful Prime Minister. “The project is not likely to take off soon, it needs a lot of work. The material is vast, Ronnie Screwvala is helping me figure out what we want to tell,” Vidya informs.

The high for now is that after several misses in the early stages of her career, she has just featured in her first Tamil film, the remake of Shoojit Sircar’s Pink. “I worshipped Sridevi as an actress and for the love I have for her and my affection for Boney Kapoor (who produced the film), I agreed to a special appearance,” she points out, as she gets ready to blast off into space with another mission impossible. 

Sonil Dedhia (MID-DAY; November 12, 2017)

The first poster of your upcoming film, Tumhari Sulu, saw you wearing a cape on a sari. Was it an intentional move to show that middle- class women can develop wings to fly and do more rather than just being housewives?
We wanted to show that a homemaker is a superwoman. It was not part of the original script. One day, the director [Suresh Triveni] and I were talking about our mums and how they did all the work, but never complained. Even if they were sick, they would send their kids to school and cook. This was our way to pay tribute to them. My character is content being a homemaker, but she aspires to try out new things. She is an enthu cutlet. On the first day at work, she feels like a superwoman because she realises she can do so many things.

Do you remember your first day at work?
It was for the shoot of a shoe brand. I thought people would come and say, 'She is lady Amitabh Bachchan or the new Shabana Azmi [laughs]'. I was on cloud nine. I was about to turn 16 and this was something I wanted to do for the longest time. I was nervous, yet excited because I thought this was my chance to conquer the world. Unfortunately, the ad never came on air [laughs].

Could you relate to the character in a better way since you come from a similar background?
I come from a middle-class South Indian family where acting was not even a thought. I consider myself blessed to have parents who understood the dreams and aspirations their daughters had. I value every single day when I go to work or even when I am promoting my films or brands because this is what I've wanted all my life. When I started out, I was even more enthusiastic as I didn't have anyone to guide me and it was like discovering something new every day.

Your chemistry with co-actor Manav Kaul stands out in the trailer.
Normally, we have seen in films that couples are always unhappy with each other after marriage. But, our characters are completely different. We are happily married for 12 years, which is normally the case in society. It was the director's call to cast Manav. I had loved him in 'Kai Po Che' (2013). He has either done negative characters or serious roles. The director called us and took our pictures together. I remember Manav cracked a bad joke and I burst out laughing and that was it. We never did anything special to get the chemistry. It was organic. It was effortless to work with him.

You've been married for five years. How do you keep the romance alive despite a hectic schedule?
Because we have a hectic schedule and spend less time together our romance is going strong [laughs]. Every relationship requires work to keep the spark alive. In a normal scenario, a couple dates for a few years and then gets married - that is when they start taking each other for granted. When you are occupied with work, it teaches you not to take your partner for granted. It may seem complex, but it is easy to be a happy couple and stay like that despite the ups and downs in life.

We see Manav and you dancing on the bed and humming a song. Does that happen with your hubby Siddharth [Roy Kapur] too?
Yes, we do. There are times when we are listening to a song and we both start singing it or just remember the lyrics. It is fun. We have always been taught to lead a normal life; I am blessed to have a partner like him.

You mentioned that you felt like you would be the lady Amitabh Bachchan on your first day at work. With so many accolades coming your way do you feel that sense of achievement?
When you grow up, you realise there can only be one Amitabh. But, there is a sense of achievement because a lot of hard work has gone into being in the position I am today. I have had a phase where my films haven't worked, but I am grateful because I am living my dream of being an actor. It is heartbreaking when your films don't work, but the only way to keep going is to move forward. Earlier, I used to introspect a lot about what went wrong in a film but now I don't have any insecurities. I am secure about my relationship with my work.

What is the next big role that you are hunting for? There were rumours about you doing a Meena Kumari biopic.
I am no longer doing it. The script has to do justice. It can't be a sensational account of her life - that's why I opted out. But, given a chance, I would love to play her character as I had a girl crush on her. I've always been fascinated by her as a person and as an actor.

Nayandeep Rakshit (DNA; August 31, 2017)

A few months ago, Vidya Balan in an interview to this paper said that she wanted to play Meena Kumari on screen. The thought she put out in the universe, seems to be turning into reality now.

Says a source, “Vidya has been offered the biopic now. The makers feel she can perfectly portray the actress on screen and hence approached her for the biopic.” While Vidya is keen to do the film, she has not given a nod yet. “The actress has just wrapped Tumhari Sulu and she’s been receiving a lot of great scripts. This is one of them. The makers will now give her a proper narration and then, she will decide whether she will do it or not.”

But then, the film hit a road block as Meena Kumari’s step-son was against the idea of casting Kangana as his Chotti Ammi. He said that Kangana was ‘too modern’ to play the yesteryear actress and added that it required someone who was ‘traditional and a very strong personality.’ Guess, he can tick off both those boxes with Vidya!

PC missed the chance
In 2005, Priyanka Chopra was offered the chance to play Meena Kumari in a biopic by Pritish Nandy Communications. The film was to be a new adaptation of Bimal Mitra’s Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam. PC even did a photoshoot for the film, but it never got made. Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam then passed into the hands of Rituparno Ghosh, who directed a television series of the same, with Raveena Tandon playing chhoti bahu.

Apoorva Rao (DNA; April 18, 2015)


The director clarifies that there is no room for any objection. “We have the rights to the book by Vinod Mehta. The book has been in the public domain for over 20-25 years. If we are basing our entire film on the book, nobody should have an objection to that,” the National Award-winning director said.

The director also plans to discuss the film with the yesteryear actress’ family before going on floors. “We will approach Amrohi as he is her family and for our research and to get some details. We will not make the film without his blessings,” said Dhulia.

But the rights to the film was not the only contentious point as Amrohi also objected to casting Kangana Ranaut as his stepmom. He had said that the Queen actress is “anything but Meena Kumari and does not suit the role”. To add to the conflict, Amrohi himself is making a film on Meena Kumari’s life and has said that the shooting for the film, titled Meenabakamaal has already begun.

Ankur Pathak (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 20, 2015)\

Ankur Pathak (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 5, 2015)

Eepsita Guha (BOMBAY TIMES; August 18, 2014)

Subhash K Jha (DNA; August 14, 2014)

The only hitch seems the tumultuous history of conflict she shares with director Shashilal Nair. They were close friends. She did one of her best films, Grahan, with him. But In 2002, the two had a massive fall-out over the content of Ek Chhotisi Love Story. The controversial film Manisha starred in, and Nair directed, was about an adolescent’s wet-dreams about a sexy woman. Manisha accused Nair of doctoring the content and using a body-double to do the intimate shots. The matter got ugly and ruined their friendship.

Nair gave up films and this city and moved to England. Now Tajdar has brought him back to direct the Meena Kumari bio-pic.

Says Tajdar, “I could think of only two directors who could be on the same page as me on this. One is JP Dutta, who is busy with his own film, the other is Shashilal Nair. I tracked down Nair in Manchester. I wouldn’t take no for an answer or let him come later. He came back with me and we started work on the project immediately.”

He adds, “I’ve zeroed in on a particular actress and she has agreed. Nair had problems in the past, but I am telling him to forget what happened earlier and start afresh.”

Vickey Lalwani (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 11, 2014)