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Indian Desi Girl Photo Biography
Vidya Balan (pronounced born 1 January 1978[1]) is an Indian film actress who appears in Hindi, Bengali, and Malayalam language films. At age sixteen, Balan landed her first acting role, in the sitcom Hum Paanch (1995). After making several unsuccessful attempts to start a career in film, she acted in television commercials and music videos. In 2003, she made her feature film debut with the independent Bengali drama Bhalo Theko.
In 2005 Balan garnered praise for her first Hindi film, Parineeta, and followed it with a leading role in the blockbuster Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006). Her subsequent portrayal of glamorous characters in the films Heyy Babyy (2007) and Kismat Konnection (2008) met with negative comments from film critics. The year 2009, however, marked the beginning of the most successful period in Balan's career as she portrayed five consecutive roles to wide critical acclaim in Paa (2009), Ishqiya (2010), No One Killed Jessica (2011), The Dirty Picture (2011), and Kahaani (2012). These roles have earned her the tag of a "female hero" and established her as a leading contemporary actress of Hindi cinema.[2][3][4]
Balan has received one National Film Award, five Filmfare Awards and five Screen Awards. She initially drew criticism for her fluctuating weight and poor dress sense, but was later credited in the media for retaining her individuality and breaking stereotypes of a Hindi film heroine. Balan is a social activist and supports the empowerment of women. In December 2012, she married film producer Siddharth Roy Kapur.Vidya Balan was born on 1 January 1978 in Ottapalam, a town in the Palakkad District of Kerala, to P. R. Balan, currently the Executive Vice President of Digicable,[5] and Saraswathy Balan, a homemaker.[6][7] According to Balan, they speak a mix of Tamil and Malayalam at home; she is also well versed in Hindi, Marathi, English and Bengali.[8] Her elder sister, Priya Balan, works in the field of advertising.[6]
Balan grew up in the suburban neighbourhood of Chembur, Mumbai and was schooled at St. Anthony Girls' High School.[9][10] From a young age she aspired to a career in film and was inspired by the work of actors Shabana Azmi and Madhuri Dixit.[11][12] At the age of sixteen, she starred in the first season of Ekta Kapoor's sitcom Hum Paanch as Radhika, a bespectacled teenager.[13][14] Following the success of the show, Balan refused director Anurag Basu's offer to star in a television soap opera, as she wanted to concentrate on a film career.[15] Her parents were supportive of her decision but encouraged her to complete her education first,[11] so she attended St. Xavier's College to pursue a bachelor's degree in sociology and later earned a master's degree from the University of Mumbai.While pursuing her master's degree, Balan was cast as the female lead in the Malayalam film Chakram, opposite Mohanlal and was subsequently signed on for twelve other Malayalam language films.[11] However, due to production difficulties, Chakram was shelved.[18] The postponement of a film starring Mohanlal was an unheard of occurrence in Malayalam cinema and film producers blamed her for bringing "bad luck" to the project; labelled her as a "jinx" and replaced her in all the films that she had been contracted for.[11] She then shifted focus to Tamil cinema. In 2001, she was cast as the female lead in N. Linguswamy's Run (2002). However, after completing the first shooting schedule of the film, she was unceremoniously dropped and replaced by Meera Jasmine.[19] She was signed up under false pretences for a sex comedy, a genre she was then uncomfortable with, and thus decided to leave the project.[11] Thereafter, she signed on for a third Tamil film, Manasellam (2003), but was replaced by Trisha Krishnan as the director was dissatisfied with her work.[20] Her second Malayalam film Kalari Vikraman also went unreleased. [21]
After failing to start a film career, Balan appeared in approximately sixty television commercials and in music videos for Euphoria and Shubha Mudgal; a majority of these were directed by Pradeep Sarkar.[15][22] In 2003, she was signed on by Goutam Halder for his independent Bengali drama Bhalo Theko; her first film release.[23] Her portrayal of Anandi, a young woman reminiscing about her past, won her an Anandalok Purashkar for Best Actress.
In 2005, Balan made her Hindi film debut with Pradeep Sarkar's musical drama Parineeta. Before being cast for the film, Balan had to undergo extensive auditions for a period of 6 months.[18][25] The film, an adaptation of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's novel of the same name, narrated the love story of an idealist Lalita (Balan) and an egoist Shekhar (Saif Ali Khan), the son of a capitalist businessman.[26] Her performance in the film was praised by critics;[14] Derek Elley from Variety wrote, " An acting revelation is Tamil newcomer Balan, whose devoted but dignified Lalita is the picture's heart and soul."[27] Parineeta fetched her a Best Debut (Female) award and a nomination for Best Actress at the annual Filmfare Awards ceremony.[28]
The following year, Balan appeared opposite Sanjay Dutt in Rajkumar Hirani's comedy film Lage Raho Munna Bhai. She portrayed the role of Jhanvi, a radio jockey and the love interest of the protagonist Munna Bhai. To prepare for her role, she met with a couple of radio jockeys and watched them at work.[29] Her performance was critically well received,[30] and the film emerged as a blockbuster with gross earnings of 118.57 crore (US$22 million).[31]
In 2007, Balan featured in a supporting role in Mani Ratnam's semi-biographical drama Guru as a woman suffering from multiple sclerosis. The film, which starred Mithun Chakraborty, Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, and R. Madhavan in leading roles, performed well at the box office.[32] However, film critics Khalid Mohamed and Raja Sen noted that her "talent was wasted" in a "minuscule role".[33][34] Her next release was Nikhil Advani's Salaam-e-Ishq: A Tribute To Love, a romantic comedy featuring an ensemble cast, in which she was paired opposite John Abraham. The film, which narrated six individual love stories, saw Balan play the role of a television reporter, Tehzeeb Hussain, suffering from a memory loss condition. The film, which was a critical and commercial failure,[32] generated positive reviews for Balan. Sukanya Verma of Rediff.com wrote, "Vidya's transformation from a self-assured working woman to a helpless, vulnerable person is superb."[35]
Balan then took a supporting role in Vidhu Vinod Chopra's suspense thriller Eklavya: The Royal Guard, alongside Amitabh Bachchan, Boman Irani, Sharmila Tagore, Saif Ali Khan, and Sanjay Dutt. The film, which flopped commercially, met with positive critical reviews and was selected as India's official entry to the Oscars for the 80th Academy Awards.[36] She was later cast as Isha Sahni, a single mother, in Sajid Khan's Heyy Babyy, alongside co-stars Akshay Kumar, Ritesh Deshmukh, and Fardeen Khan. The comedy film was a box-office success,[32] but garnered negative reviews from critics, as did Balan's performance; CNN-IBN's Rajeev Masand criticised her wardrobe and make-up, and considered her the "sore thumb" of the film.[37][38]
Balan's final film in 2007 was Priyadarshan's psychological thriller Bhool Bhulaiyaa, a remake of the Malayalam film Manichitrathazhu (1993). Balan featured as Avani Chaturvedi (a character played by Shobana in the Malayalam original), a woman suffering from dissociative identity disorder.[39] Co-starring Shiney Ahuja, Akshay Kumar, and Ameesha Patel, Bhool Bhulaiyaa was a commercial success with a worldwide revenue of over 83 crore (US$15 million).[32] Reviewers, while being generally negative of the film, were appreciative of Balan's performance. Writing for Hindustan Times, Khalid Mohamed described her as "bankably likeable" and Bollywood Hungama's Taran Adarsh labelled her as "splendid".[40][41] The role earned Balan a second Filmfare nomination in the Best Actress category.[28]
In 2008's social film Halla Bol, Balan played a supporting role alongside Ajay Devgn and Pankaj Kapur. The film was based on the life of activist Safdar Hashmi, who was killed by political rivals while performing on a street play (by the name of Halla Bol) in 1989.[42] The film was a critical failure.[43] Later that year, she co-starred with Shahid Kapoor in Aziz Mirza's romantic comedy Kismat Konnection. A commercial failure,[44] the film and her performance generated a negative response; critic Sonia Chopra commented, "[Balan] is made to look downright drab. The haircut is unflattering, the make-up too plain, the clothes usually in off-white or brown. Plus the character is repetitive and reminds us of the one she played in Lage Raho Munnabhai.In 2009, Balan played the role of Vidya, an unwed gynaecologist struggling with her 12-year-old son's progeria syndrome, in the R. Balki-directed dramedy Paa. Amitabh Bachchan played the role of Balan's son and Abhishek Bachchan played the titular character. Well received by critics, the film has been described as a major turning point in her career.[46] Sukanya Verma compared her acting style to that of Dimple Kapadia and noted, "Balan is poignant yet restrained and projects an impressive figure of grace and integrity";[47] Nikhat Kazmi from The Times of India further argued that Balan was successful in lending a "rare dignity to the image of the Bollywood mom."[48] Her portrayal ultimately fetched her a Filmfare Award for Best Actress and a Screen Award for Best Actress, among other wins.[28]
Balan followed the success of Paa with Vishal Bhardwaj's Ishqiya (2010), a black comedy directed by debutant Abhishek Chaubey; co-starring Naseeruddin Shah, Arshad Warsi, and Salman Shahid. Balan's role was that of Krishna Verma, a sexually manipulative woman. Balan described her character as "an epitome of grey" and a departure from the conventional portrayal of women in cinema.[49] In preparation for her part, she undertook professional training to speak in the local Uttar Pradesh-dialect.[50] The feature as well as her performance received critical acclaim; Anupama Chopra of NDTV stated, "Balan's smoldering looks scorch the screen even as her eyes hint at tragedy. She proves that she is miles ahead of the cookie cutter Barbie dolls that clutter Bollywood and that sensuality has very little to do with showing skin."[51] Her work in the film earned Balan a Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress, a second consecutive Best Actress award at Screen and a nomination for Best Actress at Filmfare.[52]
Balan with co-stars Tusshar Kapoor (left) and Emraan Hashmi at the audio release of The Dirty Picture. Her performance in the film met with unanimous acclaim and among other wins, fetched her a National Film Award and a Filmfare Award for Best Actress
Balan's first release of 2011 was Raj Kumar Gupta's semi-biographical thriller No One Killed Jessica, alongside Rani Mukerji. The film, based on the Jessica Lal murder case, saw Balan portray the real-life character of Sabrina Lal, Jessica's reticent sister. While preparing for her role, Balan did not meet Lal on the insistence of Gupta as "the Sabrina [...] today is different from the Sabrina a decade ago, [when] the story begins".[53] No One Killed Jessica met with contrasting reviews from critics, but Balan's performance was particularly praised. The Hindu remarked on Balan's ability to be "in sublime control over her emotions"[54] and Savera Someshwar of Rediff.com added that "her hesitant body language, her faith, her helplessness, her rage, her sorrow and her gratitude all come across beautifully".[55] The film had net earnings of 49 crore (US$8.9 million) and was noted for being a commercial success despite the absence of a male lead.[56] Balan earned another Filmfare nomination in the Best Actress category for the film.[57] In March 2011, a retrospective of Balan's films was held in Australia, as part of the film festival Bollywood & Beyond.[58] That same year, Balan featured in a guest appearance in Santosh Sivan's Malayalam language fantasy film Urumi.[59]
Balan's next appearance was in Ekta Kapoor's The Dirty Picture, a biopic based on the life and death of the controversial Indian actress Silk Smitha.[60] Balan was cast as Silk, who was—in Balan's words—"known for her brazenness and in-your-face sexuality."[61] She described the role as the "boldest" she had ever played, one that "required a lot of mental preparation," and to look the part, she gained 12 kilograms (26 lb).[62] The film opened to major critical acclaim, and Balan received unanimous praise for her portrayal which several reviewers regarded as her best performance to date. Khalid Mohamed observed, "She's extraordinary: gutsy, consistently in character and unafraid of exposing her darker side. Here's the kind of complex performance which you haven't evidenced in years and years."[63] Her director Milan Luthria described her as the contemporary claimant of the "sex-symbol" title, and compared her "voluptuousness" to the likes of yesteryear actresses Sridevi and Vyjayanthimala.[64] The film was eventually declared a blockbuster,[65][66] earning 117 crore (US$21 million) worldwide.[67] Balan won a second Filmfare Award, a third consecutive Screen Award, and a National Film Award for Best Actress.
Indian Desi Girl Photo Biography
Vidya Balan (pronounced born 1 January 1978[1]) is an Indian film actress who appears in Hindi, Bengali, and Malayalam language films. At age sixteen, Balan landed her first acting role, in the sitcom Hum Paanch (1995). After making several unsuccessful attempts to start a career in film, she acted in television commercials and music videos. In 2003, she made her feature film debut with the independent Bengali drama Bhalo Theko.
In 2005 Balan garnered praise for her first Hindi film, Parineeta, and followed it with a leading role in the blockbuster Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006). Her subsequent portrayal of glamorous characters in the films Heyy Babyy (2007) and Kismat Konnection (2008) met with negative comments from film critics. The year 2009, however, marked the beginning of the most successful period in Balan's career as she portrayed five consecutive roles to wide critical acclaim in Paa (2009), Ishqiya (2010), No One Killed Jessica (2011), The Dirty Picture (2011), and Kahaani (2012). These roles have earned her the tag of a "female hero" and established her as a leading contemporary actress of Hindi cinema.[2][3][4]
Balan has received one National Film Award, five Filmfare Awards and five Screen Awards. She initially drew criticism for her fluctuating weight and poor dress sense, but was later credited in the media for retaining her individuality and breaking stereotypes of a Hindi film heroine. Balan is a social activist and supports the empowerment of women. In December 2012, she married film producer Siddharth Roy Kapur.Vidya Balan was born on 1 January 1978 in Ottapalam, a town in the Palakkad District of Kerala, to P. R. Balan, currently the Executive Vice President of Digicable,[5] and Saraswathy Balan, a homemaker.[6][7] According to Balan, they speak a mix of Tamil and Malayalam at home; she is also well versed in Hindi, Marathi, English and Bengali.[8] Her elder sister, Priya Balan, works in the field of advertising.[6]
Balan grew up in the suburban neighbourhood of Chembur, Mumbai and was schooled at St. Anthony Girls' High School.[9][10] From a young age she aspired to a career in film and was inspired by the work of actors Shabana Azmi and Madhuri Dixit.[11][12] At the age of sixteen, she starred in the first season of Ekta Kapoor's sitcom Hum Paanch as Radhika, a bespectacled teenager.[13][14] Following the success of the show, Balan refused director Anurag Basu's offer to star in a television soap opera, as she wanted to concentrate on a film career.[15] Her parents were supportive of her decision but encouraged her to complete her education first,[11] so she attended St. Xavier's College to pursue a bachelor's degree in sociology and later earned a master's degree from the University of Mumbai.While pursuing her master's degree, Balan was cast as the female lead in the Malayalam film Chakram, opposite Mohanlal and was subsequently signed on for twelve other Malayalam language films.[11] However, due to production difficulties, Chakram was shelved.[18] The postponement of a film starring Mohanlal was an unheard of occurrence in Malayalam cinema and film producers blamed her for bringing "bad luck" to the project; labelled her as a "jinx" and replaced her in all the films that she had been contracted for.[11] She then shifted focus to Tamil cinema. In 2001, she was cast as the female lead in N. Linguswamy's Run (2002). However, after completing the first shooting schedule of the film, she was unceremoniously dropped and replaced by Meera Jasmine.[19] She was signed up under false pretences for a sex comedy, a genre she was then uncomfortable with, and thus decided to leave the project.[11] Thereafter, she signed on for a third Tamil film, Manasellam (2003), but was replaced by Trisha Krishnan as the director was dissatisfied with her work.[20] Her second Malayalam film Kalari Vikraman also went unreleased. [21]
After failing to start a film career, Balan appeared in approximately sixty television commercials and in music videos for Euphoria and Shubha Mudgal; a majority of these were directed by Pradeep Sarkar.[15][22] In 2003, she was signed on by Goutam Halder for his independent Bengali drama Bhalo Theko; her first film release.[23] Her portrayal of Anandi, a young woman reminiscing about her past, won her an Anandalok Purashkar for Best Actress.
In 2005, Balan made her Hindi film debut with Pradeep Sarkar's musical drama Parineeta. Before being cast for the film, Balan had to undergo extensive auditions for a period of 6 months.[18][25] The film, an adaptation of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's novel of the same name, narrated the love story of an idealist Lalita (Balan) and an egoist Shekhar (Saif Ali Khan), the son of a capitalist businessman.[26] Her performance in the film was praised by critics;[14] Derek Elley from Variety wrote, " An acting revelation is Tamil newcomer Balan, whose devoted but dignified Lalita is the picture's heart and soul."[27] Parineeta fetched her a Best Debut (Female) award and a nomination for Best Actress at the annual Filmfare Awards ceremony.[28]
The following year, Balan appeared opposite Sanjay Dutt in Rajkumar Hirani's comedy film Lage Raho Munna Bhai. She portrayed the role of Jhanvi, a radio jockey and the love interest of the protagonist Munna Bhai. To prepare for her role, she met with a couple of radio jockeys and watched them at work.[29] Her performance was critically well received,[30] and the film emerged as a blockbuster with gross earnings of 118.57 crore (US$22 million).[31]
In 2007, Balan featured in a supporting role in Mani Ratnam's semi-biographical drama Guru as a woman suffering from multiple sclerosis. The film, which starred Mithun Chakraborty, Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, and R. Madhavan in leading roles, performed well at the box office.[32] However, film critics Khalid Mohamed and Raja Sen noted that her "talent was wasted" in a "minuscule role".[33][34] Her next release was Nikhil Advani's Salaam-e-Ishq: A Tribute To Love, a romantic comedy featuring an ensemble cast, in which she was paired opposite John Abraham. The film, which narrated six individual love stories, saw Balan play the role of a television reporter, Tehzeeb Hussain, suffering from a memory loss condition. The film, which was a critical and commercial failure,[32] generated positive reviews for Balan. Sukanya Verma of Rediff.com wrote, "Vidya's transformation from a self-assured working woman to a helpless, vulnerable person is superb."[35]
Balan then took a supporting role in Vidhu Vinod Chopra's suspense thriller Eklavya: The Royal Guard, alongside Amitabh Bachchan, Boman Irani, Sharmila Tagore, Saif Ali Khan, and Sanjay Dutt. The film, which flopped commercially, met with positive critical reviews and was selected as India's official entry to the Oscars for the 80th Academy Awards.[36] She was later cast as Isha Sahni, a single mother, in Sajid Khan's Heyy Babyy, alongside co-stars Akshay Kumar, Ritesh Deshmukh, and Fardeen Khan. The comedy film was a box-office success,[32] but garnered negative reviews from critics, as did Balan's performance; CNN-IBN's Rajeev Masand criticised her wardrobe and make-up, and considered her the "sore thumb" of the film.[37][38]
Balan's final film in 2007 was Priyadarshan's psychological thriller Bhool Bhulaiyaa, a remake of the Malayalam film Manichitrathazhu (1993). Balan featured as Avani Chaturvedi (a character played by Shobana in the Malayalam original), a woman suffering from dissociative identity disorder.[39] Co-starring Shiney Ahuja, Akshay Kumar, and Ameesha Patel, Bhool Bhulaiyaa was a commercial success with a worldwide revenue of over 83 crore (US$15 million).[32] Reviewers, while being generally negative of the film, were appreciative of Balan's performance. Writing for Hindustan Times, Khalid Mohamed described her as "bankably likeable" and Bollywood Hungama's Taran Adarsh labelled her as "splendid".[40][41] The role earned Balan a second Filmfare nomination in the Best Actress category.[28]
In 2008's social film Halla Bol, Balan played a supporting role alongside Ajay Devgn and Pankaj Kapur. The film was based on the life of activist Safdar Hashmi, who was killed by political rivals while performing on a street play (by the name of Halla Bol) in 1989.[42] The film was a critical failure.[43] Later that year, she co-starred with Shahid Kapoor in Aziz Mirza's romantic comedy Kismat Konnection. A commercial failure,[44] the film and her performance generated a negative response; critic Sonia Chopra commented, "[Balan] is made to look downright drab. The haircut is unflattering, the make-up too plain, the clothes usually in off-white or brown. Plus the character is repetitive and reminds us of the one she played in Lage Raho Munnabhai.In 2009, Balan played the role of Vidya, an unwed gynaecologist struggling with her 12-year-old son's progeria syndrome, in the R. Balki-directed dramedy Paa. Amitabh Bachchan played the role of Balan's son and Abhishek Bachchan played the titular character. Well received by critics, the film has been described as a major turning point in her career.[46] Sukanya Verma compared her acting style to that of Dimple Kapadia and noted, "Balan is poignant yet restrained and projects an impressive figure of grace and integrity";[47] Nikhat Kazmi from The Times of India further argued that Balan was successful in lending a "rare dignity to the image of the Bollywood mom."[48] Her portrayal ultimately fetched her a Filmfare Award for Best Actress and a Screen Award for Best Actress, among other wins.[28]
Balan followed the success of Paa with Vishal Bhardwaj's Ishqiya (2010), a black comedy directed by debutant Abhishek Chaubey; co-starring Naseeruddin Shah, Arshad Warsi, and Salman Shahid. Balan's role was that of Krishna Verma, a sexually manipulative woman. Balan described her character as "an epitome of grey" and a departure from the conventional portrayal of women in cinema.[49] In preparation for her part, she undertook professional training to speak in the local Uttar Pradesh-dialect.[50] The feature as well as her performance received critical acclaim; Anupama Chopra of NDTV stated, "Balan's smoldering looks scorch the screen even as her eyes hint at tragedy. She proves that she is miles ahead of the cookie cutter Barbie dolls that clutter Bollywood and that sensuality has very little to do with showing skin."[51] Her work in the film earned Balan a Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress, a second consecutive Best Actress award at Screen and a nomination for Best Actress at Filmfare.[52]
Balan with co-stars Tusshar Kapoor (left) and Emraan Hashmi at the audio release of The Dirty Picture. Her performance in the film met with unanimous acclaim and among other wins, fetched her a National Film Award and a Filmfare Award for Best Actress
Balan's first release of 2011 was Raj Kumar Gupta's semi-biographical thriller No One Killed Jessica, alongside Rani Mukerji. The film, based on the Jessica Lal murder case, saw Balan portray the real-life character of Sabrina Lal, Jessica's reticent sister. While preparing for her role, Balan did not meet Lal on the insistence of Gupta as "the Sabrina [...] today is different from the Sabrina a decade ago, [when] the story begins".[53] No One Killed Jessica met with contrasting reviews from critics, but Balan's performance was particularly praised. The Hindu remarked on Balan's ability to be "in sublime control over her emotions"[54] and Savera Someshwar of Rediff.com added that "her hesitant body language, her faith, her helplessness, her rage, her sorrow and her gratitude all come across beautifully".[55] The film had net earnings of 49 crore (US$8.9 million) and was noted for being a commercial success despite the absence of a male lead.[56] Balan earned another Filmfare nomination in the Best Actress category for the film.[57] In March 2011, a retrospective of Balan's films was held in Australia, as part of the film festival Bollywood & Beyond.[58] That same year, Balan featured in a guest appearance in Santosh Sivan's Malayalam language fantasy film Urumi.[59]
Balan's next appearance was in Ekta Kapoor's The Dirty Picture, a biopic based on the life and death of the controversial Indian actress Silk Smitha.[60] Balan was cast as Silk, who was—in Balan's words—"known for her brazenness and in-your-face sexuality."[61] She described the role as the "boldest" she had ever played, one that "required a lot of mental preparation," and to look the part, she gained 12 kilograms (26 lb).[62] The film opened to major critical acclaim, and Balan received unanimous praise for her portrayal which several reviewers regarded as her best performance to date. Khalid Mohamed observed, "She's extraordinary: gutsy, consistently in character and unafraid of exposing her darker side. Here's the kind of complex performance which you haven't evidenced in years and years."[63] Her director Milan Luthria described her as the contemporary claimant of the "sex-symbol" title, and compared her "voluptuousness" to the likes of yesteryear actresses Sridevi and Vyjayanthimala.[64] The film was eventually declared a blockbuster,[65][66] earning 117 crore (US$21 million) worldwide.[67] Balan won a second Filmfare Award, a third consecutive Screen Award, and a National Film Award for Best Actress.
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