Vidya Balan The Beauty

Yours Truly vidya Balan

2008-01-05T20:51:00.001-08:00

Vidya Balan is hailed as the next big thing, among the current lot of Bollywood actresses. She banks on her beauty, grace and talent rather than on exposure like her other competitors.

Vidya was born in a middle class family in Palakkad, on the border of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Originally her family belongs to Tamil Iyer community. But she grew up in Mumbai. Her father PR Balan is Vice President of ETC Channel and her mother, a homemaker. She also has an older sister, Priya, who is married. She is known to be close to her sister and brother-in-law as well. Vidya handles several languages with ease, including her native Tamil, Malayalam, English, Hindi, and Bengali.

Sparkle Sparkle

2008-01-05T20:50:00.001-08:00

Vidya Balan’s Bollywood debut was in Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s ‘Parineeta’, directed by Pradeep Sarkar, who is known to have a penchant for creating color rich canvas style frames in his movies. She had to go through 40 screen tests and 17 make-up shoots before she was chosen for the lead role in this film. It was a big challenge for any seasoned actor to capture the grace and subtle nuances of the central character Lolita of the movie 'Parineeta'. But she made it look easy, drawing applause from all quarters. She didn’t had to look back after that.

Beautylicious

2008-01-05T20:49:00.001-08:00

Vidya Balan, who belongs to a upper middle class family settled in Mumbai, did her schooling from St Antony's School in Mumbai and later on joined St Xavier's College in Mumbai from where she graduated in sociology.

When she was doing her MA from Mumbai University, she was offered a role in a Malayalam film titled Chakram with Mohanlal, one of Vidya’s favorite actors. However, the project was shelved mid-way and Vidya had to wait for few more years to make her movie debut.

Compete With The Best

2008-01-05T20:48:00.001-08:00

Her entry into filmdom was marred by many non starters. A couple of projects in tamil films did not materialise because of various reasons. It was on television that she was seen more often. She made her debut as a model in a Surf Excel advertisement in 1998. She has acted in scores of ad films, most of which were directed by Pradeep Sarkar. A couple of months later, she featured in three music videos (again directed by Sarkar) for ‘Euphoria’, Shubha Mudgal and Pankaj Udhas.

Vidya also acted in Ashok Pandit’s TV serial Hanste Khelte and Ektaa Kapoor's Hum Paanch.

The Girl Next Door

2008-01-05T20:47:00.001-08:00

Vidya Balan was considerably overweight during her school-days. She decided to shed those extra pounds when she elected to opt for modeling and movies. Her first break came with a Malyalam movie 'Chakram' opposite Mohanlal, however,the project was shelved, and she had to wait until 1998 to debut in a Surf Excel commercial. She then went on to appear in several commercials directed by Pradeep Sarkar. She also appeared in three music videos for Pankaj Udhas, Euphoria, and Shubha Mudgal in supporting roles. She then also appeared in two TV serials Ekta Kapoor's 'Hum Paanch', and Ashok Pandit's 'Hanste Khelte'.

courtesy:imdb.com

On Fire

2008-01-05T20:46:00.001-08:00

Vidya Balan is known to be a committed and hard working actress. She takes her assignments seriously and in a recent case, a viral attack could not keep actress Vidya Balan away from the shoot of her upcoming film. She was shooting for Aziz Mirza’s comeback film Lucky Charm with Shahid Kapur in Mumbai. However, before the picturisation of a song with Shahid, the actress caught flu and was quite ill. Her professionalism and commitment came to the fore when instead of resting, Vidya did not tell anyone about the flu and called choreographer Ahmed Khan to inquire about the shooting location. Khan sensed that Vidya was unwell and told her to rest. However, Vidya came to shoot the song that features her in a dream sequences with Shahid Kapur.

Flow Like The Water

2008-01-05T20:43:00.002-08:00

Vidya Balan is a movie fan herself. There are five all time greats that she revers. This what she has to say about these movies:

Bimal Roy's Bandini:

"I just love the way Nutan's character was written. It is unusual to have an entire film woven around a woman as strong as Kalyani who withstands a "betrayal", the death of her father and a murder rap to go back to an ailing and aging lover," elaborates Vidya.

The Mike Loves Her

2008-01-05T20:43:00.001-08:00

Apart from acting, Vidya occupies herself for supporting education for young Indians by promoting children's books; is associated with Americans for Aids Research; with Hale House - that provides support and housing for children born with HIV and drug abuse; as well as hosting forums and attending events for Harvard Aids Institute.

An ardent devotee of Bhagwan Shri Sai Baba, she makes it a point to attend Mandirs every Thursday. She is proficient in Tamil, Malyalam, Hindi, English, Bengali, and can also read Urdu.

courtesy:imdb.com

Mermaid In Nets

2008-01-05T20:42:00.001-08:00

Here is Vidya Balan's take on another of her favorite movies. She really loves these old superhits that were made with such penchant for perfection.

Raj Kapoor’s Jagte Raho:

Vidya wishes the film to be remade with her playing Raj Kapoor's part! "It is a very biting comment on the society and as the film unspools you can feel the angst of the character. It is a visionary feature. The complexion of the problems may have changed but they persist in different ways - we still see people around us who are disenchanted with life. Despite being serious, it is thoroughly entertaining. There are moments when you laugh and moments when you cry in the film," she reasons.

Coming At You

2008-01-05T20:41:00.001-08:00

She may be in the top league in Bollywood, but Vidya Balan insists she hasn’t lost touch with her roots. Balan, though not a Bengali, feels a special affinity to the language. Her first Hindi movie, Parineeta , was directed by Pradeep Sarkar (a Bengali) and her recently released Bhool Bhulaiyaa had Vidya playing a Bengali character.

And recently when Bengali director Gautam Haldar, whom Vidya has known for a long time, approached her to play a leading role in his next film, ‘Mukti’, Vidya immediately said yes despite the fact that the movie did not have budget big enough to pay Vidya her usual acting fee. The reason, Vidya says, is that she has a high regard for director Gautam Haldar, who, she reveals, helped her discover the actress within.

courtesy:apunkachoice.com

Imagination Flower

2008-01-05T20:40:00.001-08:00

Bollywood actress Vidya Balan recently undertook a pilgrimage and visited a famed dargah and temple in Rajasthan. Covered under a veil, the 'Parineeta' girl visited Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti's dargah in Ajmer. 'Vidya Balan reached the shrine by a BMW car in the afternoon and spent over an hour in the shrine. She offered flowers and tied 'wish threads', said a dargah committee member. But no one could recognise her due to the veil over her face. Vidya then drove straight to the Brahma temple in Pushkar. Now what i fail to understand is why a beauty like Vidya Balan would put a veil on her face. yes, fame has its own cost, but denying her view to the public is just not on.

Munnabhai Did It

2008-01-05T20:39:00.001-08:00

'Bollywood beauty Vidya Balan' who shot to fame with Lagey Raho Munnabhai, in which she acted as a Radio Jockey, has a high regard for the film makers from past who have made Indian Cinema as it is today. She has many movies amongst her favorites, but this is what she has to say about one of them.

Satyajit Ray's Mahanagar:

The strong character of the female protagonist is her raison-'d-etre again, "Madhabi Mukherjee playing a housewife-turned-door-to-door salesgirl transforms from a submissive wife to into an assertive individual so effortlessly," she sighs longingly.

Pigtails Story

2008-01-05T20:38:00.001-08:00

The year that was, 2007 has seen her give us the great 'Lagey Raho Munnbhai' which was Indian entry at the Oscars. Quite an achievement this for Vidya Balan who at one time was not being considered for Tamil movies. She is looking forward to 2008. Vidya Balan is all set to allure the audience with her character in Rajkumar Santoshi ’s Halla Bol.

Vidya plays the role of Ajay Devgan ’s wife Sneha in this movie, who always supports her husband and helps him to realise his true being whenever he needs to understand whether something is true or false, right or wrong. She always says the truth to her husband. Her love is the power in her to express the hardcore truth.The film has Vidya playing a girl from a small town who gets married to a superstar. Santoshi thought of two different looks for the character. One was the look of a woman from a small town and the other one is the look of the wife of superstar.

courtesy:apunkachoice.com

Did You Miss Me?

2008-01-05T20:36:00.003-08:00

Vidya Balan is a thinking man's actress. Her climb in the Bollywood film industry has been steady and sure footed. From Lolita in Parineeta to playing the cheerful Radio Jockey in Lagey Raho Munnabhai, she has charted a course desirable to any actor wishing to make a mark as a thespian. "I always wanted to act in street plays and theatres. I think it's a very potent media though I didn't get a chance yet," said Vidya who was in New Delhi to promote her movie Halla Bol , which will be released soon.

The RJ From Munnabhai

2008-01-05T20:34:00.000-08:00

While Vidhu Vinod Chopra is basking in the recently released Eklavya's glory and has also begun shooting for his next in the Munnabhai series - Munnabhai Chale Amrika; the Sanjay Dutt – Arshad Warsi starrer Lagey Raho Munnabhai in which Vidya Balan plays a radio jockey who is also running an old age home, has entered its Silver Jubilee run.

Lage Raho Munnabhai is being distributed by Shringar Films in the Bombay circuit. The film has entered its 25th week in Bombay (and is being screened tax free) at Eros in the matinee show and at three other cinemas, including other places.

courtesy: moviebusiness.com