Vidya Balen

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 middleclass 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 close to her brother-in-law as well. Vidya handles several languages with ease, including her native Tamil, Malayalam, English, Hindi, and Bengali.

vidya balan

Her did her schooling in St. Anthony’s Girls High School and college in St. Xavier's College and also studied in University of Mumbai for a short period. She has got a Sociology degree to her credit.

Vidya first started out by modeling in the Surf Excel ad in the year 1998. Success of the ad saw her doing a lot of commercials. Her mentor Pradeep Sarkar directed most of them. She did some 25 TV advertisements. She did three music videos as well, with Pankaj Udhas, Euphoria and Shubha Mudgal, again directed by Pradeep Sarkar.

While she was studying in college, she got couple of film offers from south; a Malayalam film titled ‘Chakram’ with Mohanlal and a Tamil film. However, ‘Chakram’ was shelved mid-way and she was dropped from the Tamil film, citing the reason that she didn’t know acting! But the truth is that she refused to yield to producer’s demands. And ironically, in her next film, a Bengali movie ‘Bhaalo Theko’, she won the Best Actress Anand Lok Puraskar award! She also acted in two Hindi TV soap operas ‘Hanste Khelte’ and Ektaa Kapoor’s ‘Hum Paanch’.

Vidya Balan’s Bollywood debut was in Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s ‘Parineeta’, again directed by Pradeep Sarkar. 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 even a seasoned actor to capture the grace and subtle nuances of the character, Lolita. But she made it look easy, drawing applause from all quarters. She didn’t had to look back after that.

‘Lage Raho Munna Bhai’, with Sanjay Dutt followed. The film became a phenomenal success and even went to the Oscars. ‘Guru’ was her next release, directed by acclaimed director Mani Ratnam. The film was a great success too. Although she had only a small role, it was appreciated. Her recent releases ‘Salaam E Ishq: A Tribute To Love’ and ‘Eklavya: The Royal Guard’ also did well.

Vidya has many promising films coming up. ‘Hey Baby’ with Akshay Kumar, ‘Bhool Bhulaiya’ (remake of critically acclaimed Malayalam blockbuster, ‘Manichitrathazhu’), ‘Halla Bol’ directed by Rajkumar Santoshi, ‘Suryamukhi’ directed by acclaimed director Shaji N Karun, a film on famous painter Raja Ravi Varma. Then there is ‘Stella’ an English comedy directed by Dilip Mehta, Deepa Mehta’s brother, Deepa Mehta is writing the screenplay for the film. The film also stars Hollywood actor Brendan Fraser, along with Madhavan.

She is associated with AmFar (Americans for AIDS Research) and Hale House, a home for children born with HIV and those affected by Drug Addiction. She also involves herself with the Harvard AIDS Institute, by Hosting Forums and participating in events throughout the year.