Dynamic and sparkling as ever and basking in the accolades of her latest release Kahaani 2, Vidya Balan shares her birthday plans, dealing with lows and the changing role of women on screen. By Unnati Joshi
Actress Vidya Balan has done a lot of challenging roles in her career for which she has been applauded, appreciated, perhaps even underrated. But there’s one thing about her onscreen persona. She has always made people sit up and take notice, no matter what the commercial fate of her films. Each of her characters has been stand-out, without drawing on or feeding off each other. That says a lot about Vidya’s originality and the ability to slip under the skin. It tells a lot about her sense of simultaneous involvement and detachment. Which is why she is a survivor, and a gritty one at that. From fashion criticism to her post-marital status, from being sought after to her recent commercial lows, Vidya has handled it all. But now that she is on a high again there is no sense of vindication, just contentment.
When we met Vidya, the actress was grace personified, accoutred in a lovely orange kurta-palazzo accessorised with a printed sleeveless jacket and a bold neckpiece. The statement neckpiece added a bit of zing to her outfit. “I love silver jewellery,” she said as she sat down.
Rather than being eye candy in commercial cinemas, the actress took a not-so-easy path for herself, known for choosing offbeat films like Dirty Picture, Ishqiya, No One Killed Jessica, Paa and finally Kahaani that gave her an independent brand value. Perhaps, the weekend audience contemplated watching a film only because “Vidya Balan is in it.” Talking about that, Vidya laughed and said, “It is gratifying no doubt but that audience didn’t come to the theatre for my last four films (Ghanchakkar, Bobby Jasoos, Shaadi Ke Side Effects and Hamari Adhuri Kahani did not work at the box office). I think it’s really the content of the film that dictates choices in the end and not an individual, unless of course, you are Salman Khan. I enjoyed all these characters, unique in their own way, yet their stories didn’t get box office approval which is extremely important. When a particular film doesn’t work, it’s heartbreaking but you’ve got to move on. I grieve, I mourn, I cry and sometimes even rant at home but I make sure I get it out of my system because unless I do that, I can’t move forward.”
Vidya is again geared up to conquer the screens. This time, with Kahaani 2, which also features Arjun Rampal, a contrast to the powerhouse Nawazuddin Siddiqui in the last edition. About the fellowship, she told us,“We had met socially at award functions and parties. I didn’t know him. But on our first day of shoot he came to me and hugged me. And I felt a sudden familiarity. After that day we have been laughing throughout. I love his infectious laugh. The only regret I have is not romancing him but anyway he is running after me in the film, so it’s ok.”
So how easily did she sign up for a no-make-up look in the filmIJ “Facing the camera without makeup isn’t difficult at all; you just have to protect your skin from the lights and heat. In the end, make-up, hair and costumes are all tools and embellishments to create a character. The essence of a personality has to come from your craft. Besides, I love myself without makeup. So if the director wants a simple and ordinary woman like Durga Rani Singh, then I am ready to do whatever it takes to become that character. On a regular basis, all I need are a kajal pencil, gloss, and, of course, some moisturiser with sufficient amount of SPF. I think it’s about being happy. When you feel happy, you look good.”
Vidya also shared her birthdays plans with us: “I will be in Mumbai with my family for my birthday. Hopefully celebrating the success of Kahaani 2.”
Portraying the role of a mother, it seems she is quite comfortable with kids now though she wonders why automatically people assume if she is ready to be a mother herself. “First, I used to be scared of kids because whenever I would come across one, he or she would start crying uncontrollably. Five years ago, my sister gave birth to twins and I think that bonding with them taught me a lot about handling kids. And this girl in Kahaani 2 is a remarkable child. Unlike other kids who overact, she hasn’t done anything of that sort at all. It gets irritating when you see kids delivering heavy dialogues on screen. So Sujoy has made her speak like a child only and kept her real.” She fobbed off queries about her maternity with a smile, wondering why men were never asked these questions.
Has then the changing role of women on screen not impacted the mass mindsetIJ “I think it is the other way around. The role of women in society has changed, women are no longer just defined in terms of men in their lives, they are not just some man’s daughter or some man’s sister or some man’s wife. We have our individual lives, our motivations, dreams and aspirations. We are trying to lead our lives in our own terms which is what is inspiring stories on screen. Of course, it’s very heartening to see so many women-centric films doing well commercially. But the root of all this is the change that’s happening around us because cinema is the reflection of reality.”
She continued, “I have seen the change happening over the past 11 years since I joined the film industry. When I started doing films like Ishqiya and No One Killed Jessica, they were still an aberration. But now, it’s not just about women-centric films, it’s just that the content has gotten so much better, bolder, wider and the terms have changed even with the audience. I think the definition of entertainment has opened up. It’s not just about song and dance now. It’s about quality cinema and the manner you are telling a story that reaches the audience.”
Vidya cares two hoots about body-shaming or ageism. “I am a very proud 37-year-old. And if you look all around, women’s careers are not stopping after they get married or after they have had children. So that’s true even in films. Why should it be different for any female actorIJ And because obviously writers get inspired by real people, or instances of real incidents, I see many of them writing roles for us to be busy with.” As she said, she never looks back but keeps going ahead.
Photo: Pankaj Kumar