Vidya Balan

Bollywood actress Vidya Balan was the quintessence of an Indian woman in Parineeta, a well-deserved break for the actress.

Vidya
Vidya Balan is a Tamil Iyer born on 1 January 1978 in Palakkad, Kerala. Her father is P.R.Balan who is the vice president of ETC channel while her mother is a homemaker. She has an older sister, Priya.

She studied in Mumbai at St Anthony’s School and later graduated in Sociology from St Xavier’s College, after which she enrolled for M.A from the Mumbai University. She speaks several languages like Tamil, Malayalam, English, Hindi, and Bengali.

Pradeep Sarkar directed her in many ads as well as music videos for singers like Euphoria, Shubha Mudgal, and Pankaj Udhas. She was also part of the initial episodes of Ekta Kapoor’s Hum Paanch.

Balan has been linked with several of her co-stars which she has denied.

Lolita
Vidya Balan’s initial entry into movies in the South went nowhere. The first Malayalam movie that she signed was with Mohanlal called Chakram that was put on hold and later resumed with a different lead. She was replaced by Trisha Krishnan in Manasellam, a Tamil movie.

It was only in 2003 that she was recognized for her acting skills in a Bengali movie Bhalo Theko, for which she won the Anandalok Best Actress Award for her portrayal of Anandi.

In 2005, she starred in Pradeep Sarkar’s Parineeta based on a novella by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, as Lolita. Her performance won her the Filmfare Best Debut Actress Award as well as the Filmfare Face of the Year. Lage Raho Munnabhai, the sequel to the runaway hit Munnabhai, saw her as Jhanvi.

In 2007, she marked her presence in Guru as a woman with a physical disability. Her other releases were Salaam-e-Ishq with John Abraham, Eklavya that was India’s official entry to the Oscars, and Bhool Bhulaiyya with Akshay Kumar that was a remake of the Malayalam movie Manichitrathazu.

Kismat Konnection in 2008 starring Vidya Balan and Shahid Kapoor failed to do well.

Paa was her only release in 2009 and it was a hit. Balan’s performance as a new age woman was appreciated. She played Amitabh Bachchan’s mother in this movie.

Up Next
 Her other releases include Chenab Gandhi and Mukti. She will be playing the part of Sabrina Lal in No One Killed Jessica.