Vidya Balan, who is currently being appreciated greatly for her performance in Ishqiya, will be seen in a Malayalam film soon.

She will be debuting in Malayalam with the film, Mathilukalkkappuram, opposite Mammootty. It will be directed by Prasad and will continue with Basheer’s story, i.e., it will take off from where Adoor finished.

Ravi K Chandran will be the cameraman while the sound direction will be done by Resul Pookutty. Mammootty’s production company, Playhouse, will produce the film.

He came along like a magician and transformed Bollywood’s two classic actresses’ wardrobe from boring to being bold and beautiful! The two said actresses are Rani Mukerjee and Vidya Balan and their magician is ace fashion designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee.

Initially trashed for their jaded fashion sense, Rani and Vidya now get featured as the most stylish Indian actresses across the media. We thus decided to ask Sabya who amongst the two is better when we bumped into him on day one of Lakme Fashion Week’10 in Mumbai. Sabya has also designed clothes for both Rani and Vidya in their forthcoming film together ‘No one killed Jessica’.

“I’ll always choose Rani over Viyda. Rani gave me a chance in Black when I was a no one and I am quite loyal that ways. I even won a National award for the same! Rani and I are Bengalis, love fish curry and bond over bitching about people in Bengali”, said Sabya with a smile.

Adding about Vidya he said, “Vidya is a beautiful Indian woman. I made her realize she should wear what suits her personality instead of following trends. We both love books and films so we are good friends too but Rani will always be a priority.”

So does that mean we will see Rani in Sabya’s forthcoming film as a director? “Nothing has been decided as yet. I am in my scripting stage. I am very moody. You may not see any known face in my film too” said the designer who calls a spade a spade.

Talking about his collection at the Lakme fashion week which got tremendous response, Sabya said, “It was something I should have showcased 4 years ago. Underwear showing is not Sabya but I did it because I don’t play to the gallery anymore. I don’t care what my critics say. I wanted to do what I never did before - Bohemian - Retro mix n match collection. I was getting jaded and I felt like rediscovering myself. I get a lot of inspiration from the French/ Italian films. The music of my show proved that as they played the theme of Cinema Paradiso, Frida, Evita, Godfather while the models sashayed down the ramp.”

We just loved the collection and the feisty man behind it.

The grapevine has been abuzz with news that Priyanka Chopra will play the female lead role in Jogayya. Director prem who is buzy with the script has denied the reports of Priyanka Chopra been selected to do female lead.

Prem says that he has shortlisted few names and Priyanka Chopra is also in the race. It’s reported that Vidya Balan Amisha Patel and Celina Jaitly are also leading the race. Shivaraj Kumar’s 100th movie Jogayya is produced by Rakshita under the banner prem pictures. Cast and crew are under wraps.

Vidya Balan is on a signing spree. Her career is on the upswing post Paa and Ishqiya. She has even started dressing better. She is currently working on Rajkumar Gupta’s No One Killed Jessica and is also considering Deepa Mehta’s Midnight’s Children.

Sabyasachi is one of Vidya’s favourite designers, and he styled her look in Paa. She wears his creations at events and the duo is friends. So, it is no surprise that he wants her to be part of his directorial debut. He thinks she is the quintessential Indian beauty. Prateik Babber is the male lead in the film. Konkona Sen Sharma recently said that she finds Prateik sexy and she might also sign on the dotted line.

The unconventional casting makes sense and is in sync with the designer’s unconventional and Indian sensibilities. His designs are distinctly desi, and Konkona, Vidya and Prateik look very Indian. The film is an out-and-out romantic comedy and will take people by surprise because very few know that the reserved, shy and down-to-earth Sabyasachi has a funny side.

The movie is set in London and Punjab and based on NRIs. It will go on the floors in June, as some minor details have to be finalized and finishing touches have to be added.

Sabyasachi Mukerji said that it will be a while before the film goes on the floors because he is still writing the script. He has recently designed for Paa, Raavana and Guzaarish and for Baabul in the past.

Bollywood actors Amitabh Bachchan and Vidya Balan who played son and mother in ‘Paa’ received the best actor and best actress award at the 55th filmfare awards on Saturday night. While Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s ‘3 Idiots’ won the best film awards and Rajkumar Hirani bagged the best director award for the same film.

Music composer AR Rahman won the best music director award for ‘Delhi 6’ and Mohit Chauhan who crooned Masakali won the best male singer. Singers Kavita Seth and Rekha Bhardwaj shared the female playback singer trophy. Kavita for ‘Ik Tara’ from ‘wake Up Sid’ and Rekha for ‘Genda Phool’ from Delhi 6.
Hosts Shahrukh Khan and Saif Ali Khan again made the evening funnier with their jokes. Actor Shahid Kapur gave a stunning performance. He paid tribute to pop singer Michael Jackson.

Bollywood stars Amitabh Bachchan and Vidya Balan were cited as best actor and best actress respectively at the star-studded 55th Filmfare Awards ceremony here late Saturday.
Bachchan won the award for his role in Paa, while Vidya Balan claimed the trophy for her role in the same movie. As Bachchan was not present in the ceremony, Vidya Balan took the award on his behalf.
Hosting the gala night were Bollywood actors Shah Rukh Khan and Saif Ali Khan, whose one liners had the audience in splits. Their on-stage chemistry was much appreciated by the Bollywood stars present at the ceremony at the Yash Raj Studios.
3 Idiots was declared the best film, while Rajkumar Hirani claimed the best director award for the movie. A.R. Rahman won the best music director for Delhi 6.
Mohit Chauhan won the award for the best male playback singer for the song “masakali” from the movie “Delhi 6″, while the female playback singer honours were shared by Kavita Seth and Rekha Bhardwaj.
While Kavita was awarded for the song “Ik tara” from the movie “Wake Up Sid”, Rekha won the trophy for the song “Genda phool” from the movie “Delhi 6″.
Among the other highlights of the evening was a tribute to legendary pop singer Michael Jackson by Bollywood actor Shahid Kapoor, who charmed the audience with his perfect dance moves.

Here’s a new Jodi in the making. Vidya Balan and Pratik Babbar will be seen opposite each other for the first time in designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee’s upcoming untitled film.

According to sources, Sabyasachi is finalizing the script of his maiden film and has decided to cast close buddies Vidya Balan and Pratik Babbar in it. It’s also learnt that the designer turned filmmaker is also trying to cast actress Konkona Sen in the film but nothing is confirmed about her inclusion so far.

The sources further add that the film will go on the floors in June this year. The film is the story of NRI’s and will be shot extensively in London and Punjab. The first two week shooting schedule is expected to start in June in London.

That one of India’s most celebrated fashion designers, Sabyasachi Mukherjee will soon make his directorial debut is a well-known fact. The talented designer who has been painstakingly scripting his debut film is now ready to take his film on the floors in June this year.

Buzz is Sabyasachi’s close friend Vidya Balan and Pratik will star in his first film. Sabyasachi is also in talks with Konkona Sen Sharma, who had said during a recent interview that she finds Pratik very sexy. We won’t be surprised if she too signs on the dotted line.

As for Sabyasachi and Vidya, they became close friends when he designed her look in Paa. The designer’s admiration for Vidya was evident when he said in a recent interview: “Vidya is a naturally beautiful girl. I’ve often said that she looks much nicer off screen than she looks on screen so in Paa I have just reversed the process by making her look the way she is and not trying too hard to give her an identity because she is an Indian girl, she looks best in Indian clothes.” Vidya had also inaugurated his flagship store in Delhi recently.

A source said, “He had been scripting his film for a long time and is now adding finishing touches to it. His film, an out-and-out romantic comedy, is as unconventional as his clothes.”

According to the source, the film will be based on NRIs and will be shot in London and Punjab. The first two-week shooting schedule is expected to start in June in London.

Sabyasachi denied the news about starting his film’s shoot in June and said, “I am still scripting. It’s a long way before my film goes on the floors.”

However, our source maintains that things are almost finalised and the film is ready to roll soon. The designer is also in talks with several producers.

Sabyasachi is no stranger to Bollywood. He was the costume designer in Black and is also designing for forthcoming films Raavana and Guzaarish.

Two back-to-back critical and commercial successes and Vidya Balan is literally spoilt with all the appreciation coming her way. While some have marvelled at her effortless reinvention, others have insisted that she has carved a space for herself after busting the myth of power and beauty being strange bed-fellows in recent Hindi cinema. Vidya is slowly inching towards a zone that was earlier reserved for an actor like Rekha!

Ask Vidya about the changing image of Indian heroines and the actress says, “There was a time when Hindi films had heroines like Madhubala, Nargis, Hema Malini, Jaya Bachchan and Rekha, who epitomised beauty and strength. Our cinema then had men and women. In the mid ’80s, youth became the selling point even as we began to ape the American culture mindlessly. So, it was all about cinema of boys and girls. And even if boys graduated into men, girls remained static. The mindless obsession with youth made us lose sight of heroines abroad, who were more than mere glam dolls.”

But today, filmmakers claim that Vidya’s choice of breaking away from the usual, has given wings to their imagination. So, is Vidya trying to be the Rekha of new-age Indian cinema? “I am not trying to ape Rekha,” she says at the mention of how, at a recent award ceremony, she had dressed up like the diva. “Each one of us is unique. I admire Rekha a lot. She epitomises the quintessential Indian woman who is vulnerable, desirable, strong, sensuous and so much more. Beyond the obvious South Indian connection of the kanjeevaram and open hair, to be likened to someone like her, who epitomises the quintessential Indian woman, is humbling.”

And has Vidya found someone special? “I’m single and happy, but ready to be in a relationship. I’m a self-assured person and I’d want someone who is that way. Irrespective of which profession he comes from, I want him to respect others. That’ll happen if he respects himself,” she adds. And what about her personal take on multiple partners considering that her character in Ishqiya romanced two men? “Men are great at compartmentalising relationships. A woman can simultaneously have feelings for two men, but she can’t be sexually intimate with both. Polygamy exists, but I don’t think polyandry does.”

Meanwhile, offers to explore different mature shades of relationships have come her way. “Filmmaker Sujoy Ghosh had offered me a Bengali film, Premer Golpo that would have both Hindi and Bengali film actors. But I don’t know what’s happening to it. I’m keen on doing another classic with Dada (Pradeep Sarkar).” And, of course, there’s Rituparno Ghosh on the list too.

Meanwhile, she is headed to Delhi today to shoot for Rajkumar Gupta’s film. Though tight-lipped about the film, Vidya is all praise for co-star Rani Mukerji. “She is a fabulous actor and one of my favourites among my immediate seniors. This film is based on an incident that we are all aware of. But, we are not filming it like a docu-feature.”

Vidya Balan has been for her countless fans an image of humbled stardom. Her popularity is however, not limited to the public and audiences alone. Vidya happens to be a favorite among the producers.

The production house of her latest release Ishqiya were extremely pleased with her forward and accommodating approach even post the completion of shooting schedules during the promotion campaigns for the movie. They were impressed by her easy adjustments when they toured as far as the interiors of Rajasthan.

Not playing a starlet’s tantrums, Vidya did not demand any exclusive treatment. Instead she was ever complying with the small hotels they stopped at and ate without qualms at local dhaabas.

Additionally when approached by her hordes of fans she obliged them without superior airs, signing autographs and getting pictures clicked.

Quite the paradigm of ideals, isn’t she?