By Jilawatan

Vidya Balan’s power-packed performance in Parineeta catapulted her to instant fame. Hailed by critics and the audience alike, she soon became synonymous with quality films before her career hit a rough patch and critics began to write her off. Proving everyone wrong, she bounced right back with two back-to-back rock solid performances in Paa and Ishqiya winning every coveted award in the industry last year. The actor who has now carved out a niche for herself shares with us how remaining positive and believing in herself and in the power of prayer helped her spring back-from being written off as a jinxed actor to emerging as one of the most sought-after faces of Bollywood.

Breaking even
Films were a natural progression to ad films and music videos. I had signed quite a few films down South and was gearing up for my big screen stint. Little did I know then that life had other plans. Out of nowhere, the project I was working on got shelved. Subsequently, every other project on my hands also collapsed for some reason or the other. And before long, I was being called a jinxed actor. No one was willing to sign me on. My self-confidence nosedived completely and I was miserable. However, I had learnt never to give up and believed things would change for the better. I knew I had to prove myself as an actor. As I went about looking for work, I took recourse in prayers. Every time I prayed, I felt a sense of calm. And finally, my prayers were answered. I got a call from Dada’s (Pradeep Sircar) office to audition for Parineeta and before I knew it, I was on board. I felt elated, I wanted to enjoy the moment, but I also knew the road ahead was not easy. I had a greater task at hand, that of proving my worth to the world, to people who had helped me sail through difficult times.

Under the scanner
Just when I was beginning to get comfortable with my place in the industry after the first couple of films, I was suddenly under the scanner again-not for my acting skills, but for how I looked and what I wore. What began as a murmur soon became the talk of the town. I was being pulled up publicly at every award function, and in every possible daily. Things got so bad that beyond a point I actually stopped reading the papers. My confidence level started dipping again. Each time I would have to make a public appearance, I would start panicking. However, in spite of all that was being written about me, work never stopped coming to me. In fact, some of my finest projects like Paa and Ishqiya were offered to me during this period. I was made to realise by friends and family that I was first an actor and then a fashionista. And if people were coming to me, it was because they believed in my acting skills. I saw reason and decided to maintain a dignified silence and let my work do the talking. Through it all, I shared my concerns with my sister who kept me going with a strong belief in the saying, ‘This too shall pass’.

And it did! Designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee expressed his desire to work with me. And gradually, everything fell into place. Yes, you can win every battle with faith in yourself.

Celebrating me with health
I believe in the celebration of curves, more so because it complements the Indian way I choose to dress. So, fitness to me is not as much about losing inches as it is about respecting my body and keeping fit physically and mentally. I work out with my trainer Vilayat Husain five days a week using mostly light weights, a bit of cardio and a bit of yoga. But above all, I’ve taken great care to modify my lifestyle. And that has worked wonders for me. I believe every woman after age 30 needs to take greater care of herself. Unlike earlier, when I thought it was okay to skip a meal or two, not have a fitness goal or go late to bed, I am now much more disciplined about it all. I have a fibre-rich diet, keep a close watch on my mealtimes and also make sure I get at least six hours of sleep every night. Honestly, I have never felt happier and more content than I feel now, both in terms of my work and looks.

By Jilawatan

Come August and Hyderabad will be the destination of one of the most controversial and ‘dirty’ movie shootings of the year.

Major portions of “Dirty Picture,” a film loosely based on Southern siren, Silk Smitha’s life will be shot in Film City and Jubilee Hills area. Hyderabad Times caught up with director Milan Luthria of “Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai” fame, who was on a location scout in the city. “It’s natural that we shoot portions of the film here in Hyderabad, to capture the flavor of the South,” says the director.

Controversies galore: Silk Smitha’s life on celluloid could ruffle a lot of feathers, considering she was involved with bigwigs from Tollywood. “We are not making the film for controversies. Our movie explores how she became one of the most powerful women at a time when men ruled the roost,” explains Milan. Earlier, Silk Smitha’s boyfriend and filmmaker, Vinu Chakravarthy, lashed out at producer Ekta Kapoor for not taking his consent before making the film. “It’s ridiculous. We are just using her as a parameter to make a film on women of that era,” says Milan. The choice of Vidya Balan to play Smitha on screen too was criticized by Vinu. “Vidya is a fine actress. She has an innocent face, yet there is this underlining sexuality about her that no one else has. It fits the role. She was sexuality personified in her sarees in “Ishqiya,” he reasons.

The men in her life: With Nasseruddin Shah, Tushar Kapoor and Emraan Hashmi playing the three men in Vidya’s on screen life, one can’t help but probe who in particular are the characters based on. “No one as such. Our writer Rajat has written the characters in such a way that it does not represent anyone living or dead,” treads the director carefully. But with a movie based on a Southern siren’s life, how come none of the actors from the South are involved in the project? “Well, it was a conscious decision. If one actor brings in the Southern accent, then we would have to take all the actors from here itself,” says the director, who is now gearing up to shoot with Akshay Kumar for the sequel of last year’s hit, “Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai.”

“We wanted to take the story forward to the time when Shoaib already became a dreaded don. We decided to replace Emraan with Akshay, as the latter’s seriousness and larger-than-life persona on screen suits the character,” says the director.

Friends in the city: Milan has many Tollywood connections. “I assisted Mahesh Bhatt during “Criminal” and I’ve been friends with Nagarjuna since. Same with Chiranjeevi, who did “Gentleman.” How come he never cast them in his movies? “By the time I started making movies, they stopped doing Hindi films. But I’ve heard good things about their sons, Naga Chaitanya and Ram Charan Tej. The next time I’m in town, I’ll drop in and say hi to my old friends,” says Milan.

By Jilawatan

Actress Vidya Balan seems to be dancing to a new tune these days — that of salsa. Apparently, the star has been practising the sexy dance form and is even keen to learn it professionally.

According to a source, “Vidya barely has time to rest as she is shooting back-to-back at the moment, but we do know that she’s very keen on perfecting her salsa moves and has taken up the dance with a lot of gusto.” It seems unlikely that she’s preparing the dance for any upcoming film though.

“No, it’s more to do with her own passion and love for dance than any role,” the source added. Vidya is known to have mastered several complicated salsa moves already. “She has a natural flair for the dance. Though she equally enjoys the Indian dance forms, salsa is something she is very keen on perfecting,” insists the source.

According to the buzz, the dance moves might just help her fine-tune the body language as the South sex siren Silk Smitha, who she will be seen portraying on screen in one of her forthcoming films.

By Jilawatan

Vidya Balan and her Kahaani director Sujoy Ghosh have this endearing love hate relationship. They fight like kids and make up quickly too. But Sujoy makes Vidya laugh so much that she says she has to keep a stern expression while dealing with him. Otherwise no work will ever get done thanks to the giggles fits she gets. Also Vidya is so impressed by his directorial skills and his narrative that she was inspired to ‘choreograph’ a scene in the film. She and Sujoy sat down and designed the whole scene. And it has turned out very well. What next Vidya? Giggle fits over the director’s megaphone?

By Jilawatan

More than a decade after his debut film, Mujhe Kucch Kehna Hai, Tusshar Kapoor is all set to work with director Satish Kaushik.

This time, however, the actor-director duo will move away from romance to work on a comedy film with Tusshar in a double role.

A source said, “It is an amazing comedy and something that both Satishji and Tusshar have been planning for a long time. However, since Tusshar has been busy with his Golmaal franchise films, the film has now shaped up.

The film will be produced by Vikram Bhatt’s company ASA Films. Satishji has decided on Vidya Balan for the female lead. He feels Vidya can be great in comedy like Juhi Chawla.”

Does that mean Tusshar Kapoor will now be romancing Vidya Balan in his next film? Well, we sure are looking forward to this one.

By Jilawatan

Vidya Balan didn’t let anyone smoke on the sets of Kahaani. And on days when no-one was caught with a cigarette, not even the chain smokers, she would call for a cake and chocolates for everyone. As reported (‘No smoking, says Vidya’; Hitlist, February 9), even director Sujoy Ghosh was not allowed to light up during the shoot. And when he tried smoking, he was caught on camera by crew members and then punished by the actress. Here’s Sujoy saying mujhe maaf kar do…

By Jilawatan

Bollywood Gossip: Vidya Balan will represent Indian sensuality at its best in ‘A Dirty Picture’ where she will revive the sex-appeal of Silk Smitha.

Vidya Balan’s role in director Milan Luthria’s film ‘Dirty Picture’ gets dirtier. This is going to be the boldest flick she has ever done and will get the boldest makeover she could ever imagine.

Vidya Balan will be seen in various sexy outfits like hot pants, low necklines, translucent tube tops and petticoats. This is just a trailer. Vidya also has to put on weight to look chubby and curvier for the latter part of her role. She will be required to bare her mid-riff, thighs and cleavage.

As per reports, Vidya Balan has told the director that all her outfits need to reach at least 30 days before she starts shooting, so that she can try and get comfortable in them. Ekta Kapoor’s production Dirty Picture will recreate the the magic that was created by Silk Smitha, the voluptuous South siren in the 80s and 90s.

Director Milan Luthria was not surprised by Vidya’s demand. He states very clearly that Vidya needs to get a lot bolder in expressing her sexuality in the role.

By Jilawatan

While Vidya plays Abhishek’s wife in Dum Maro Dum, Ash, the original choice for the role, chooses to be his wife strictly off-screen

For all those who are still wondering whether Vidya Balan is a part of Rohan Sippy’s Dum Maro Dum, the news is that the Paa actress in indeed a part of the forthcoming film. In fact, UTV CEO Siddharth Roy Kapoor’s girlfriend, Balan will be seen essaying the role of Abhishek Bachchan’s wife.

However, what is interesting is that, according to industry insiders, initially, Jr Bachchan’s real life wife Aishwarya Rai was approached for the same role.

A source close to the film told us, “Vidya has a very significant cameo in the film, but she was definitely not the first choice to play Abhishek’s wife. Rohan and producer Fox Star Studios wanted Aishwarya but somehow things didn’t work out.”

The question that still remains unanswered, however is why or rather how did Vidya come to replace Ash when both the director and the producer wanted otherwise? A leading English daily, on April 2, 2011 had reported how Ash was offered the role of Sarah Jane Dias in Game initially. Evidently, for reasons unknown, Mrs Jr Bachchan had been unable to take up that offer.

When we asked director Rohan Sippy the reason behind Vidya doing the film despite Ash being the first choice, he replied with a message, saying, “Vidya was gracious enough to do my film.”

However, going with Vidya is not a bad decision, judging from the on-screen chemistry the actress shared with Abhishek in Paa. On the other hand, the real life couple, Abhi-Ash has had no hit as a romantic couple so far.

Dhai Akshar Prem Ke, Kuch Naa Kaho, Umrao Jaan and the more recent Raavan, where the two actors had played a romantic couple have all been box office dampeners.

When contacted, both the ladies, Aishwarya and Vidya chose not to answer.

By Jilawatan

Vidya Balan doesn’t want to take chances with The Dirty Picture. Director Milan Luthria created a separate space in his office to help Naseeruddin Shah and her prepare for their characters and rehearse their scenes together.

News is that the area has been kept out-of-bounds for everyone on Vidya’s behest. Luthria admits, “She told me she isn’t comfortable with people walking in and out of the place, and couldn’t concentrate on her work. She asked if I could keep the space out-of-bounds for others, and I agreed.”

The rehearsals have been on for three weeks now and will continue for at least two more. The special room’s door has a ‘Do Not Disturb’ tag too with an attendant from Luthria’s production team guarding it. “No one is allowed inside it. Sometimes, I peep into the room, but generally avoid going in since they get paranoid,” says the director.

Vidya and Naseer have been working to get comfortable with each other, especially for their intimate scenes. They are also checking out their make-up, hairdos and costumes, and going through details of their photo shoots and prosthetics. “We’re not sure if we’ll eventually use prosthetics in the film. They are also trying South Indian-styled choreography. I can just tell you it won’t be a spoof,” says Luthria.

Vidya is also ‘a bit anxious’ about getting into the glamorous Silk Smitha’s shoes in the film produced by Ekta Kapoor. Apparently, the costumes, comprising hot pants, low necks and petticoats, freaked her out.
Eventually, she’s taken a couple of sets of clothes from the film’s wardrobe home to get comfortable. Luthria is all praises: “Vidya is positive about it. She heavily relies on her directors to guide her through her characters, which helps the project a lot.”

By Jilawatan

Suna hai Vidya Balan, who had recently gone to Australia for the Indian Film Festival — Bollywood and Beyond, inspired the festival team to contribute to one of the causes she endorses.

The Balan babe happened to speak about Nanhi Kali, an NGO project. The festival team was so

taken by her belief in the cause that they to decided to contribute to it, instantly! Badhiya hai!