By Jilawatan

By Jilawatan

By Jilawatan

By Jilawatan

From shedding pounds to clothes, Vidya Balan is trying her best to fit in. The heavy weight actress who is bent on shooing off her girl-next-door, 70s-heroine image to fit in the current league of glam-dolls has now hopped on the blog bandwagon to keep up with the latest trend in B-town.

Desperately vying to rub shoulders with industry veterans, the sober turned mod babe has drawn inspiration from big blog daddies like Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir Khan.

Buzz has it that the lady will write on issues that bother her, besides talking of her future films and projects. A news daily quoted a source as saying, “Earlier, she`d just log on to check her e-mails. But now she spends a lot of time on the net reading blogs, watching videos and staying in touch with world news.”

Grapevine also states that the dusky lady is currently working on designing details of her blog and is checking out several sites. “She has been reading blogs of many stars including Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir Khan. She`s looking into the blogs of many Indian and international celebrities and is getting a feel of the whole thing the design, layouts and what she wants”, add a source.

With, Vidya hoping on the blogwagon, blogging seems like child’s play!

By Jilawatan

By Jilawatan

By Jilawatan

Following the lead of actors like Amitabh Bachchan, Ajay Devgan, John Abraham, Aamir Khan and Shilpa Shetty, Vidya Balan now wants to become a blogger. The actress recently got herself a Toshiba laptop and has been surfing the net regularly. Says a source close to Vidya, “Earlier, she’d just long on to check her e-mails. But now she spends a lot of time on the net reading blogs, watching videos and staying in touch with world news.”

The source continues, “She has been reading blogs of many stars including Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir Khan. And she is planning to start blogging soon. She’s looking into the blogs of many Indian and international celebrities and is getting a feel of the whole thing the design, layouts and what she wants.”

The actress plans to blog about issues that bother her. She will also talk about her films and post pictures. There are no plans to start a website for now, she will only blog. The actress is currently not on any of the social networking websites (like Facebook or Orkut). Vidya admits, “A lot of people have been telling me to blog. I am toying with the idea.”

After paragliding in Wai on her birthday in December, Vidya had enrolled for a 10-day workshop in Panchgani but had to cancel her plans as the shooting of Balki’s Pa requires those dates. She says, “I love all kinds of adventure and water sports from paragliding to bungee jumping and had booked myself for a 10-day course in Panchgani but now the film needs those dates. Though I am disappointed, I am sure they will have another one again, which I will be able to attend.”

By Jilawatan

At the heart of a star resides a child that Vidya occasionally gets to nurture when she can free herself from the trappings of her profession, when she surprises  morning-walkers at the Victoria Memorial lawns at the crack of dawn or has luchi sabji at Shri Hari before catching a morning flight to Mumbai.

Stardom doesn’t allow her indulgences, but Vidya isn’t complaining. Recollections of things past and an urge to experience some of what has been left far behind, even in small measures, doesn’t let her get blinded by the stardust.

“Nothing matches the innocence of a child. My mother’s name is Saraswati. Vidya is a very common name among Tamil Brahmins. Since education always takes a precedence over everything else, Vidya was a natural choice of name for us. We Tamil Brahmins celebrate Saraswati Puja on Vijaya Dashami. We’d offer books, pens and ghungroos at the deity’s feet. Trust me, that one day of being told not to study seemed like a huge loss just before the exams,” she says, recalling the compelling urge she’d invariably feel every Saraswati Puja to do her revision!

Conversation soon meanders towards the importance of education, especially when the success rate of drop-outs in the industry is pretty high. “I’m thankful to my parents for insisting that I give up Hum Paanch and complete my graduation. Education gives wings to broaden the horizons. I’d not judge the success stories of school drop-outs in the industry. I’d only say that one must not waste a chance to get educated, since there are so many others wanting and yet not being able to do so.

Recently, I ran the Mumbai Marathon for an NGO that supports the education of the girl child.” Yet, what Vidya doesn’t support, is how today’s children are being taught to only score the highest marks. “While it’s nice to see driven children, I wish they could fit into a system where education is an end in itself and not a means to an end. Today’s children have an instant reply to every question. In the name of professionalism, parents are often forcing child artistes to pick up the fine art of being battery-operated,” she says.

So, how is she as a student, when it comes to working with different directors with diametrically opposite working styles? “With Mani Ratnam, you will hardly get an okay when you expect one. It’s only when you are unsure, that he will say that the shot is okay. While Dada (Pradeep Sarkar) goes for multiple takes, Raju Hirani loves spontaneity.”

Challenging her skill with the constant process of learning and unlearning, has instilled in Vidya a renewed confidence in her strengths and an understanding that there is something about her vintage appeal that continues to mesmerise her audience, waiting to see her light up the screen again with Ishqiya and Pa this year.

By Jilawatan

By Jilawatan