By Jilawatan

Vidya Balan has been characterized as the girl-next-door since she entered the industry. She’s always been the sweet, mature woman you’d want your parents to see you bring home. However, we also know she’s proven her versatility as an actress. In Abhishek Choubey’s directorial debut Ishqiya, Vidya Balan dons the role of a woman who’s well aware of her power over men.

Playing this new role of a seductress opposite two thugs, Naseerudin Shah and Arshad Warsi, has been a big step out of her comfort zone. Recently, they shot the song ‘Ibn Batuta’ where the three of them, completely drunk, dance together. Vidya explained how she had to pretend to be intoxicated and uninhibited as she swayed to Vishal Bharadwaj’s music. However, since the song did not fit in with the storyline, it will be used with the credits.

Even more risque, she has shot a scene where her character sucks Arshad Warsi’s thumb.

“Fortunately, Arshad is a friend. We’ve gotten along well from the time we did Lage Raho Munna Bhai together. I don’t know if I’d have been able to do a scene like putting my co-star’s finger in the mouth with someone else. That gesture of sucking Arshad’s thumb was so raunchy and sexy, so not me, I couldn’t connect with it all,” she said.

“In Ishqiya, everything – from the way I wore my sari to the way I looked at men – was alien to me. The role exposed me to a new way of interpreting a liberated woman. My character in Ishqiya may not know about feminism. But she’s truly liberated.”

The voluptuous woman who ensnares two men with wily charms isn’t Vidya Balan. That’s her character in Ishqiya, releasing soon.

By Jilawatan

May be Vidya Balan’s magic must have first happened to work upon the Censor Board before getting into effect with the public. Such a kind of thing is rare in Bollywood, though finally the film was certified as ‘A’.

Well atleast a limitation has been measured for the film, which surely does not suit the sense of those below ‘A’. Finally Arshad Warsi,Vidya Balan and Naseruddin Shah starrer has come out clean.
The director Abhishek Chaubhey to his surprise added, “Frankly, I expected I’d be asked for some kind of an explanation for the language and content and why they were necessary. I had gone prepared with dossiers on every graphic word and shot. To my surprise, I wasn’t asked for any explanation. I was given an ‘Adults’ certificate with no cuts at all. I guess it’s a sign of how far censorship has come in our country.”

The film depicts about life in Uttar Pradesh and the way which people in the small North Indian towns live their life according to the director.

Keeping this to perspective the director was not harassed with further questions and he added, “ So I didn’t have problem of receiving the ‘A’ certificate. However he clarifies that the language is not as bold as it is assumed and also isn’t about creating shock value either. It’s the way the people in the small North Indian towns live their life..”
The film produced by Raman Maroo and Vishal Bharadwaj and ‘Ishqiya’ is to release soon on Jan 29.

Well it not Abhishek is suprised that Censor Board did not ran their scissors upon the bold and expletives steamy scenes and gave him a ‘A’ Certificate instead, remaining cool with the content.

Well Balan when you have burned up Censor Board first, what they can burn your film scenes later.

By Jilawatan

After her hit movie ‘Paa’, Vidya Balan will be seen in a very different avtaar in her upcoming movie with Arshad Warsi and Naseeruddin Shah.

Vidya Balan has gone ahead this time and shot for a most balant come hither gesture she has ever seen any actress in Hindi cinema make til date. She was required to take Arshad Warsi’s thumb in her mouth and suck on it suggestively.

Vidya took countable number of takes to shoot the scene and each time she did si in reherals, Arshad would burst into uncontrollable giggles and everyone on the set would join him in so.

Vidya recalls the moment and said that Arshad is a good friend to her from the time of ‘Lage Raho Munna Bhai’ together and they got along very well on the set.

The actress continued saying that had there been some one else other than Arshad, she would not have been able to do the scene.

Vidya is now looking forward to the release of Ishqiya in January.

By Jilawatan

If there is anyone in the film industry right now who loves to go Retro then it is surely Vidya Balan. Recently the actress went to the ‘Radio Mirchi’ event of ‘Purani Jeans’ programme to be a part in anchoring for the show as a promotional for her forth coming film’Ishqiya’. She was dressed in a sari with the desi touch and wore her hair loose and long with the look of a village belle. This is the same look she has sported in the film also starring veteran actor Naseerudin Shah and Arshad Warsi.

Vidya who played the role of a Radio Jockey in the film ‘Lage Raho Munnabhai’ chose to come to real life radio jockeying, and as she is fond of listening to the ‘Purani Jeans’ Retro programme which is on air late into the night said that she enjoys all the old numbers which are very haunting melodies and thus she thought this was the best way to promote their film as well. According to sources she is also very impressed by the great actor Naseerudin Shah who has done a commendable job in the film as well.

The film ‘Ishqiya’ is already in the news because of its unusual star cast and the song’Iban Batuta’ which has all the three that is Naseerudin Shah, Arshad Warsi and Vidya Balan in a very high form due to the drunken state that they are in. The song has also been captured very well on camera and according to sources; the absolute village backdrop has given a very authentic look to the entire film as well. So, till the film releases enjoy the music.

By Jilawatan

After playing mother to 63-year-old Amitabh Bachchan in Paa, Vidya Balan is now romancing veteran Naseeruddin Shah in her upcoming film Ishqiya and the actress is smitten by her much older co-star.

The actress who breaks away from her squeaky-clean image in the Abhishek Choubey film, says that Shah is not just an amazing actor, but also every woman’s dream come true.

“He(Shah) is a total charmer. He is an astounding actor, a great co-star. As a man, he is every woman’s dream come true, sensitive, a total charmer and what an amazing voice,” said Balan about her 59-year-old co-star in an interview to PTI.

Balan debuted as the coy Bengali belle Lolita in Parineeta and the image stuck to her but she hopes to change it all with ‘Ishqiya’ where she plays a foul mouthed temptress in a love triangle between her, Shah and Arshad Warsi.

“It’s the kind of role I always wanted to do but never got around to doing. Maybe because I was a bit scared about it myself. What surprised me was the fact that I was Abhishek’s first choice to play Krishna and after I got over the initial apprehension I had a ball playing the bad girl,” said Balan.

The film, set in a small hamlet in UP, will see the actress playing a widow, Krishna Verma, who romances funnyman Arshad Warsi and veteran Naseeruddin Shah who play bandits on the run.

The 32-year-old actress, who is often slated by the fashion police for her seeming infatuation with anarkali kurtas, will interestingly be sporting a very de-glamourised look in her first bold role.

“My role might be bold but I play a small-town woman and had to dress the part in basic sarees and not much make-up. In my opinion the sexiness of the character comes from the attitude and not the clothes,” said Balan.

The actress who was at the receiving end of many barbed comments over her weight, debuted her new svelte self with the hit Paa but made it clear that she did not lose weight so that she could wear revealing clothes.

The actress maintains that she does not equate skin show with style and has never felt the need to fit in with Bollywood’s stereotypical idea of beauty.

“I have a personal style which I will not change because what I wear in real life cannot be dictated by someone else’s idea of fashion. And as far as what I wear on screen that depends on the character I play,” said Balan.

For the time being Balan is hoping that her performance in Ishqiya leads to more challenging roles.

“Every day is a new day and God has been really kind to me all these years. I really hope that Ishqiya works well so that I can continue to make good decisions,” said Balan.

By Jilawatan

An avowed teetotaler, Vidya Balan had to play drunk for the song ‘Ibn Batuta’ in her upcoming film Ishqiya which marks for her a radical departure from the image of a demure, elegant woman Vidya has made for herself in B-town.

The song, canned last month, has all three, Vidya, Arshad Warsi and Naseeruddin Shah, carousing to the beats of Vishal Bharadwaj’s perky composition.

Pretending to be sloshed was one of the easiest things Vidya has had to do for ‘Ishqiya’. She mouthed desi, vulgar expletives and even shot a steamy scene with Arshad.

To arouse Arshad in the scene, Vidya takes his thumb and takes it in her mouth, licking it suggestively. Doubtlessly, it is one of the most provocative scenes an actress has shot in years.

In short, Vidya had to be all that she isn’t to play the seductive, cunning village belle in director Abhishek Choubey’s film.

By Jilawatan

The last thing you expect of the demure and elegant Vidya Balan is to hear her say vulgar expletives, or play a cunning seductress, or worst still, drink and carouse. All this and more she will be seen doing in director Abhishek Choubey’s film Ishqiya.

Apprehensive at first, once Vidya got down to slipping into her character in the film, she had fun.

“It’s the kind of role I always wanted to do but never got around to doing. Maybe because I was a bit scared about it myself. What surprised me was the fact that I was Abhishek’s first choice to play Krishna and after I got over the initial apprehension I had a ball playing the bad girl,” Balan is quoted as saying by a news agency.

In the movie, Vidya plays a village girl who works her charm on the uncle-nephew duo played by Arshad Warsi and Naseeruddin Shah. There’s also a song in the movie where she gets drunk with the duo.

Vidya seems particularly impressed by Naseer.

“He (Naseeruddin Shah) is a total charmer. He is an astounding actor, a great co-star. As a man, he is every woman’s dream come true, sensitive, a total charmer and what an amazing voice,” Vidya said.

Though the character she plays is a bold and provocative one, the outfits Vidya dons in the film are pretty simple.

“My role might be bold but I play a small-town woman and had to dress the part in basic sarees and not much make-up. In my opinion the sexiness of the character comes from the attitude and not the clothes,” said the 32-year-old actress.

By Jilawatan

Vidya Balan, who never touches alcohol has shot a special risqué number entitled ‘Ibn batuta’ in Ishqiya with her co-stars Naseeruddin Shah and Says Vidya, “We shot the song last month after the entire shooting was completed. I don’t drink and I had to act sozzled along with Naseer Saab and Arshad.” The track will be used in the opening and credit titles of Ishqiya. Says Vidya, “Arshad is a fab dancer. And Naseer Saab was having a ball dancing to the song Vishal Bhardwaj had composed. I think the last time he danced was for Oye oye in Tridev. But you can’t tell. He’s so good. Both the guys were having so much fun, and I had to join in pretending to be totally drunk.”

The song came out so well that the director Abhishek Choubey was thinking of using it in the narrative. But since it didn’t fit in, Ibn batuta will now just be part of the credit titles. That isn’t the only daredevil thing Vidya has done in Ishqiya. This has to qualify as one of the most sensuous things a mainstream Hindi-film heroine is seen doing in any movie. In what Vidya Balan describes as the most blatant come-hither gesture she has ever seen any actress in Hindi cinema make, in Ishqiya she was required to take Arshad Warsi’s thumb in her mouth and suck on it suggestively.

Each time she did so in the rehearsals Vidya would burst into uncontrollable giggles. And Arshad would join in. Recalls Vidya, “Fortunately Arshad is a friend. We’ve gotten along well from the time we did Lage Raho Munnabhai together. I don’t know I’d have been able to do a scene like putting my co-star’s finger in the mouth with someone else. That gesture of sucking Arshad’s thumb was so raunchy and sexy, so not me, I couldn’t connect with it all.”

That sense of non-connectivity, says Vidya, runs through her character in Ishqiya. “I play this rustic voluptuous woman. All my weight-loss happened after I did this film. I had to look filled up for this part. In Ishqiya everything from the way I wore my saree to the way I looked at men, was alien to me. The role exposed me to a new way of interpreting a liberated woman. My character in Ishqiya may not know about feminism. But she’s truly liberated.”

Vidya is now looking forward to the release of Ishqiya in January. “The director Abhishek Choubey had to constantly keep giving me a pep talk. Quite often I was stuck because of the language and content.

By Jilawatan

Vidya Balan gets a little too close for comfort with co-stars Arshad Warsi and Naseeruddin Shah in Abhishek Chaubey’s upcoming risqué film Ishqiya.

Produced by Vishal Bharadwaj, debutant director Abhishek Chaubey’s forthcoming flick Ishqiya has created quite a buzz already. Set in eastern Uttar Pradesh, Ishqiya is a tale of romance between individuals caught in a web of crime, suspense, passion and deceit. Vidya plays a sensuous widow, who leaves good-for-nothing Arshad and Naseer in a tipsy.

The film has already landed in its fair share of trouble with the censor board and, more recently, women focus groups, who objected to the vulgar content, abusive language and violence. The music of the film has already begun to top the charts, and now with the news of Vidya’s several intimate scenes with Naseer and Arshad in the movie, Ishqiya has been tagged as one of the most anticipated flicks of the year.

“I think I have been fortunate enough to have worked on the kind of films which have quenched my thirst as an actor,”said Vidya, when asked about the movie. The actress doesn’t believe it to be a big deal to have had the intimate scenes with her co-stars, whom she shares a great camaraderie with. Vidya had a 10-day acting workshop with Naseer and Arshad in order to break the ice with them, along with trying to get into the skin of her character.

“The scenes were important to the storyline and crucial to my character. They were shot very professionally, and it is because everybody shares such a great rapport on sets,” said Vidya. She then spoke of her co-star Arshad, saying, “Arshad is a brilliant actor. He is very versatile. I feel he is underutilized in our cinema. I think he can be one of those European actors who can play any role with as much ease. He is wonderful, and I share a great camaraderie with him. He is really yet to get his due.”

When it comes to Naseer, there was news that Vidya had ticked off the moody actor during a shoot, bearing the brunt of his anger. However, Vidya rubbished the rumours, saying, “I have utmost respect for Naseer Sir and have learnt so much from him. He is an acting institution in himself, and nothing as such had happened. It was a serious shot in which I couldn’t control my laughter, due to which even he began to laugh. In fact, I could be the only one who made Naseeruddin Shah laugh,” she quipped.

By Jilawatan

Riding high on the success of her last film ‘Paa’, Bollywood actress Vidya Balan celebrated her birthday away from the spotlight, in the backwaters of Kerala.

The southern beauty , born on January 1, ringed in her 32nd birthday with a small party attended by a few close friends and family.

“Vidya Balan left for Kerala to spend her birthday and the New Year with her family and friends. It was a close knit affair. Great food, pleasant music and good conversation ruled the party,” a source close to the actress said.

Balan will next be seen playing a villainous seductress in ‘Ishqiya’ opposite Naseeruddin Shah and Arshad Warsi.