After stunning people by taking up the bold role in her upcoming flick ‘Dirty Picture’, Vidya Balan has decided to go for butt pads to enhance her hips.

Reportedly, she is going to be her boldest best in the movie that is based on Southern porn star Silk Smitha, and Vidya is going to indulge in a lot of cosmetic stuffing to look like a sex symbol.

Actually, Vidya was asked to gain weight for the movie, but as she felt the losing process post the film will be a hard process and so she has decided to go for artificial body enhancements.

“While, the buzz was that the actress would have to use prosthetics to increase her bust line for part of the film (the very part for which she had to gain a few extra kilos), now the news is that some bulk would be required for the hips as well,” reported TOI.

Vidya Balan in a voluptuous avatar
Vidya Balan is known for her girl next door image in movies like ‘Kismat Konnection’ and ‘Parineeta’, and she said that getting a chance to portray such a bold character was quite exciting for her.

So much so that even the producer of the film Ekta Kapoor has worked hard with A D Shahana and Vikram dada, on giving Vidya a voluptuous look.

“While Vidya after shedding her kilos and the ‘plump’ tag is probably in no mood to gain extra adipose, since the shoot starts May 30, the filmmaker had to resort to desperate measures,” an insider informed TOI.

The party instinct in Vidya
For all who thought that Vidya was conservative and shy, this will be startling, but as for the actress, she is partying with her friends and co-stars.

“Recently, when Ishqiya won four national awards, Vidya was so elated that she invited the entire team for a get-together. Though she did not win an award herself, she thought it was a great idea to celebrate with the team which has made such a great film,” said a source.

And well, she also makes sure to turn up at every party that she is invited to.

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.

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.

As if Lindsay Lohan being mistaken for Lady Gaga wasn’t bizarre enough, now it seems there is a resemblance between our desi beauty Vidya Balan and international socialite Kim Kardashian! Did you ever think this was possible? Well, if Vidya Balan is to be believed an Australian gay did. In her inter action with the media during the Wills India Fashion Week, she revealed that she was mistaken by an Australian gay to be sex-bombshell Kim Kardashian, reported Spicezee.

“I am gay, but you are really hot. By any chance, are you Kim Kardashian?” Vidya quoted the man to say.

“I didn`t know what to say, so I just smiled,” an embarassed Balan admitted.

Well, films like Ishqiya and Dirty Picture sure are proof that Balan can get just as sexy and sensuous as Kardashian.

Vidya Balan, who starred with Naseeruddin Shah in Ishqiya, will soon share screen-space with the actor in Milan Luthria’s Dirty Picture.

The shooting of the film is slated to begin this month but Vidya, who is a little nervous about her dancing skills, has already started rehearsing with Naseer and the choreographer at Milan’s office in Mumbai.

Besides Dirty Picture, Vidya will also be seen in a different avatar in Santosh Sivan’s highly-anticipated Urumi and will have cameos in Rohan Sippy’s Dum Maaro Dum and Anees Bazmee’s Thank You.

Apart from her contemporaries who can’t stop raving about her, it seems like the talented artiste has found a new fan in Hollywood actor Hugh Jackman. When the actress, who recently met Hugh at FICCI, and also collected the Best Actress Award for Ishqiya from him, asked him whether he would like to be paired opposite her in Ishqiya 2, Hugh answered in the affirmative! Way to go, Vidya!

Amitabh Bachchan , who is presently shooting in Mumbai for Bbuddah-Hoga Tera Baap —his home production— took time out from his busy schedule to cheer for Team India in the ICC World Cup finals without actually watching the match.

A superstitious Big B believed that every time he had switched on the television to check the score during the previous matches, India had lost a wicket! So, this time around, he chose to sit in another room and asked his son Abhishek to constantly update him about the score.

Vidya Balan needs to become more comfortable in her own skin on screen, according to the director of her upcoming film Dirty Picture.

The actress is known for her love of more traditional roles in films such as the crime drama Ishqiya.

According to the Mumbai Mirror, she was shocked when she received her wardrobe for the film, which turned out to be full of skimpy outfits.

Helmer Milan Luthria told the paper: “Vidya Balan needs to get bolder in her performance and physicality. Bolder in body and in mind.

“This is not kid stuff we are doing. My film takes a naked look at all we’ve been whispering about.”

Dirty Picture will see Balan playing the tragic South Indian actress Silk Smitha, who was famous for her “sensual” dances.

It was reported last month she planned to sue over doctored pictures of her in a bikini posing on a fake Maxim cover.

The 12th edition of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) concluded with the presentation of the Ficci-Frames Excellence awards.

The awards honoured excellence across four major entertainment verticals cinema, television, music and radio.

Starting with the film awards, Dabangg bagged two awards – one for best film of the year and the other for the best music of the year.

Shah Rukh Khan was adjudged the best actor for his role in My Name is Khan while Karan Johar took home the best director award for the same film. As anticipated, Vidya Balan took home the best actress award for Ishqiya.

The highlight of the awards ceremony was Ficci conferring the Excellence International honour to Hugh Jackman, the Australian actor best known as Wolverine in the X-Men series.

In the best debutant category (female), Sonakshi Sinha bagged the award for her performance in Dabangg, while Ranveer Singh collected the best debutant (male) award for his role in Band Baaja Baaraat. Maneesh Sharma won the best director debut trophy for the same film.

Aishwariya Rai Bachchan was honoured with the ‘Decade of Global Achievement’ award for her completing a decade in Hindi cinema.

In the Television category, Star Plus was given the most successful television channel of the year award while Sony’s popular reality show Indian Idol-5 was declared the most successful non-fiction show.

In the acting category, Sushant Singh Rajput from Pavitra Rishta bagged the best actor (male) award, while Rashmi Desai of Uttaran took home the best actor (female) award.

Radio Mirchi was declared the ‘Most Successful Radio Channel’ of the year.

Speaking on the occasion, Ficci Entertainment Committee chairman Yash Chopra said: “The entertainment industry in India is booming along with business excellence and we are happy to recognise such levels of talent in the respective fields. We take pride in honouring best performers for their contributions in their area of work.”

The event was a joint venture between Wizcraft International Entertainment and Ficci to honour talent for their contribution in the entertainment industry.

She took people back to the black and white era with her role in the period film “Parineeta”. Then came her fashion faux pas and a dip in the career graph. But a careful and confident Vidya Balan is on the rise again in Bollywood.

Though at 33 she is just six years old in the Hindi movie industry, her oeuvre is so impressive that there was a Vidya Balan retrospective at the Indian film fest in two Australian cities.

From playing a foul mouthed, manipulative vengeful woman in ” Ishqiya” to the mother of a progeria patient to a grieving sister in ” No One Killed Jessica”, Vidya has been proving her versatility with her nuanced handling of different characters.

Her much-talked-about forthcoming releases – director Milan Luthria’s “The Dirty Picture”, based on the life of Silk Smitha, south Indian cinema’s sex symbol, and Sujoy Ghosh’s thriller “Kahani” in which she plays a six-month pregnant woman – are expected to take her creativity to another level.

Applauding her work and choice of roles, director Sudhir Mishra said: “She is very brave and very gutsy. Hats off to Vidya. She will last longer. It will pay her off very well. She will be remembered as another kind of actress and remembered more than a lot of people. She should continue doing this kind of roles. She should do what she can do well. She should retain that uniqueness.”

Director Anurag Kashyap feels what Vidya is doing is pathbreaking. “I think she is showing the way for everyone else. Vidya’s fan following has increased 50-fold after the kind of work she started doing. We need her,” he added.

This Iyer girl from Palakkad in Kerala grew up in Mumbai. She did her graduation in sociology from St. Xavier’s College.

After award-winning debut with the period drama “Parineeta” (2005), she charmed her fans in a modern avatar in “Lage Raho Munna Bhai”. Her small but impressive role in ” Guru” too earned her accolades.

But after a meteoric rise to fame, her career took a dip post “Salaam-e-Ishq: A Tribute To Love” and it seemed as if lady luck had deserted her completely. She was in the news for all the wrong reasons — from her choice of roles to co-stars to her looks in movies like “Heyy Babyy” and “Kismet Konnection” — she was criticised for everything.

Vidya Balan has always been linked to her heroes. But once all her films release, the link ups too fade away. She has never declared her love for anyone openly. Or is it that Vidya is unable to keep them hooked to her?

This time Vidya got linked to her producer buddy. And now she smartly evades accepting being even friendly to Siddarth Roy Kapoor. “I wish my life was really happening and as colourful as painted by the media. To tell you frankly, my life is very dull. I am a plain Jane who is purely professional. Yet all work makes this Jane cheerful,” says Vidya.

Then what kind of relationship she shares with Siddarth Roy Kapoor? As the clichéd goes, is he ‘just a good friend’ or much more than that? “He is the producer of my latest released film ‘No One Killed Jessica’ and that’s all I know,” retorts the actress.

But this is the very first time she got linked up with a producer. Whom would she love to be linked up with if she is not friendly with Siddarth, as the beauty claims? This time Vidya tries to laugh it out saying, “Oh, I would love to be linked with Amitji (Amitabh Bachchan) but no one did so! Also while working with Naseeruddin Shah and Arshad Warsi during ‘Ishqiya’ no one ever thought of linking me up with them. So it is nice. When the right time comes and I decide to mingle with the opposite sex, I shall let you guys know.”

That was diplomatically correct. Being in the industry for so long and having known all the workaround everywhere, Vidya has even learnt how to tackle the sensitive and controversial issues. “I was just fourteen when I had this crush on my sister’s friend. I would keep waiting for him to come and meet my sister. But one fine day I was damn depressed as he disclosed the fact that he was in love with her. My dreams of this mushy love were shattered altogether,” says Vidya trying to sideline the issue.

Talking about relationship Vidya turns philosophical and says, “We need to value people a lot irrespective of the way a person is related to us. One needs to learn to love and respect that person. Giving and sharing bring you closer to your beloved. Lesser expectations take your relationship to greater heights,” trying to steer clear from the Siddharth Kapoor question. But the actress doesn’t forget to send her message across to her alleged boyfriend as she turns the ambassador for the Earth Hour. She says, “If Siddarth Roy Kapoor follows my advice and keeps the lights off for one hour on the Earth Hour Day then probably I would like to declare my friendship to him.” Well, at least she accepts some interaction with him.

Taking the opportunity we immediately quiz her if there’s any special way she would like to make an appeal to Kapoor to which Vidya replies, “My appeal to him would be as normal as I am making an appeal to each one of you right now,” giving us a hint that she might not want to declare her friendship with Siddarth openly.

Having said that, Vidya lets us in on her growing up years. Reminiscing her childhood memories, she says, “I remember right from my childhood days I would not be allowed by my mom to keep the lights and fans on if no one would be there in the room. I am into this practice of not letting the AC, lights and fans switched on unnecessarily. While many of my friends don’t bother much, I don’t believe in wasting electricity.” Talking about being in the dark, Vidya suddenly turns romantic and says, “Without lights I obviously turn nostalgic and romantic.”

Will then she prefer being with Sid, we quiz? Vidya laughs aloud and replies with a straight “no”.

Vidya Blan, Naseeruddin Shah and Arshad Warsi will return as lead stars in a sequel to Ishqiya, Shemaroo and Vishal Bhardwaj announced on March 18.

According to the Mumbai Mirror, Abhishek Chaubey is being retained as the film’s director and is giving final touches to the script.

There is a talk of adding a couple of more actors to the lead cast.

Vishal Bahrdwaj will score the music, while Gulzar will pen the lyrics.

Filming is scheduled to begin mid 2011.

According to unconfirmed reports, the sequel is set in Mumbai, with Vidya Balan playing a bold urban woman willing to break social norms.

The original film, released in 2010, was set in the rustic region of Gorakhpur in UP. It revolved around three romantic personalities played by Warsi, Balan and Shah.

Balan played a potty mouthed scheming widow, two-timing an uncle and nephew duo of small-time crooks from Bhopal, played by Shah and Warsi.

Stellar performance by the three stars made the film a huge success; it was screened at prestigious international film festivals including the 34th Cairo International Film Festival.