By Jilawatan

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.

By Jilawatan

Oi oi.. what is this I’m hearing subah subah now? A khabru has called to inform me that Shahid Kapoor and Vidya Balan have reconnected again, over text messages. Yeh aur baat hai that he messages her more than she replies to him.
Kyun? Kyunki Viddy still hasn’t gotten over their jhagda patties after Kismet Konnection, when she got maha upset with him for shooting his mouth off and saying things he should not have, reveals my informer.
Never mind if they happened to start messaging by accident — reportedly Shahid sent a message to Vidya instead of Vishal Bharadwaj, the actor is trying to manao her ever since.
But according to my jasoos, Viddy B reverts to him only once in a while and is keeping safe distance instead of being too friendly. Chalo badhya hai. So what if it’s so very theek hai, zyada paka mat, I tell you.

By Jilawatan

Vidya Balan is no stranger to link-ups and is often linked with her co-stars. But such rumours have left her embarrassed on more occasions than one. Take the case of Shahid Kapur. Tongues started wagging during the shooting of Kismet Konnection but post the film’s release, Shahid not only refused to acknowledge their relationship, he even started giving Vidya a wide berth, leaving her red-faced.

And now, the same treatment is being meted out to her by John Abraham.

Her chemistry with John during the filming of Salaam-E-Ishq was so good that his girlfriend, Bipasha Basu, forbid John from ever working with Vidya again.

And it now turns out that diktat still holds.

A li’l birdie told us that John was again offered a film with Vidya but he backed out at the last minute, apparently because he does want trouble in his paradise.

And what’s worse for Vidya, after John, the film’s director approached Bobby Deol, but even he refused to sign on the dotted line.

We wonder if that is because Bollywood’s wives and girlfriends can’t bear their men working with her or because the actors themselves are scared of Vidya stealing their thunder on screen, now that she has established herself with films such as Paa and Ishqiya.

By Jilawatan

Vidya Balan loves ethnic style of dressing which include kurtis, jhumkas, and kohl lined eyes.

Balan’s USP is, of course, her gorgeous eyes! And the southern belle knows exactly how to adorn them.

“Vidya calls for her Kajal all the way from Pakistan,” says a source close to the star.

She never touches any other brand of kajal except that particular one from Pakistan.

“Luckily for Vidya now the brand is available in Delhi. She keeps getting gifted expensive eye cosmetics but she refuses to part with her favorite kajal,” adds the source.

Vidya will be seen in traditional Indian makeover in her two upcoming releases, Paa and Ishqiya. She is already getting rave reviews for her looks in Paa. Sabyasachi Mukherjee is her designer in the film.

The Kismet Konnection star who lost significant amount of weight in these two films says loosing weight will not tempt her to dress more suggestively on screen or off screen.

“I didn’t lose weight to wear suggestive outfits. I lost weight to feel better about myself. I enjoy wearing Indian clothes,” said Balan.

By Jilawatan

Looks like Vidya Balan couldn’t exactly gulp down the massive criticism that came her way after ‘Heyy Babyy’ and ‘Kismet Konnection’, for the actress has shed a super ten kilos and is apparently looking spectacular.

According to reports, Vidya was keeping a low profile of late after facing tremendous flak from the critics and had resolved to shock everyone with an all new Vidya. It seems that the actress has fulfilled her resolution, as she is looking much lighter and much happier with her looks than before.

The performance powerhouse, who was recently spotted at yesteryear actress Shammi’s 80th birthday party, looked her slimmest best and it is believed that the guests at the party were startled to see a much slender Balan.

Insiders suggest that Vidya has never looked so slim and in such perfect shape. Reportedly, the secret behind her weight loss is her workout regime and a vigilant diet, which she had adopted a few months ago.

By Jilawatan

Poor Vivek Oberoi, he’s being dumped this time in print… and by Vidya Balan of all co-stars.

The actor, who’s not had a film since the disastrous Mission Istanbul last year, has been getting a lot of press lately because of an alleged link-up with the Kismet Konnection actress.

But Vidya, who’s been linked to almost every actor that she has worked with from Sanjay Dutt and John Abraham to Shahid Kapoor, is not having any of this. She’s not even working with Vivek, so Vidya’s anxious to nip the romance rumour in the bud. Rather tersely, the actress whose own fortunes are seeming to be on the uprise told BT that there was no question about her falling for Vivek and finally finding true love. “I have met Vivek some one-and-a-half times only,” said Vidya. Which, in Bollywood, is half times too many for people to fall in love or get hooked onto each other. But Vidya is not buying…

By Jilawatan

By Jilawatan

The graceful Vidya Balan has turned a new leaf. After her unsuccessful attempts to revamp her wardrobe in “Heyy Babyy” and “Kismat Konnection”, the actress has decided to go easy on the glamour quotient.

“It’s not as though I’m disowning my efforts to do glamorous roles. I’m proud of ‘Heyy Babyy’ and ‘Kismat Konnection’. But this year I’m doing films that don’t need me to stretch my personality. I’m very happy doing roles that come naturally to me. That’s what I decided about my career this year,” Vidya told IANS.

Vidya has just given the nod to Nikhil Advani’s next film “Chand Bhai”, which would surprise many. It is a raw, realistic and song-less film on juvenile delinquency.

“It’s nothing like the high-flying glam stuff that one expects from Nikhil after ‘Chandni Chowk To China’. ‘Chand Bhai’ is a stark, very real kind of drama. And I get to co-star with a very talented actor Akshaye Khanna with whom I was in Nikhil’s ‘Salaam-e-Ishq’ though we had just one passing shot together,” she said.

The actress admits “Chand Bhai” doesn’t feature her in the central role.

“The film revolves around a delinquent boy’s character. But I’m very happy to be part of a film that addresses itself an important social issue. This year I think I’m done with searching for various bylanes to my screen identity. All my forthcoming films have a sharp sense of social purpose, and that definitely includes Vibhu Puri’s ‘Chenab Gandhi’, which I’m enormously excited about because it’s produced by Sanjay Leela Bhansali.”

Vidya has been attending costume and reading sessions for “Chenab Gandhi” and is spellbound by the script. The film also stars Amitabh Bachchan and Hurman S. Baweja.

“I haven’t really interacted that much with my co-star Hurman as yet. With Mr. Bachchan, who plays the title role, I share a lifelong bonding. Right from ‘Eklavya – The Royal Guard’, we’ve been paired in so many films right up to ‘Chenab Gandhi’ and now Balki’s (R Balakrishnan’s) ‘Pa’.

“If I did all the films last year that I was offered with Mr. Bachchan, I wouldn’t be working with anyone else,” said Vidya, adding she’s excited to work with Abhishek Bachchan for the first time in “Pa”.

‘We’ve never been paired together. It would be interesting to have another interesting co-star to work with,” she said.

Vidya recently saw”Ghajini” and was bowled over by Aamir Khan.

“I’m dying to work with Aamir. And Shah Rukh Khan of course is my favourite. I said on Sajid Khan’s chat show I want to kill Shah Rukh’s wife. No one took me seriously. There was no enhancement in the security around her. Sad.”

By Jilawatan

The graceful Vidya Balan has turned a new leaf. After her unsuccessful attempts to revamp her wardrobe in “Heyy Babyy” and “Kismat Konnection”, the actress has decided to go easy on the glamour quotient.

“It’s not as though I’m disowning my efforts to do glamorous roles. I’m proud of ‘Heyy Babyy’ and ‘Kismat Konnection’. But this year I’m doing films that don’t need me to stretch my personality. I’m very happy doing roles that come naturally to me. That’s what I decided about my career this year,” Vidya told IANS.

Vidya has just given the nod to Nikhil Advani’s next film “Chand Bhai”, which would surprise many. It is a raw, realistic and song-less film on juvenile delinquency.

“It’s nothing like the high-flying glam stuff that one expects from Nikhil after ‘Chandni Chowk To China’. ‘Chand Bhai’ is a stark, very real kind of drama. And I get to co-star with a very talented actor Akshaye Khanna with whom I was in Nikhil’s ‘Salaam-e-Ishq’ though we had just one passing shot together,” she said.

The actress admits “Chand Bhai” doesn’t feature her in the central role.

“The film revolves around a delinquent boy’s character. But I’m very happy to be part of a film that addresses itself an important social issue. This year I think I’m done with searching for various bylanes to my screen identity. All my forthcoming films have a sharp sense of social purpose, and that definitely includes Vibhu Puri’s ‘Chenab Gandhi’, which I’m enormously excited about because it’s produced by Sanjay Leela Bhansali.”

Vidya has been attending costume and reading sessions for “Chenab Gandhi” and is spellbound by the script. The film also stars Amitabh Bachchan and Hurman S. Baweja.

“I haven’t really interacted that much with my co-star Hurman as yet. With Mr. Bachchan, who plays the title role, I share a lifelong bonding. Right from ‘Eklavya – The Royal Guard’, we’ve been paired in so many films right up to ‘Chenab Gandhi’ and now Balki’s (R Balakrishnan’s) ‘Pa’.

“If I did all the films last year that I was offered with Mr. Bachchan, I wouldn’t be working with anyone else,” said Vidya, adding she’s excited to work with Abhishek Bachchan for the first time in “Pa”.

‘We’ve never been paired together. It would be interesting to have another interesting co-star to work with,” she said.

Vidya recently saw”Ghajini” and was bowled over by Aamir Khan.

“I’m dying to work with Aamir. And Shah Rukh Khan of course is my favourite. I said on Sajid Khan’s chat show I want to kill Shah Rukh’s wife. No one took me seriously. There was no enhancement in the security around her. Sad.”

By Jilawatan

The graceful Vidya Balan who turned a year older on January 1, has turned a new leaf.

After her abortive attempts to revamp her wardrobe in Heyy Baby and Kismat Connection Vidya has decided to go easy on the glam ramp.

“It’s not as though I’m disowning my efforts to do glamorous roles. I’m proud of Heyy Baby and Kismat Connection. But this year I’m doing films that don’t need me to stretch my personality. I’m very happy doing roles that come naturally to me. That’s what I decided about my career this year.”

Vidya has just given the nod to Nikhil (Chandni Chowk To China) Advani’s next film which would surprise many.

Advani’s Chand Bhai is a raw realistic songless film on juvenile delinquency.

Says Vidya, “It’s nothing like the high-flying glam-wham stuff that one expects from Nikhil after Chandni Chowk. Chand Bhai is a stark very real kind of drama. And I get to co-star with a very talented actor Akshaye Khanna with whom I was in Nikhil’s Salaam-e-Ishq though we had just one passing shot together.”

Vidya gladly admits Chand Bhai doesn’t feature her in the central role.

“The film revolves around the delinquent boy’s character. But I’m very happy to be part of a film that addresses itself an important social issue. This year I think I’m done with searching for various bylanes to my screen identity.

All my forthcoming films have a sharp sense of social purpose, and that definitely includes Vibhu Puri’s Chenab Gandhi which I’m enormously excited about because it’s produced by Sanjay Leela Bhansali.”

Vidya has been attending costume and reading sessions for Chenab Gandhi and is spellbound by the script. “But I haven’t really interacted that much with my co-star Hurman as yet. With Mr Bachchan who plays the title role, I share a lifelong bonding.

Right from Eklavya we’ve been paired in so many films right up to Chenab Gandhi and now Balki’s Pa. If I did all the films last year that I was offered with Mr Bachchan I wouldn’t be working with anyone else, ” says Vidya, adding she’s excited to work with Abhishek Bachchan for the first time in Pa.

“We’ve never been paired together.It would be interesting to have another interesting co-star to work with, ” says Vidya who went to Panchgani for her birthday this year, with her parents, sister and brother-in-law.

“It’s very rare for all five of us in the family to be together. My birthday falls on a very unforgettable day, the New Year. It’s preceded by Christmas, so we all take time off to be together.

Another advantage of being born on the first day of the year is, no one can claim to forget your birthday, ” she says with loud laughter.

Vidya recently saw Ghajini and was bowled over by Aamir Khan. “I’m dying to work with Aamir. And Shah Rukh of course is my favourite. I said on Sajid Khan’s chat show I want to kill Shah Rukh’s wife. No one took me seriously. There was no enhancement in the security around her. Sad.”