By Jilawatan

She was hailed as the next big thing when she made her debut two years ago in Pradeep Sarkar’s Parineeta. But now everyone is questioning Vidya Balan’s career decisions. Critisised for her itsy-bitsy role in Eklavya, her unflattering wardrobe in Heyy Babyy and her refusal to promote Mani Ratnam’s Guru, Vidya Balan seems to be courting controversy with every step she takes.
Rajeev Masand: You are just back from a long two-month outdoor in Toronto shooting for Aziz Mirza’s Lucky Charm . What was the experience like, being away for so long?
Vidya Balan: Yes, this has been my longest outdoor. Toronto is a beautiful place and it was my first trip there. We were at a very pretty location downtown. We were actually on Lake Ontario so it was beautiful. I love Aziz Mirza. He spreads so much positivity and cheer that rubs off on everyone. Otherwise what can happen on such a long shoot is that you just get on each other’s nerves. But I don’t think any of that happened. We really had a nice time.
Rajeev Masand: With you being away for two months, you didn’t really get to savour the success of you film Heyy Babyy.
Vidya Balan: Yes, I have just come in though I know it has done really well because I have been in touch with Sajid (Khan) and a couple of other people from the team. I have not been here to enjoy the success but that has also saved me a lot of flak. So maybe there’s a reason for everything.
Rajeev Masand: The flak was not really directed towards your performance as much as it was directed towards your wardrobe.
Vidya Balan: That’s some respite at least. For the wardrobe, I would like to take as much responsibility as Manish (Malhotra) because I think I was a little blasé about the clothes and the look. I tried to be different but I have learnt that you don’t have to look different for the sake of being different. Manish and I should have been more careful because it is the first time I have sported a western look. It would unfair to say that Manish gave me bad clothes because I can also look into the mirror and see what works and what doesn’t. But I didn’t bother too much so both of us should be splitting the flak.
Rajeev Masand: Your film Bhool Bhulaiyya is releasing on the same day as Laaga Chunari Mein Daag. You were offered a role in Laaga … first but you could not do it for whatever reasons. So do you that find it ironic or poetic?
Vidya Balan: Poetic, yes. Like I have said before, I never imagined not being part of Dada’s (Pradeep Sarkar) film. I just got to know a week ago that it’s releasing on the same day. I was amazed. It’s great.
Rajeev Masand: You must feel tricky because you can’t want the other film to not do well.
Vidya Balan: I don’t want anyone’s film to not do well. I’m not trying to sound holier-than-thou but I know what goes into making a film and I think there are enough people to be watching all kinds of films.
Rajeev Masand: You must have heard that your film Eklavya has a bit of a controversy surrounding it regarding it being sent for the Oscars. What’s you view on this?
Vidya Balan: I wouldn’t like to say much about it because at the moment the matter is sub judice. As an actor, it just feels good that one of my films was selected. Last year, Lage Raho Munnabhai was sent as an independent entry. I enjoyed working on Eklavya. Vidhu Vinod Chopra is someone who I had wanted to work with ever since I had seen Parinda. I remember in a little black book I had a list of directors I wanted to work with and his name was in one of the first pages.
Rajeev Masand: Tell us a little more about this little black book. So how many names have you struck off it already?
Vidya Balan: I’m a very greedy person. I have worked with Mani Ratnam but I want to work with him on a full-fledged role. There’s Vidhu Vinod Chopra who I again want to work with. Strangely, I had watched Dada’s music videos and I had told myself I want to work with him. He stopped doing music videos. Finally when he did one after two and a half years I was actually in it. So divine intervention, I guess. There’s Rajkumar Santoshi and Nikhil Advani who I have worked with also.
Rajeev Masand: So that’s a good record.
Vidya Balan: Yes, but there’s a long, long, long way to go.
Rajeev Masand: Best of luck. Let’s hope we see a lot of different roles and films from you. Thank you for talking to us.

By Jilawatan

Bipasha Basu and Vidya Balan, the warring actresses have ended their battle. The cold war that was on between themended in ‘All The Best’ party at a five-star hotel, where Bipasha went up to Vidya and hugged her.

The cold war began after rumours of John Abraham’s chemistry with Vidya Balan on the sets of Salaam–e-Ishq came out in 2007. It is said that despite Nikhil Advani calling a cut for a romantic scene under a dupatta, John and Vidya continued to remain inside the dupatta for at least a minute before coming out of it.

Apparently, Bipasha was so furious that she asked John to never work with Vidya again. This time however, Bipasha decided to forgive and forget as she patched up with the actress.

According to the buzz, when Vidya came to the party, she was given a warm welcome by Bips. During a discussion with the cast and crew of the film, Vidya was informed that she was the original choice for Bips role in the flick. Post chatting up with the crew, Bips came to greet Vidya and surprised everyone.

Confirming the story, a source told a news daily, “Bipasha just went up to Vidya and hugged her. Later, John too spoke to Vidya.”

Talking about Vidya, Bips told the news daily, “I never had any problem with Vidya. Many ridiculous stories are printed every day in the media. I don’t change my attitude towards people according to them.”

However, Vidya chose to remain mum about the issue.

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

Actress Vidya Balan would star in Nikhil Advani’s Chand Bhai and Bhansali’s Chenab Gandhi as she signed both the movies recently.

Advani’s Chand Bhai is a raw realistic song less film on juvenile delinquency. At the same time the actress won’t be seen in the central character. The story of the movie revolves around the delinquent boy’s character.

At the same time, she would be working with Vibhu Puri’s Chenab Gandhi, that would be produced by Sanjay Leela Bhansali.

Vidya is said to be spell bound by the script and project. She attended costume and reading session to understand the sequences. Hurman Baweja is said to be the opposite of the star in the movie.

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,” said the actress.

By Jilawatan

After the debacle of Chandni Chowk To China, everyone has come down really hard on director Nikhil Advani. The fact that Nikhil’s earlier film Salaam-e-Ishq was a big dud didn’t help his cause either.

While Nikhil seems to have taken things in his stride, the media and gossip-mongers don’t seem to stop with their Nikhil-bashing. Recently, there has been a lot of talk doing the rounds that Nikhil’s forthcoming directorial venture Chand Bhai, supposedly starring Akshaye Khanna and Vidya Balan, has been shelved.

We decided to check with Nikhil if there is any truth to this story or whether it is just a figment of somebody’s imagination. “No there is no truth to this story whatsoever. Chand Bhai is very much on. It’s just that we have pushed the starting of the film to somewhere around July as a very close family friend has taken ill. You will hear an announcement on the status of the film very soon,” says Nikhil.

Well, we hope, at least this clarification from Nikhil would put all rumours to rest.

By Jilawatan

After the debacle of Chandni Chowk To China, everyone has come down really hard on director Nikhil Advani. The fact that Nikhil’s earlier film Salaam-e-Ishq was a big dud didn’t help his cause either.

While Nikhil seems to have taken things in his stride, the media and gossip-mongers don’t seem to stop with their Nikhil-bashing. Recently, there has been a lot of talk doing the rounds that Nikhil’s forthcoming directorial venture Chand Bhai (supposedly starring Akshaye Khanna and Vidya Balan) has been shelved.

We decided to check with Nikhil if there is any truth to this story or whether it is just a figment of somebody’s imagination. “No there is no truth to this story whatsoever. Chand Bhai is very much on. It’s just that we have pushed the starting of the film to somewhere around July as a very close family friend has taken ill. You will hear an announcement on the status of the film very soon”, says Nikhil.

Well, we hope, at least this clarification from Nikhil would put all rumors to rest.