By Jilawatan

Remember Vidya Balan was to make her debut in film industry through the Malayalam movie Chakram with Mohan Lal nearly before 7 years. Regrettably the project was shelved letting Vidya choose Bollywood as her destiny. And now she is all set to make her debut in Malayalam movie with the same actor she dreamt of pairing with.

The actress has signed Priyadarshan’s new Malayalam movie Arabiyum Ottakavum P Madhavan Nairum. Set in backdrops of Abu Dhabi, the film is reported to be a comedy thriller with Bhavana and Lakshmi Rai sharing screen space in female lead roles alongside Vidya Balan.

The film will go on floors from March 1 at a stretch of three schedules planned in Trivandrum, Kochi and Dubai.

Now South Indian filmmakers and producers can get themselves brimmed with hopes that Vidya would sign their projects as well.

By Jilawatan

Household insecticide brand GoodKnight has launched a new ad campaign for the GoodKnight advanced low-smoke coils.

Bollywood actress Vidya Balan, the brand ambassador for GoodKnight, is seen in the role of a wife engaged in a debate with her husband over the use of the low smoke coil, in which she emerges victorious.

The ad is created by JWT while award-winning director Priyadarshan has directed the same.

Tarun Arora, executive vice president, marketing and sales, Godrej Household Products, said, ”Consumers hesitate in believing that a low-smoke coil can effectively kill insects, hence we wanted a director who could provide full justice to reach them in the right way thus making Priyadarshan the perfect choice for it.

The unique proposition of the product is that the coil burns without smoke.

”The new ad campaign communicates the message of safety and well being thereby reinforcing the message ‘Asar dikhega, dhuaan nahin’,” added Arora.

Godrej Household Products Limited is the market leader in the Indian household insecticides category and has a dominant presence in the air care, shoe care and male hair care categories.

By Jilawatan

It is common knowledge that Priyadarshan is only too eager to make a film ‘The Bullet’, and has already cast Ajay Devgn and Vidya Balan for it. However, talks have it that Vidya hasn’t been able to sort out her dates and so her cousin, actress Priyamani was signed on for the role. And all hell broke loose.

Apparently, Priyadarshan who has given an opprtunity to many a South actress in Bollywood is facing flak for the same. The producers of the movie, too, put their foot down and insisted that they wanted a Hindi film actress to play protagonist in this one. Priyan has given in to his demands and has opted for Kangna Ranaut to work with him.

Kangna is excited about the opportunity. With the ensemble in place now, it’s just a matter of time before this team begins shooting ‘The Bullet’. Let’s watch out for this one.

By Jilawatan

Vidya Balan is out of Inder Kumar’s next Dhamaal 2 . The buzz in the trade is that Vidya was neither too happy with the money she was being offered for her role, nor with the role per se. A source says, “Vidya asked for a price which she deserves after she catapulted to the top bracket of actors, post the success of Paa and Ishqiya . She asked for Rs 1.5 crore (approximately). Like any other actor would in her place, she too has hiked up her market price.”

According to the film industry standards, the market prices of Kareena Kapoor and Katrina Kaif are believed to be Rs 1.5 crore (approximately) and that of Priyanka Chopra’s around Rs 1 crore. Hence, given Vidya’s career graph in Bollywood, it is surprising that neither Inder Kumar nor Ashok Thakeria, the producer of the film, objected to Vidya’s exit from the film. “Inder and Ashok failed to understand the need of the hour. Despite discussions, the makers of the film and the actress could not meet at a common consensus,” adds the source.

Meanwhile, Vidya’s friend insists the actress quit the project for qualitative reasons. She stands up for Vidya and says, “Yes, the news is true. Vidya is definitely not doing Dhamaal 2. But that’s simply because she didn’t find any meat in the portrayal of her character. She would have loved to attempt comedy with this film but it’s okay. There is always a next time.”

Interestingly, Vidya has locked horns with her Dhamaal 2 co-star Kangna Ranaut in another film Bullet Train, which is to be directed by Priyadarshan. Bullet Train, which stars Anil Kapoor and Ajay Devgn, is largely going to be shot on a train from London to Glasgow.

Producer of Bullet Train, Ratan Jain has clearly worked out the economics of his film much in advance. He has no qualms in giving the lead role to the actress who is willing to settle for the price he has to offer. He confirms, “Between Vidya and Kangna, whoever agrees to do the role at a lesser price, will get to play the part in my film. The availability of dates will of course be another important factor.”

Despite repeated calls and text messages, Vidya remained unavailable for comment.

By Jilawatan

If film-maker Priyadarshan has his way, you might soon get to see John Abraham and Vidya Balan sizzling on screen together again.

The actors in a still from Salaam-E-Ishq, the last movie John and Vidya worked in together.

The duo was seen together for the first and last time in the film Salaam-E-Ishq in 2007.

While the filming of Salaam-E-Ishq was in progress, rumours of an affair between Vidya and John started doing the rounds. This, in turn, apparently caused a lot of discord in John’s relationship with girlfriend Bipasha Basu. Thereafter, John and Vidya never acted together.

But now Priyadarshan is apparently playing peacemaker to break the ice between John and Vidya. He is trying to woo them for a film.

A source said, “Priyadarshan has had meetings with Vidya and has informed her about the project. Looks like it will be another comedy caper.

“He also likes John’s acting ability and feels he has one of the best comic timings in the industry. So Priyadarshan is doing all he can to bring a truce between John and Vidya.

“Getting both John and Vidya on for a project is a mighty task as they don’t really work with each other anymore. But now that a few years have passed by since rumours of an affair between John and Vidya, and John and Bipasha’s relationship is very stable, the project may finally take off.”

By Jilawatan

Ever since she made her debut with Parineeta, Vidya Balan has worked with many a veteran filmmakers like Vidhu Vinod Chopra (Eklavya – The Royal Guard), Mani Ratnam (Guru), Priyadarshan (Bhool Bhulaiyaa), Raj Kumar Santoshi (Halla Bol) and Aziz Mirza (Kismat Konnection). Meanwhile, she has also worked with first time directors like Pradeep Sarkar (Parineeta) and Sajid Khan (Heyy Babyy) as well as one film old Raj Kumar Hirani (Lagey Raho Munnabhai) or Nikhil Advani (Salaam E Ishq).

Buzz up!
This is why, when she interacted with someone like Balki (who only has a Cheeni Kum behind him), what sort of change in approach did she see in them?

“The best part about him is that he is just fantastic when it comes to multitasking”, Vidya begins talking about the filmmaker, “Even during the making of the film, he would be managing his ad agency meetings. While having lunch with us, he would be having round table conversations. Meanwhile, he would interact with all of us quite normally on the sets.”

She is also impressed with the fact that in spite of a hectic schedule, Balki kept himself abreast with all that was being churned out in Bollywood. “He would always catch a Friday movie release without fail. That’s not all; he is someone who goes for all the concerts and plays. Can you believe that? He has time for everything and anything. He manages his time so well”, she gushes.

Time management is not the only factor that has impressed Vidya. She believes that Balki is also an ace when it comes to people management.

Vidya Balan “Temperamentally he is just so cool”, she smiles, “He is just so easy to work with. I have seen him interacting with his assistants. His people management is fantastic because whether it is Mr. Amitabh Bachchan or any junior most crew member on the sets, he knows how to get that comfort feel rolling. He gives and gets respects all around.”

However, the story goes that to begin with Vidya wasn’t too sure about working with Balki. “I have a personal anecdote to share”, she divulges, “My sister and brother-in-law, whom I hold in great regard, have worked with Balki for years on the ads that he has made. I used to interact with a lot of their mutual friends and they always used to speak about him. This set me wondering that what was so great about him.”

She got the answer when Cheeni Kum released and Balki’s cinematic sensibilities were on display for one and all. “I loved the film and didn’t forget the kind of wonderful experience that Balki had created. Now when I have worked with him, I know what makes some of his qualities so distinct. Both Cheeni Kum and Paa have been based on subjects hitherto unexplored and all of that has been possible due to one single factor – sheer conviction. Once Balki is sure about the story he wants to tell, there is no looking back”, she comments.

It is this conviction factor that attracted Vidya towards Paa. “I was having a constant pull and push internally before I decided to do Paa. However, Balki didn’t flinch even for a microsecond. This is what that set me on path to do Paa. I had certain doubts but they were quashed by this guy’s conviction. It is simply admirable and we all just followed the line”, she adds.

Vidya Balan While Amitabh Bachchan, Tabu and Paresh Rawal were senior heavyweights in Cheeni Kum, same wasn’t the case in Paa which featured her along with Abhishek Bachchan. “There is this mutual sense of respect that Balki encourages”, says Vidya, “Like, I really enjoyed the way he used to interact with Mr. Bachchan. Similarly with me and Abhishek, he had his own way of conveying a point. Of course all of us we used to make suggestions and he was open to them as well. He would never dismiss our suggestions.”

And how much did these suggestions actually get incorporated in the final filming?

“Hardly any”, Vidya comes up with a laugh here, “Invariably he would go with what he felt was right. He believed in the principal of listen to all and do what you feel strongest about. But yes, this entire exercise used to be quite helpful since I would ask him quite a few pertinent questions and I would always get the right answers.”

This is the reason why she was quite convinced when in the early days Balki explained to her the entire idea about the film, its background (Progeria) and how it was not meant to evoke sympathy or pity.

“I was wondering if Paa would turn out to be a serious film but Balki was quite clear that this was not going to be the case. He promised that it would be a heart warming film and that’s the way it has turned out to be. The entire disease thing is just the background of the film. The idea is to project the story with all the sensitivity but not make it a sympathetic affair”, she concludes.

By Jilawatan

You might not be aware that actress Vidya Balan was approached initially for Ajay Devgan’s home production movie “All The Best”. Rohit Shetty, the director of “All The Best” had chosen Vidya balan earlier but eventually this role went to the hot and sizzling Bipasha Basu.

According to the sources, “Ajay and Rohit wanted extensive dates from Vidya for their 45 days long shooting schedule in Goa. But since Vidya had already committed her dates to few other important projects she expressed her inability to assign so many days at one go.”

Well, then Vidya’s loss turned out to be Bipasha’s double gain as during the Goa shoot, Bips ended up getting friendly with Ajay Devgan. And now post, All The Best, she has landed with yet another film with Ajay.

She has been signed up by “Kumar Mangat” and “Ajay Devgan” for their new project opposite the talented actor “Akshaye Khanna” which will be directed by “Priyadarshan” and is based on the subject of honour killings.