By Jilawatan

They may not be BFFs, but Vidya had a wonderful time shooting with co-star Rani Mukherjee. A unit source said, “Vidya discovered that Rani is a prankster and told Rani so. Vidya believes that the glint in Rani’s eyes shows her naughty side.”
Vidya always wanted to work with Rani. In fact, few know that Vidya did get a chance to work with the actress but turned down the film. Pradeep Sarkar had offered Laaga Chunri Mein Daag to Vidya Balan to play the role that was essayed by Konkana Sen Sharma. Vidya had to say no as she did not have the dates. However, she regretted losing the opportunity of working with Rani. But this time when she got a chance to act in Who Killed Jessica? Vidya

By Jilawatan

From proudly waving the tricolor in their buildings to visiting school functions for their kids, from catching up with long deprived sleeps to simply lounging around at home stars, celebs have their own individual ways of celebrating August 15, India’s Independence Day.

But the immensely talented and beautiful Vidya Balan has a different kind of plan to make this Independence Day special with her pals. And this time, it’s the Bengalis of Kolkata who will play host to the Parineeta actress. Vidya is in Kolkata and walked the ramp for her best friend, designer Sabyasachi. Post the show the actress plans to spend time and explore the beauty, culture and cuisine of the city with Sabya and few other Bengali friends.

”I had already planned this trip to stay back and spend August 15 in Kolkata with Sabya and my other friends”, says Vidya, who along with Rani Mukherjee, her co-star of ` No One Killed Jessica ’, was the show stopper for Sabya last night at the Kolkata Fashion week. “I am so looking forward to spending my day here. There won’t be the regular chores, story sittings, meetings, social commitments, etc, etc. I wanted to be really far from the maddening crowd”, an excited Vidya shares her thought.

So is this her day of breaking free from everything? “Absolutely! This will be my day, where I will connect with my heart, my mind and my soul. It will be me and my freedom,” she smiled. As Leo Sayer’s song ‘Running to my freedom’ plays in the background one wonders if Kolkata is ready to take the beautiful Vidya on its flight of fancy and grant her that freedom?

By Jilawatan

After three years of cold war between actress Vidya Balan and fashion designer Manish Malhotra, both have now ironed out their differences as Vidya attended Manish’s show at the ongoing Couture Week in Delhi. This time Vidya surprised all by turning up for Malhotra’s show at the event.

Vidya, who had publicly spoken against the designer after she was panned by critics for her look in the movie ‘Heyy Babyy’, had rubbed the leading designer in a wrong way.

Manish in his statement, over Vidya’s arrival, said, “I was very happy and it’s extremely sweet of her to come for my show. I was truly touched and this speaks for our film fraternity that we are always there for each other.”

Bitter spat
The tensions between the two took place after ‘Heyy Babyy’ when Vidya had openly criticized Malhotra for her look in the movie.

Not only she received criticism from the critics but Shahrukh Khan and Saif Ali Khan, also, gave her a special spoof award for bad dressing while hosting a popular Filmfare award function.

While answering to her comments, Manish said, “I m sorry to do this to a big star like Vidya, India’s answer to Paris Hilton with her fabulous carriage, impeccable dress sense and great knowledge of style.”

He further added, “How can she speak about fashion with her fantastic figure? Who is she?”

A new start
It seems that both Vidya and Manish are in no mood to discuss the past again. As Manish told the sources, “Let bygones be bygones. Whatever we said to and about each other is in the past.”

He even expressed his wish to work with Vidya again. “If we get a great offer, I’ll be glad to work with Vidya again,” he added.

The reports revealed that initially Vidya and Rani Mukherjee had gone to attend Sabyasachi’s show that kicked off the Couture Week.

Then Manish had invited the ladies for his show and they decided to stay back for his show.

Vidya’s present assignments
Reportedly, Vidya had opted out of Inder Kumar’s ‘Dhamaal 2′ because she was neither happy with her fee nor her role. It was heard that she was offered Rs 1.5 crore but the film makers and Vidya couldn’t agree on a price despite long discussions.

Currently, Vidya is wrapping up Rajkumar Gupta’s ‘No One Killed Jessica’ after delivering hits such as ‘Paa’ and ‘Ishqiya’. Rani is also featuring in ‘No One Killed Jessica’.

By Jilawatan

While Vidya Balan who considers herself half Bengali had herself a ball in Kolkata last week shooting for Rajkumar Gupta’s No One Killed Jessica. Rani Mukherjee who is a fully certified Bengali was not to be seen in her home-town.

Going by the way Vidya’s shooting schedule went in Kolkata, it was all for the best if Rani stayed away.

Apparently, the 2-day schedule had to be shot with secret cameras in prominent public places where the security was most inadequate.

Says the source, “We had to shoot in crowded locations like the Kolkata airport, Ballyganj, Park Circus, and New Market. The crowds in these places were impossible to control. We had placed the cameras secretly.

Vidya would then get into camera range and before the bystanders recognized the star we were out. If Rani had also accompanied Vidya it would’ve been impossible to control”.

Director Rajkumar Gupta is tightlipped about the details in Kolkata. “All I can tell you is that shooting in Kolkata was even tougher than Delhi. But it was fun. By now I am used to shooting in crowded main streets with my actors.

It was the last two days of shooting. On the second day after we finished (dress designer) Sabysachi Chakraborty who belongs to Kolkata, took the entire unit out for dinner.

We had some terrific Bengali food. We celebrated till the wee hours”. Rani, alas, was no part of the celebration.

By Jilawatan

The very first Couture Week in the capital was opened today by designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee who presented a collection inspired by the “essence of India”. Bollywood actresses Rani Mukherjee and Vidya Balan, who have time and again dressed in Sabyasachi’s creations, were present in the audience to cheer the designer.
“Sabyasachi is the only designer I stalk,” said Vidya, who was clad in a red sari by the designer, while Rani went for a western look in a black dress.

The collection named Aparajito, was unveiled in a grand show which began with the singing of the national anthem.

“Tradition cannot be beaten, Indian textiles cannot be beaten, simplicity and humbleness cannot be beaten. These are the strengths of the collection, that is why it is called ‘Aparajito’,” the designer told PTI.

“80 per cent of the fabric was Khadi. The whole collection had a museum like quality, vintage and nostalgic. There was Block printing from Rajasthan, Kalamkari from Andhra Pradesh, Khadi from Murshidabad,” said Sabyasachi.

Scenes from films like 1947 Earth played in the background as the models walked down the ramp.

“There was a montage of different clips to create a mood for the show, upbeat and nostalgic, romantic with a certain amount of decadence,” said the designer.

The collection comprised of 40 womenswear and 16 menswear mostly in earthy tones of muted greens, browns.

By Jilawatan

While Vidya Balan, who considers herself half a Bengali, had herself a ball in Kolkata last week shooting for Rajkumar Gupta’s No One Killed Jessica, Rani Mukherjee who is a fully certified Bengali was not to be seen in her home-town.

Going by the way Vidya’s shooting schedule went in Kolkata it was all for the best if Rani stayed away. Apparently the two-day schedule had to be shot with secret cameras in prominent public places where the security was most inadequate.

Says the source, “We had to shoot in crowded locations like the Kolkata airport, Baliganj, Park Circus and New Market. The crowds in these places were impossible to control. We had rush to place the cameras secretly. Vidya would then get into camera range and before the bystanders recognized the star in their midst, we were out. If Rani had also accompanied Vidya it would’ve been impossible to control.

Director Rajkumar Gupta is tightlipped about the details in Kolkata. All I can tell you is that shooting in Kolkata was even tougher than Delhi. But it was fun. By now I am used to shooting on crowded main streets with my actors. It was the last two days of shooting. On the second day after we finished (dress designer) Sabysachi Chakraborty who belongs to Kolkata, took the entire unit out for dinner. We had some terrific Bengali food. We celebrated till the wee hours. Rani, alas, was no part of the celebration.

By Jilawatan

Vidya Balan is looking gorgeous these days, and she’s lost her excess kilos. The efforts of the last two years are now showing on her.Our source, close to Vidya, says, “Apparently, she is working out like crazy. She just wants to shed those extra kilos. She is plump, and if she comes down to size zero, she will not look good, but she is just trying to shed those extra kilos.”

The source adds, “She has given up junk food, and is on a strict diet. Now, it’s only organic food for Vidya.”

For her part, Vidya says: “I have been working hard to lose those extra kilos, not because of my films, but because every woman wants to look good. And many of my friends told me that if I shed a few kilos, I will be perfect.”

She now counts junk food as a sin, saying, “If I eat junk food, I believe I have sinned. So, no more paani puris, chocolates and cakes for me! Now, I don’t even have that temptation to eat them. So, let’s hope for the best,” adds Vidya.

Vidya Balan is now busy shooting for No One Killed Jessica with Rani Mukherjee, where she is playing Jessica’s elder sister.

By Jilawatan

Vidya Balan says it’s happened to her: and that she misses the days when she was shooting Paa because she was working with Amitabh Bachchan.

“While shooting, I had an almost maternal relationship with Auro and that I miss the most. It was a great time when we were shooting for the film and I often remember those days. It was like a dream playing Amitji’s mom and then I was so used to the character that it took me a long time to get out of it,” says Vidya.

“Now don’t laugh but seriously whenever I met him I feel like calling him Auro but I am too scared to do so, so I call him Amitji instead,” she adds.

Pretty Vidya may not be as big a star as Kareena or Katrina but she’s one of Bollywood’s finest actresses and can hold her own in any movie.

Her next movie is No One Killed Jessica, and of that movie Vidya says: “It will be another challenging film for me because I am working with one of the most talented actresses in Bollywood (Rani Mukherjee). The story is very interesting and I am playing the Sabrina Lal character who is the elder sister of Jessica Lal,” says Vidya.

By Jilawatan

Download WallpaperThe temperature in New Delhi may be hovering above 40 degrees Celsius, but Vidya Balan has still found something to enjoy during her shoot for the film ‘No One Killed Jessica’ in the capital with co-star Rani Mukherjee.

“I love the wide open spaces, the broad streets and the crowded lanes,” Vidya is quoted as saying by a news agency.

Contrary to reports, there’s been no ego hassles between Vidya and Rani.

“Rani (Mukherjee) and I have been shooting outdoors. Since she’s my favourite actress from the immediately-senior generation, I am happy to be sharing camera space with her,” Vidya said.

The shooting has been so hectic that it has left Vidya little time to catch up with people she knows in Delhi.

“There’s no time to do anything. By the time we wrap up, all I want to do is crash out for the day…Sadly, I haven’t even been able to meet my sister who stays in Gurgaon (just outside Delhi)” Vidya said.

By Jilawatan

Vidya Balan was heard to be very apprehensive about Delhi heat when she was informed about her shooting schedule in the city in the summer season. However, the gorgeous diva is more than happy to shoot for Who killed- Jessica in the scorching heat.

If sources are to be believed, Vidya is enjoying every moment of the shoot. In fact, she has been quite comfortable and hasn’t faced any hassle because of the temperature.Drinking loads of water and concentrating on the work seems to have been her mantra to tackle the bad heat.

Rani Mukherjee will also be playing one of the pivotal roles in Who killed- Jessica. Wonder, how she would react to the heat if her character demanded her to shoot in Delhi along with co-star Vidya.