By Jilawatan

So what if Vidya Balan faced criticism for her dressing sense, designer Ritu Beri thought she was the perfect showstopper for her fashion show
recently. Vidya too lived upto Ritu’s expectations as she added grace and style to the show.

The actress admits that she has finally found her comfort zone as far as fashion is concerned. “I am dressing the way I like. Yes, there was a point when I think I was trying to be someone I wasn’t. But that happens to people who are new in the industry. People keep telling you to experiment and you get confused,” she said. But that’s a thing of the past. “Now, I just do what I want to … be the way I want to. Today, I have no qualms about wearing western wear, but I love Indian clothes. But I am glad I went through the confusion,” said the actress, who has plum projects like Vishal Bharadwaj’s Ishqiya, Pa with Amitabh and Abhishek Bachchan and Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Chenab Gandhi in her kitty. But the actress seems to be a tad unlucky where awards are concerned. “My performance as Monjolika in Bhool Bhulaiya was appreciated by seniors like Waheeda Rehman and Asha Parekh who told me that they loved the performance. What surprised me was that I didn’t even get nominated for some awards. But then I have learnt to detach myself.”

She may not be in the rat race for awards but Vidya has joined her contemporaries to become part of the endorsement bandwagon. But she’s set herself certain rules. “I would never endorse a fairness cream. We Indian women are gifted with a sexy complexion. I don’t see any need for fairness creams,” she said.

On the personal front, Vidya continues to be single despite her being linked to almost all of her co-stars. “Now for anyone to surprise me, they’ll have to not link me with anyone,” she laughed. But on screen the actress thinks she shares an interesting chemistry with Abhishek Bachchan. “Though our relationship in Guru was not that of a man and woman, the bond between the two characters came out really well. Apart from that, I think John and I shared really good chemistry in Salaam-E-Ishq. More recently, I have enjoyed working with Madhavan. I have got an amazing response though we have just done ads together,” she points.

By Jilawatan

Vidya Balan doesn’t believe that an actress needs to strip down to bikinis to look sexy.

In an industry where appearances in bikinis and swimsuits has become a norm rather than an exception, Vidya is secure and content doing her kind of roles.

“According to me, being sexy is about having a certain attitude, not just about skimpy clothes. The yesteryear actresses were all sexy without revealing skin. As far as I am concerned, I prefer sensuous to sexy,” Balan, who was in the capital to attend a conference, is quoted by a news agency.

The Parineeta actress who has played the girl-next-door kind of roles in many a film and went glamourous for Kismat Konnection , is now playing a village belle in the Vishal Bharadwaj -produced film Ishqiya . And she is thrilled about her role.

“I play a woman in a remote village of India…I have worked really hard for the film, from taking classes in the dialect to grueling shooting sessions. But this is also a film that I thoroughly enjoyed being a part of,” Balan said.

The movie has the 31-year-old actress playing a con-woman who takes on an uncle-nephew duo played by Naseeruddin Shah and Arshad Warsi .

Vidya says working in ‘Ishqiya’ was like doing her first film, ‘Parineeta’.

“I think after ‘Parineeta’ it is one film that I enjoyed working on the most. It was a wonderful experience, a lot like my first film,” said Balan, who recently walked the ramp for fashion designer Ritu Beri and has many product endorsements up for grabs.