She asks too many questions, has been christened Giggles by co-stars Naseeruddin Shah and Arshad Warsi and is finally settling in comfortably with her Indian good looks, thank you. Vidya Balan unplugged.

In the cruel heat of April, as the sun steadily beats down on the premises of Whistling Woods, Film City, actress Vidya Balan turned out in an off-white saree with a narrow border and moss-green Sabyasachi blouse is a sight for sore eyes. Balan in demure attire complete with Rapunzel locks, reminds one of the elegant simplicity of Hindi cinema best symbolised by Jaya Bachchan in Hrishikesh Mukherjee films. Days of trying to fit into the Western construct considered almost necessary for Bollywood actresses are happily behind her. A change of look for her movies is not ruled out but personally, she is all for Indian elegance. “I love wearing sarees. In fact, I have decided to wear them more often,” she says making herself comfortable in the vanity van. She is currently shooting for Balki’s Pa with Abhishek and Amitabh Bachchan.

Balan came into movies after a stint in Ekta Kapoor’s serial Hum Paanch and a few regional language films before her impressive debut in Pradeep Sarkar’s Parineeta. “I was born to be an actor,” she asserts. Quite like her pick of roles, Balan is not glamour-struck in her choice of matinee idols either. “Among actresses who made a lasting impression on me were Jaya Bachchan and Shabana Azmi. Jaya Bachchan was fantastic at what she did but was also a commercial success and that is the position one would strive for. I have tried to do films where I am an integral part of the script,” avers Balan. During her school days, Balan was convinced that she would be the next Madhuri Dixit. But soon aftershe was impressed by the power-packed performances of Jaya Bachchan and Shabana Azmi. It was during a break for her class XII exam that she watched Arth and was spellbound by Azmi’s performance. “Instead of studying, I kept wondering how they must have done the scenes. I had heard that Shabana did not use glycerine for her crying scenes and I tried all possible tricks to perform the same feat!” Balan reminisces with a laugh.

After a not-too-remarkable 2008—Halla Bol and Kismat Connection did not impress— the actress is looking at newer challenges.

This year she has been busy at work with Ishqiya opposite Naseeruddin Shah and Pa with Abhishek and Amitabh Bachchan. About working with legendary actors such as Shah and Bachchan, she says, “It is not easy to describe the experience – but when you see them, you realise that these greats are great because their passion, focus and dedication is unshakable. This is the first time I have acted with Mr Bachchan, with who I had barely one scene during the making of Eklavya. Watching him, I have learnt to be more patient. The humility of that man in his approach to work is incredible. He doesn’t take anything for granted even today after 40 years that I think is marvellous. It is very, very humbling.”

Of her stint with Naseeruddin Shah, she recalls, “I have loved Naseeruddin Shah’s work all my life. His daughter was my senior in college and we actually did television together. In fact, xI called up for Hiba once and he picked up…I got so nervous that I put the phone down!”

“Working with Naseer was fantastic. Initially, I was a little shy of him — we did our scenes together and then I went and sat in the corner. I think he realised it and after some time he warmed up to me. They would tease me about my laughing fits -Arshad and he named me Giggles because of it! Even through my laughing fits he was very patient,” laughs Vidya.

The conversation meanwhile has meandered to Pa, the film for which she is currently shooting, though Balan remains tightlipped about it except that “It’s a special film. The script is fabulous and there’s Balki — I loved Cheeni Kum!”

The script is something that Balan is particular about, especially after her mainstream experiments Salaam-e-Ishq and Kismat Connection met with lukewarm response. “It’s nice to do different things to know what you want to do and what you don’t. I wanted to do a purely commercial cinema and the films met the criteria. What a lot of people said after Heyy Babyy and Kismat Connection was that I was wasted in the films, so maybe I need to do roles that are more fleshed-out. The challenge then is greater and I am able to give it my best.”

She is also an actor who likes to prepare – read the script before the shoot and by her own admission, ask a lot of questions. “I would say that I preferred myself in Kismat Connection to Heyy Babyy. They are two films whose script I hadn’t read before I went to shoot. For Kismat Connection, I had thought of reading the script once I reached Canada, but I couldn’t. I went to sleep and woke up the next morning just in time for the shoot! I panicked and started crying,” she recalls. “It was almost a forewarning.”

The competition may be growing but Vidya, who in a short span has landed prestigious projects with top- league directors, is uncompromising in her quest for good films and unhurried as there are enough interesting roles going around. “ I hope that all good directors such as Pradeep Sarkar, Balki and Rajkumar Hirani repeat me in their films but I would love to work with Vishal Bhardwaj, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Ashutosh Gowariker, Rakyesh Omprakash Mehra, Imtiaz Ali, Vinan Matthew and Rituparna Ghosh, Majid Majidi and Woody Allen perhaps?” she says, once again erupting into her infectious laughter.

With her unerring instinct and what is turning out to be an interesting body of work, the list looks very achievable.