Vidya Balan’s eyes brim over with mischief when you ask her about the rumours surrounding her.

The look on her face has got nothing to do with what the make-up man is trying to do to it. “Even my dress sense or the supposed lack of it can make headlines,” she laughs.

“Maybe those who wrote those things about me had nothing else to write about. And I will not blame them. I had been talking about the same films and same stuff for too long. But now, I have a release coming up, I am doing a couple of films, so can everyone please concentrate on my career?” she asks.

But we wanted this interview to be a sort of ‘un-rumouring’ the rumours surrounding her. So, career baad mein! Shahid first.
Vidya rolls her eyes, and the make-up man gives up trying to apply mascara.

“There is no truth to any of the rumours concerning me and Shahid. He’s a co-star, someone with whom I share a mind-blowing chemistry on screen. And no, the rumours of our affair are not attention grabbing gimmicks to hype up our film either. So, I have learnt to take these things as an occupational hazard. If the rumours were true, well, I wouldn’t have screamed from rooftops, but yes, I wouldn’t have kept it clandestine either,” admits Vidya candidly. But, if they are untrue, didn’t the rumours cause friction between Shahid and her? “No. There are no any such barriers. In fact, on the sets, we used to get along very well. That could be another reason why the rumours flew thick and fast,” clarifies Vidya. But why’s Vidya talking in past tense? “Because the film’s over, and while we do acknowledge each other’s presence, Shahid and I aren’t bumchums or anything.”

On to another topic, then. Can’t you dance, Vidya? “Now, where did that come from?” Well, we heard that for a certain sequence, you took a lot of takes. Her laughter could have floored anyone. “I know. There was even a count – 25 or something,” she says. “Yes, it was a complex shot, with difficult steps. I was not familiar with the format, so, I took a few extra takes. But, I am not apologetic! I’ve heard Charlie Chaplin sometimes used to take 200 takes. Does that make him any less of an actor?” At this point, her make-up man decides “memsaab late ho rahi hai”, so, we leave Vidya to finish her make-up, and enjoy her day out with Radio Mirchi.

Will Vidya Balan get lucky with Kismat Konnection?

Quick, which was Vidya Balan’s last hit? Don’t worry, we don’t remember it either. After a forgettable appearance in Halla Bol, Balan is hoping to turn the tide with her next venture Kismat Konnection. It was in this connection that the Parineeta star flew into the Capital on Tuesday, determined to talk of nothing but the film.

“Before you say anything else, I would like to confirm that Shahid Kapur and I share a professional relationship only. All this talk about us is a creation of the media. I don’t bother about it,” she said sternly at the very outset. Then came the punchline: “I would prefer someone like George Clooney instead.” Touché.

Dressed in an outfit that she feared the fashion press would tear into pieces as usual, the actor added: “Please, no talks about my dressing sense either. There was only one film in which I did not have a proper outfit. I do not consider it a mistake. It was a learning phase for me.”

And then she launched into a full-scale sales spiel on Kismat Konnection, a romantic comedy in which she stars opposite Kapur. Balan has her fingers crossed that July 18, when the film releases, will bring happy tidings. “The movie is about two people who meet under unusual circumstances and fall in love,” she says. She plays Priya, a “simple, down-to-earth girl with whom everyone can relate to”. “Priya believes that life is always fair. She does not like complications in life and is very straightforward about her approach to things. In fact, I am very much like Priya in real life,” adds Balan.

She had fun during the shoot, she says. “We had to do 22 retakes for one scene, so there was hard work as well. It takes a lot for a shot to get right.”

And before you beat her for being superstitious, Balan adds that she does not believe in kismat or astrology. “I believe that confidence and positive thinking bring about a change in one’s life. It does not have anything to do with tarot cards.”

And, Balan says, she is very selective when it comes to her films. Three things, she says, “the role, the script and the banner”. “It is important that a film does well internationally so as to appeal to a larger audience,” she adds. She’s played her cards right since Kismat is produced by big banner UTV Productions. She reminds us that this would be her first project with Aziz Mirza of Chalte Chalte fame. Considering the success of Mirza’s last movie, Balan hopes the magic would work for her as well.

Mumbai, June 16: Although, she is yet to bag an award for her ‘so called’ appreciated performances but actress Vidya Balan surely tops the charts of a much dreaded poll – the one for the worst dressed celebrity.

The dusky beauty has been unanimously crowned her as the worst dressed celebrity by Bollywood’s top stylists.

And looks like Vidya did not have to work hard to earn this feared title as the lady as she had been all along making news for her infamous sense of style. Be it her on-screen dress style in ‘Heyy Baby’ or her self styled attire at the Filmfare awards, she had been consistently forced people to go booooo!

But all that’s wrong with her dress sense got highlighted when she faced staunch criticism from top designers for her attire in her latest movie Kismat Konnection. The angel faced actress was spotted wearing a bizarre outfit that seemed to be a combination of four different styles put together…in one word, DIASTER.

The outfit in question was a white shirt with a black jacket topped with a skirt and the eye catchy shiny black tights.

The attire was in fact so confusing that we could not hold back from asking her as to what’s the idea behind the dress – what’s her take? To which the she said, “ Clothes are meant to enhance my character in the film .Earlier such comments use to hurt me but now I have become so use to them that they don’t bother me any more.”

Hats off to this bubbly beauty as it’s only her and her alone who made Bollywood favourite tailor Manish Malhotra go wrong, when he designed for her. The designer who styled the actress in Sajid’s flick Heyy Baby had tried his best to give the actress a modern look experimenting with all kinds of western outfits. Even then Manish’s work was quite appreciated; Vidya was once again in the limelight for not carrying off the outfit with panache.

Commenting on the issue, Manish had said, “She is a very good actress but her wardrobe need a great boost. Even I went wrong with her in ‘Heyy Baby’. She can look good, she looked amazing in Parineeta. But she needs to a loose weight to look better.”

Well, we couldn’t have agreed more.