Vidya Balan

Vidya Balan - Bollywood actress profile, bio, trivia  

Vidya Balan is an Indian actress who appears in Bollywood movies. In today's glamerous world of 'bold is beautiful' Vidya Balan with her traditional Indian looks and outlook provides a refreshing change from all the controversy hungry starlets we usually get to see in the media. The traditional Tamil Iyer girl from Palghat has indeed come a long way from when she thought she was 'ugly' after film after film of hers was shelved down south.

Vidya Balan brief profile

Name: Vidya Balan

Born: January 1, 1978

Zodiac Sign: Capricorn

Birth Place: Palghat, Kerala, India

Nationality: Indian

Mother Tongue: Tamil

Religion: Hindu

Occupation: Bollywood actress / Fashion model

Family:

Father: PR Balan - Vice President of ETC Channel

Mother: Home Maker

Siblings: Elder sister Priya

Marital status: Single

Education:

School: St. Antony's School

College: St. Xavier's College, Mumbai University. She has sociology degree

Likes: Indian classical music

Vidya Balan biography

Vidya Balan was born into a Tamil Iyer Family at Palakkad, Kerala to P. R. Balanshe (Vice President of ETC Channel) and a housewife mother. She was born on January 1, 1978. Vidya also has an older sister named Priya. In a video interview, she stated that she is "extremely spiritual", has a "firm faith in God" and visits temples every Thursday.

Vidya Balan's career

Balan, who began her career starring in many music videos, soap operas and many commercials, made her acting debut in the Bengali film, Bhalo Theko (2003), for which she won critical acclaim. She later made her Hindi film debut with Parineeta (2005), for which she received a Filmfare Best Female Debut Award, and received her first commercial success with Rajkumar Hirani's Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006). Balan has thus established herself as one of the most promising actresses of the industry.

Her movie career started when she was signed to appear in the Malayalam film Chakram, alongside superstar Mohanlal but the movie was shelved. After that, she was signed for a Tamil film, Run, but for reasons undisclosed, she was dropped after a first schedule and replaced by Meera Jasmine. When Chakram was restarted with Prithviraj in the lead, Meera Jasmine was chosen ahead of Balan again. Balan was dropped from her second Tamil movie Manasellam opposite Srikanth, on the grounds of 'non-performance' and was replaced by Trisha Krishnan.

She then turned to television advertising. From 1998 onwards, she appeared in numerous television ads, many of which were directed by Pradeep Sarkar. She also took supporting roles in music videos, appearing with singers and bands such as Euphoria, Shubha Mudgal, and Pankaj Udhas. Balan also portrayed the role of Radhika Mathur in a few episodes of the first season of Hum Paanch, but was later replaced by Amita Nangia at the end of the first season.

Vidya Balan's success in bollywood

In 2003, she appeared in the Bengali film, Bhalo Theko, for which she won the Anandalok Puraskar Best Actress award in Kolkata. Balan next made her Hindi film debut in the critically acclaimed Parineeta. In that Film her performance was acclaimed by critics, earning her a Filmfare Best Female Debut Award and a nomination for Filmfare Best Actress Award. After the success of her first two films, the same producer who dropped her from Manasellam was keen to sign her opposite Kamal Hassan for Dasavathaaram but she rejected the offer and Asin Thottumkal was signed instead. In 2006, she appeared opposite Sanjay Dutt in the blockbuster film Lage Raho Munna Bhai. Once again her performance was well received by critics and the film went on to become the second highest grossing film of that year.

Mani Ratnam's critically acclaimed Guru was Balan's first release in 2007, in which she played a woman with a physical disability. The film did very well at the box office and her role was appreciated. Her next two releases, Salaam-e-Ishq: A Tribute To Love (2007) and Eklavya: The Royal Guard (2007) failed to do well[6] but the latter was selected as India's official entries to the Oscars for the 80th Academy Awards. Balan's last two releases of the year, Heyy Babyy (2007) and Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2007) have fared very well at the box office.

Her current project is entitled Chenab Gandhi directed by Vibhu Puri and written by Bhavani Iyer, who also wrote for Black. A departure from romance, this songless film revolves around three characters played by Amitabh Bachchan, Rajeev Khandelwal and Vidya Balan and centers around Indian freedom fighter, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, also known as Frontier Gandhi. 

Director Nikhil Advani announced in late January 2009 that he is to work with Vidya. Chand Bhai will be the title of this film and Indian Superstar Akshay Kumar will co-star. The film is based on juveline deliquency.

Trivia on Vidya Balan

* She signed on for the role of Anaida Raza (Lara Dutta) in "Jhoom Barabar Jhoom" (2007). After finding out the script required her to dance, she dropped out.

* Speaks English, Hindi amd Tamil. After filming "Parineeta (2005)", can also speak Bengali quite well.

* She has been linked to actor, Madhavan several times: she has paired with him in Guru and was set to pair with him in Run. Other films such as Suryamukhi, Stella, Once More and Oru Naal Podhuma were announced with the pair of them in the lead roles only to be called off or postponed.

* A Tamilian from Kerala, she hails from the Iyer community in Palakkad, on the border of Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

* Vidya Balan was signed to appear in the Malayalam film Chakram, but the film was abandoned mid-way through production

* She is from the Iyer community

* She made her debut as a model in a Surf Excel advertisement in 1998

* She decided to join films the day she interacted with Shabana Azmi while in college

* She is trained in Carnatic music

* Vidya had to go through 40 screen tests and 17 make-up shoots before she was chosen for the lead role in Parineeta

* Vidya Balan has acted in more than 25 ad films, most of which were directed by Pradeep Sarkar

* Did her schooling from St. Antony's School and later on at St. Xavier's College where she graduated in Sociology. She soon started work on her MA from Mumbai University when she was offered a role in a Malayalam film starring Mohanlal, but it was later shelved due to issues with the director.

* Listed as number 8 of 'Top Bollywood Actresses' of 2006. (rediff.com, 8-25-2006)