Vidya Balan: Lesser known facts

Gracing the covers of magazines isn’t unusual for Bollywood celebs, but even our favourite stars can’t resist being wonderstruck every time they do. Vidya Balan took to her Twitter handle to express her joy after becoming Filmfare magazine’s cover girl for the month of November. She wrote, “Everytime I see myself on a @filmfare cover, I say to myself, thats me on the Filmfare cover ��.Thank you @jiteshpillaai @anewradha & team!”

She is seen dressed in a rust coloured shirt with a green, embellished dupatta worn over her shoulder, paired with a red lehenga skirt. Completing her look, she adorned heavy jewelry to strike her perfect smile. Vidya will next be seen in ‘Tumhari Sulu’ which is slated to release on November 17, 2017.

Vidya Balan not ready to be part of garba nights

The garba season has begun and Bollywood celebs are all set to add glamour to the dandiya nights. While celebs are a common sight at these functions, Vidya Balan is not too keen to be part of such programmes. The Kahaani actress has turned down requests from Ahmedabad, Surat and Pune which even came with a fat offer, as reported by Mid-Day.com. The reason being Vidya’s interest in putting the money to a correct use like social causes involving child education or sanitation campaigns and therefore, she wants the organisers to pay heed to her demands. Now isn’t that a good idea?

The unconventional actress now wants to play Charlie Chaplin. Know more…

Vidya Balan as Charlie Chaplin

Vidya Balan had earlier expressed a desire to play the legendary actor, Charlie Chaplin, on screen. "I loved Sridevi as Charlie Chaplin in Mr India... And I'd love to attempt Charlie Chaplin too.He has been a huge inspiration," she had admitted. According to a report on Mumbai Mirror, Malayalam film director, R Sarath, has approached her for a Hindi film with Chaplin as the central character. Confirming this, Sarath has been quoted in the report as saying that, "Yes, I have approached Vidya to play the title role of Chaplin and she has agreed. I'm coming to Mumbai next week to meet her. We'll take things forward from there. The Hindi film will not be a biopic but a serious piece of fiction with lots of smiles and tears," he promises. An official confirmation is now awaited from Vidya's end.

It seems like Vidya is in the mood for some biographies. Read on to find out which iconic Indian politician's role is the actress being considered for...

Vidya Balan, who is known for her acting chops, might soon play Indira Gandhi on the silver screen. In an interview with DNA After Hrs, Vidya has expressed her desire to play Indira Gandhi on-screen. The report also stated that Rahasya director, Manish Gupta, is planning to make a biopic on the former Indian Prime Minister. Vidya has reportedly still not given her nod to it but from her interview it is clear that an announcement might be underway.
Read on to know why Vidya was in trouble over Hamari Adhuri Kahani...

According to a report, two days after Bollywood producer Mahesh Bhatt and actress Vidya Balan paid a courtesy call to chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the Madhya Pradesh government exempted Hamari Adhuri Kahani from entertainment tax in the state, on June 10, 2015. As the government issued the notification, the Congress breathed fire alleging that chief minister Chouhan has suddenly been gripped by Bollywood fascination exempting far too many commercial films from entertainment tax to oblige the movie fraternity, stated the report. Congress alleged that while BJP government was increasing VAT on petrol, diesel and tariff on electricity – it was favouring Bollywood celebrities with tax exemptions, the report further stated.

“Every month, the chief minister announces exemption of entertainment cess from a Bollywood film. Chief minister seems suddenly charmed by Bollywood glitterati,” alleged state Congress vice-president Manak Agarwal. “Less than a fortnight ago, he exempted Amitabh Bachchan and Deepika Padukone starrer Piku from entertainment tax. We would understand if it was a film with a historical or moral, ethical value for society. But now Hamari Aadhuri Kahani is a romance film. And without judging the contents of the film, how can a government just exempt a purely commercial film venture from taxes just because the film’s producer and heroine paid him a visit?” Agarwal asked.

While Vidya Balan's film has invited flak from the Congress, read further to know what she recently revealed about her suffering from bulimia...

A lot has been written about Vidya Balan’s weight. In an interview with Pinkvilla.com, the actress opened up about the unhealthy diet she followed during her college days. Vidya stated that she had once started to do water therapy as someone told her that it is a quick way to lose weight, stated the report. However, at that time, she was unaware that there is a body type for such therapy. Further to the report, as advised, Vidya started drinking 10 litre of water and would end up puking at the end of the day. It was probably some form of bulimia about which she wasn’t aware of it, stated the report.

Also, it may come as a surprise that one of the best Bollywood actresses, Vidya Balan, was once considered to be jinxed. Read further to know what she has to say about it...

At the Women Economic Forum, actress Vidya Balan opened up about how she was termed jinxed by the industry and even thrown out of a film because of that. Vidya elaborated on how she signed a Malayalam film which got shelved later. The Dirty Picture actress had to bear the brunt of it as she was thrown out from other projects too.It was at a concert when she got a call from director Pradeep Sarkar who offered her a break in Bollywood with the film Parineeta. The rest they say is history.

Read on to know what are Vidya's future projects...

According to a Mumbai Mirror report, rumours have been rife that Vidya Balan, who wrapped up Mohit Suri's Hamari Adhuri Kahaani, is now gearing up for a biopic. She had two choices before her - to bring back to life Bengal's diva Suchitra Sen who passed away in January, 2014, or step into the shoes of Pakistan's 11th Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated in 2007. But Vidya told Mirror, “No, I'm not doing either of the biopics." In fact, she may not do any more films this year at all.Instead, she'll focus on a talk show along the lines of The Oprah Winfrey Show. A source has been quoted in the report as saying that, “It's a show unlike any on Indian television. It will be backed by a Hollywood studio and will air on a US television network. It demands six months of consecutive filming dates which is why she doesn't want to sign any new films."

While Vidya Balan might step into the shoes of Oprah Winfrey for her TV show, she is often compared to Savita Bhabhi. Read on to know her candid confession...

In an interview to Stardust, Vidya Balan had shared how people often compared her to the adult comic character, Savita Bhabhi. On being asked about the wildest compliment she had received, The Dirty Picture star had answered that when Ishqiya released, people thought she was Savita Bhabhi personified. Vidya Balan is the most traditional yet unconventional actress in Bollywood. The diva will now be seen in the film, Hamari Adhuri Kahaani. From her ‘jinxed’ period to her nerdy TV avatar, check out interesting facts about the actress.

An actress who started her career as a nerd in the popular television show, Hum Paanch went on to become the best actress of Indian cinema. With her acting prowess, Vidya created a niche for herself in the industry. But did you know that this unconventional actresses was once considered someone who could not act at all? Yes, in her career’s initial phase itself, Vidya was considered to be jinxed. When Vidya bagged her first role in a Malyalam film, Chakram opposite South superstar Mohanlal, Vidya was on cloud nine. Vidya was then termed as Mohanlal’s heroine and soon she was offered several films by reputed Malayalam fil makers. Within six months she had signed 12 films. However, unfortunately due to some differences between Mohanlal and the director of the film, the film was shelved and Vidya was blamed for this fallout. It was then that she was termed to be a jinxed actress.


There are more such interesting facts about this 'Ooh la la' girl, let's take a look at some of them...

Before Vidya hit the lowest phase of her life, she had acted in 90 advertisements at a stretch. In the five years after opting out from the famous television sitcom, Hum Paanch and starting her struggle to make it big in Bollywood industry, Vidya Balan appeared in too many advertisements. Though her parents wanted her to focus on her studies, her love for acting never faded. She did take a break from acting to focus on her studies but even in her break, she appeared in commercials. By the time she enrolled for a Master’s course in Sociology, Vidya had appeared in almost 90 ads.

Did you know Vidya Balan had once refused to work with the famous filmmaker, Anurag Basu? After she opted out of Ekta Kapoor’s Hum Paanch, Anurag Basu had offered Vidya Balan another television serial. Though she had quit Hum Paanch on her father’s insistence as he wanted her to concentrate on her studies, Vidya never felt bad about giving up television. Vidya had big plans and wanted to enter Bollywood. She felt television was not her cup of tea and was dreaming big to see herself on the silver screen as the leading lady. So, when presented with an opportunity to appear on the small screen again, Vidya politely declined.

We all know that Vidya was not born with the proverbial silver spoon. It’s only her hardwork and dedication that has helped her reach this success. She had to prove her worth each and every time in order to chase her dream. Even during Parineeta which was her stepping stone in Bollywood, Vidya had to go through a test session for almost 6 months. She had to go through 40 screen tests and 17 make up shoots before the director of the film Vidhu Vinod Chopra gave her the nod. He was hesitant to take a newcomer on board but Vidya’s dedication changed his mind. On Kuchh Bhi Ho Sakta Hai - The Anupam Kher show, Vidya had confessed that when she received Vidhuji’s call she was sure he had called to reject her but surprisingly he told her that she was his Parineeta and that the film was going to change her life and she would be grateful to him for it.

This graceful actress apparently suffers from an Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. She is obsessed with cleanliness and can’t stand untidy and unclean surroundings. She likes her house to be clean and free of dust all the time. If she spots any dust in her house she does not mind cleaning it herself. She is also said to be an extremely organized person. Vidya apparently loves to keep everything in place including the newspapers in her house.

Though we got to see Vidya’s jasoosi only in her recent flick, Bobby Jasoos, her jasoosi skills date back to her school days. In an interview with IBN Live she confessed that she used to spy on guys who she had a crush on and even on the guys her friends had a crush on. Her friend even said that Vidya used to play the role of a cupid and was a matchmaker during her school and college days.

by Nikita Thakkar