Vidya Balan

Vidya Balan (born January 1, 1978) is an Indian actress and famous Bollywood movie star.

Early life and background

Vidya Balan was born in Palakkad, Kerala in a Tamil family to P. R. Balan, is the Vice President of ETC Channel whilst her mother is a housewife. 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.

Gossip columnists have linked Vidya with many of her co-stars but she strongly denied the allegations, saying that they were "vile".

Priyamani , a Tamil actress who has won the National Award for the best actress - Paruthiveeran is Vidya Balan's cousin.

Career

Early

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.

Breakthrough, 2003 - present

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 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.Balan can speak Tamil (her mother tongue), Hindi, Marathi, Malayalam and Bengali.

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, Harman Baweja 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 fellow Indian actor Akshay Kumar will co-star.

Awards and nominations

Filmfare Awards

Winner

* 2006: Filmfare Best Female Debut Award, Parineeta
* 2006: Filmfare Face of the Year, Parineeta[13]

Nominated

* 2006: Filmfare Best Actress Award, Parineeta[14]
* 2008: Filmfare Best Actress Award, Bhool Bhulaiyaa[15]

Star Screen Awards

Winner

* 2006: Star Screen Award for Most Promising Newcomer - Female, Parineeta

Zee Cine Awards

Winner

* 2006: Zee Cine Award for Best Female Debut, Parineeta

Nominated

* 2006: Zee Cine Award for Best Actor - Female, Parineeta

International Indian Film Academy Awards

Winner

* 2006: IIFA Best Female Debut, Parineeta

Nominated

* 2007: IIFA Best Actress Award, Lage Raho Munnabhai
* 2008: IIFA Best Actress Award, Bhool Bhulaiyaa
* 2008: IIFA Best Villain Award, Bhool Bhulaiyaa

Stardust Awards

Winner

* 2006: Stardust Superstar of Tomorrow - Female, Parineeta

Other Awards

* 2003: Anandalok Puraskar Awards, Best Actress, Bhalo Theko
* 2006: Star's Sabsey Favourite Nayi Heroine, Parineeta
* 2007: Anandalok Puraskar Awards, Best Actress, Bhool Bhulaiyaa