Vidya Balan poses for the camera
Vidya in 2023

Vidya Balan is an Indian actress known for her work in Hindi films. She made her acting debut in 1995 with the sitcom Hum Paanch, following which she made several unsuccessful attempts at a film career.[1] Vidya then appeared in music videos for Euphoria, Pankaj Udhas, and Shubha Mudgal[2][3] all directed by Pradeep Sarkar. She had her first film release with a leading role in Goutam Halder's Bengali film Bhalo Theko (2003).[4] In 2005, she played the heroine in Sarkar's Parineeta, an adaptation of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's novel of the same name.[5] Vidya won the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut for the film.[6] Rajkumar Hirani's Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006), a successful comedy sequel, saw her play a radio jockey opposite Sanjay Dutt.[7][8]

Vidya had five releases in 2007. She played a variety of roles in them, including a woman suffering from multiple sclerosis in Mani Ratnam's semi-biographical drama Guru,[9] a single mother in the comedy Heyy Babyy,[10] and a dissociative identity disorder patient in the psychological thriller Bhool Bhulaiyaa.[11][12] All three films were commercially successful and established her as a leading lady.[13] The following year, she starred opposite Ajay Devgan in the drama Halla Bol (2008) and Shahid Kapoor in the romantic comedy Kismat Konnection (2008), but both failed to find a wide audience.[14]

From 2009 to 2012, Vidya starred in five consecutive films that garnered her critical and commercial success.[15] She played the mother of a child afflicted with progeria[16] in the drama Paa (2009), a seductive widow in the black comedy Ishqiya (2010), and the real-life character of Sabrina Lal in the semi-biographical thriller No One Killed Jessica (2011).[17][18] For portraying the actress Silk in the biopic The Dirty Picture, Vidya won the National Film Award for Best Actress.[19][20] She next played a pregnant woman seeking revenge in Kahaani (2012), a thriller directed by Sujoy Ghosh.[21] She was awarded the Filmfare Award for Best Actress for her roles in Paa, The Dirty Picture, and Kahaani, and the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress for Ishqiya.[22][23][24]

Vidya failed to replicate this success with her next few releases, although her performance in the thriller Kahaani 2: Durga Rani Singh (2016) was praised.[25][26] This changed in 2017 when she played a radio jockey in Tumhari Sulu, for which she won another Best Actress Award at Filmfare.[27][28] Her highest-grossing release came with the drama Mission Mangal (2019).[29] She has since starred in the Amazon Prime Video streaming films Shakuntala Devi (2020), Sherni (2021), and Jalsa (2022).[30] She won another Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress for playing an Indian Forest Service officer in Sherni.[31]

Films

Key
† Denotes films that have not yet been released
Year Title Role Notes Ref(s)
2003 Bhalo Theko Anandi Bengali film [4][32]
2005 Parineeta Lalita [6][33]
2006 Lage Raho Munna Bhai Jhanvi Sahni [34]
2007 Guru Meenakshi "Meenu" Gupta Saxena [35][36]
Salaam-e-Ishq Tehzeeb Hussain Raina [37]
Eklavya: The Royal Guard Rajjo Singh [38]
Heyy Babyy Isha B. Sahni [39]
Bhool Bhulaiyaa Avni Chaturvedi / Manjulika [40]
Om Shanti Om Herself Special appearance in song "Deewangi Deewangi" [41][42]
2008 Halla Bol Sneha Khan [43]
Kismat Konnection Priya Saluja [44]
2009 Paa Dr. Vidya [45]
2010 Ishqiya Krishna Verma [46][47]
2011 No One Killed Jessica Sabrina Lal [18]
Urumi Makkom / Bhoomi Malayalam film; special appearance [48]
Thank You Divya Khurana Cameo [49]
Dum Maaro Dum Mrs. Kamath Cameo [50]
The Dirty Picture Reshma (Silk) [19][23]
2012 Kahaani Vidya Venkatesan Bagchi [24][51][52]
Ferrari Ki Sawaari Unnamed Special appearance in song "Mala Jau De" [53]
2013 Bombay Talkies Herself Special appearance in song "Apna Bombay Talkies" [54]
Ghanchakkar Neetu Athray [55]
Once Upon ay Time in Mumbai Dobaara! Unnamed Cameo [56]
Mahabharat Draupadi (voice) Animated film [57]
2014 Shaadi Ke Side Effects Trisha Mallik [58]
Bobby Jasoos Bilkis "Bobby" Ahmed [59]
2015 Hamari Adhuri Kahani Vasudha Prasad [60]
2016 Te3n Sarita Sarkar [61]
Ekk Albela Geeta Bali Marathi film; special appearance [62]
Kahaani 2: Durga Rani Singh Vidya Sinha / Durga Rani Singh [63]
2017 Begum Jaan Begum Jaan [64]
Tumhari Sulu Sulochana "Sulu" Dubey [65]
2018 Amoli Narrator Documentary; English version [66]
2019 NTR: Kathanayakudu Basavatarakam Telugu film [67]
NTR: Mahanayakudu Basavatarakam Telugu film [68]
Nerkonda Paarvai Kalyani Bharath Tamil film; special appearance [69]
Mission Mangal Tara Shinde [70]
2020 Natkhat Surekha Short film; also producer [71]
Shakuntala Devi Shakuntala Devi [72]
2021 Sherni Vidya Vincent [31][73]
2022 Jalsa Maya Menon [74]
2023 Neeyat Mira Rao [75]
2024 Do Aur Do Pyaar † Kavya Post-production [76]

Television

Year Title Role Channel Notes Ref.
1995 Hum Paanch Radhika Mathur Zee TV Episode 52- 148 [77]
2014 No More Kamzor Host Star Plus TV special [78]

Music videos

Year Title Role Performer(s) Ref(s)
2002 "Aana Meri Gully" Bengali bride Euphoria [79]
[80]
[81]
2002 "Main Nashe Mein Hoon" Bengali girl Pankaj Udhas [79]
[82]
2003 "Kisson Ki Chadar" Unknown Shubha Mudgal [79]
[83]
2011 "Jaani Na" Bengali wife Chandrabindoo [79]

See also

References

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