Vidya Balan's Kahaani@37
As she turns 37 today, we take a pictorial look at her journey in Bollywood so far.
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Bollywood actress Vidya Balan is arguably one of the best actresses in Bollywood. The actress, who is a favourite with the critics, has however had a bumpy Bollywood journey with hits like Parineeta, The Dirty Picture and Kahaani and damp squibs like Bobby Jasoos and Ghanchakkar to her credit. As she turns a year older, we take a pictorial look at her Bollywood journey so far.
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Vidya was born in Palakkad, Kerala, where her father was Vice President of ETC Channel, but grew up in Mumbai. She went to St Anthony's School and then studied Anthropology at St Xavier's College. She had enrolled for an MA at the University of Mumbai; however, she aspired to make way to the silver screen.
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Vidya's career stalled almost as soon as it started. Her debut film was the Malayalam language Chakram, opposite no less an actor than Mohanlal, but ended up being shelved. She was next signed for Tamil film Run but replaced by Meera Jasmine. She was also dropped from Manasellam for 'non-performance' and was replaced by Trisha Krishnan.
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There was no looking back for Vidya after her Bollywood debut opposite Saif Ali Khan in Pradeep Sarkar's Parineeta. Her glowing performance as the dignified and wronged Lalita who had to struggle with economic and social divisions in her love affair with her neighbour, Shekhar, was the first of a series of powerhouse performances.
A Filmfare Best Female Debut Award was on the way and the nomination for the Filmfare Best Actress Award was just the cherry on the top. -
Her next release the same year were, Salaam-e-Ishq: A Tribute To Love and Eklavya: The Royal Guard. Both films failed miserably at the box office but Eklavya was selected as India's official entry to the Oscars for the 80th Academy Awards. Her last two releases of the year, Heyy Babyy and Bhool Bhulaiya were box office hits.
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Vidya Balan's biggest moment came in 2011. She changed the face of Bollywood with her bold performance in Milan Luthria's The Dirty Picture. The role won Vidya the National Award, among a slew of the honours. She was spoken off as 'the fourth Khan' but said in an interview: "Well, the Khans can now add Balan at the end of their names, instead of me adding Khan to my name."
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In 2014, Vidya mostly made headlines for her pregnancy rumours. The actress, who was roped in for Sujoy Ghosh's Durga Rani Singh was replaced by actress Kangana Ranaut, which fuelled the rumours. However, Vidya put rest to all rumours citing health issues being the reason for her project cancellations.