Vidya Balan

Biography of Vidya Balan

Vidya Balan was born on January 1, 1979 in Mumbai, Chembur. She is an Indian actress living in Mumbai, Chembur. Known for portraying strong female protagonists, she also contributes to the changes in the concept of the Hindi film heroine.

Vidya Balan was born in Palakkad, Kerala to P.R. Balan, Vice President of ETC Channel, and a Tamil-speaking housewife, but grew up in Mumbai, where she attended St. Anthony's Girls High School and later St. Xavier's College of the University of Mumbai visited. The linguistically gifted student, who speaks Tamil, Malayalam, Marathi, English, Hindi, and Bengali, among other languages, earned her university degree in sociology.

Balan was in front of the camera early. In 1995, at the age of 17, she starred in the sitcom Hum Paanch. Vidya Balan was set to star in the Malayalam film Chakram, however the film was canceled mid-production. Her attempts to make films initially failed. After that, she turned to television and did advertising. Since 1998 she has shot many commercials. Mostly directed by Pradeep Sarkar. Vidya also took supporting roles in music videos.

In 2003, Balan appeared in the Bengali film Bhalo Theko and two years later she made her Bollywood debut with Parineeta alongside Saif Ali Khan and Sanjay Dutt. The latter film was very successful and many well-known directors offered her roles in films. Her next Bollywood film, Lage Raho Munna Bhai, starring Sanjay Dutt, was also a big hit.

In the film adaptation of Silk Smitha's life The Dirty Picture (2011), Balan proved herself opposite Emraan Hashmi and Naseeruddin Shah and won several awards for her performance. In the doc-drama No One Killed Jessica, Vidya played Sabrina Lall, whose sister Jessica Lall was murdered in 1999.

In Kahaani (2012), directed by Sujoy Ghosh, she played the pregnant Vidya Bagchi, who is looking for her missing husband and puts herself in danger in the process. Her performance was acclaimed by critics and she received several awards including the Filmfare Award for Best Actress.

In 2013 she was appointed to the competition jury at the 66th Cannes International Film Festival. In 2014, she played the title role in Bobby Jasoos as a detective who dresses up to solve cases. The film was not successful and also the critics could not convince the film as before in Shaadi Ke Side Effects (2014), in which she plays Trisha, who argues with her husband after the birth of her daughter.

Fourth collaboration with Emraan Hashmi, Balan stars in Mahesh Bhatt's 2015 romantic drama film Hamari Adhuri Kahani based on the love story of Bhatt's parents.

Shemarriedproducer Siddharth Roy Kapur, who works for and produces under the Walt Disney India banner, in December 2012.