I’m incapable of doing a conventional film: Vidya
Ever since she made her debut with Parineeta (2005), Vidya Balan has mostly played intense, author-backed roles. Ask her if she ever thought of playing stereotypical Bollywood heroine characters and she says laughing, “No, never.” But the actor was seen in “glamorous” roles in films such as Heyy Babyy (2007) and Kismat Konnection (2008).
“Both the films got me a lot of criticism personally (smiles). I think that really put me off those kinds of films. I think I stood out like a sore thumb in those kind of films. I need more to chew into [for a character]. I don’t think I gave my 100% in those films. People who do it [these films] carry them off so beautifully. I think I am incapable of doing the typical conventional film,” says the actor.
The Dirty Picture (2011) actor adds that it’s also because she is “very impatient”. “I need to be constantly excited, which is why I’m also looking to do different kinds of films and diverse parts all the time,” she says, adding that she is aware she is not “cut out for such roles.”
“You know, there was sarson ke khet ka shot (a shot of the mustard field) in Heyy Babyy. I looked like the sarson (mustard plant) in that yellow sari (laughs). Some people do these things beautifully but that’s not something I enjoy, so I don’t think I can do it well. But I’d love to do a nice romantic, or a relationshipbased story. Thankfully, now they are not restricted to sarson ke khet (laughs). I am sorted that way,” she says, adding that she isn’t “competitive at all”.
She says, “I do watch quite a few films. If I see a good performance, I get excited and reach out to the actor, director or writer. It also inspires me. But I am not competitive. I like to move at my own pace. I am only bothered about what I am doing (laughs). I don’t keep a track of what anyone else is doing, or how many movies someone else is doing. As they say, ‘To each his own’.”
I do watch quite a few films. If I see a good performance, I get excited and reach out to the actor, director or writer. VIDYA BALAN, ACTOR