HOLLYWOOD BOLLYWOOD TELEVISION MUSIC ‘I OWE MY SUCCESS ONLY TO MYSELF’

Unfazed by rumours, here’s a confident Vidya Balan who credits her successful career in Bollywood to none, but herself

Actor Vidya Balan (right) is among those very few actors who’ve had a successful transition from small screen to Bollywood. But unlike many others, who either made it big because they belonged to a film family or had a godfather behind them, Vidya is proud to have reached so far without any of these crutches.

“Looking at my career graph, I feel nothing short of gratitude. And I’m glad that I can owe all this success to myself. It’s my love for myself that motivated me. My faith in myself and then, my family and friends helped me come this far in my career,” says the 38-year-old who was last seen in Sujoy Ghosh’s Kahaani 2.

Vidya, who shot to fame with films such as Lage raho Munna Bhai (2006), Paa (2009), Ishqiya (2010) and then won the National Award for film The Dirty Picture (2011) says there’s always been some external force that guarded her. “At different points in my personal and professional life, there have been different ‘maseeha’ who came into my life and encouraged me to do better, and not give up despite all odds. It’s this journey that has helped me discover myself.”

And on her journey that has been surrounded by controversies, which continues to hound her, Vidya says, “Maybe that’s the reason I don’t follow too many people on social media. And, trust me, I don’t feel I’m missing on anything. In a way, it’s good that I don’t know what’s happening.”