Vidya Balan (Tamil: வித்யா பாலன், Malayalam: വിദ്യ ബാല൯, Hindi: विद्या बालन, born January 1, 1982) is an award-winning Indian actress who appears in Bollywood movies.
Balan, who began her career starring in many music videos, soap operas and commercials, made her acting debut in the Bengali film, Bhalo Theko (2003), for which she won critical acclaim. She later made her Hindi film debut with Parineeta (2005), for which she received a Filmfare Best Female Debut Award, and received her first commercial success with Rajkumar Hirani's Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006). Balan has thus established herself as one of the most promising actresses of the industry.
She was born to a Tamil Palakkad Iyer family in Kerala. Balan grew up in Mumbai and attended St. Anthony's Girls High School in Chembur. She later attended St. Xavier's College, where she graduated with a sociology degree, and the University of Mumbai.
Her movie career started when she was signed to appear in the Malayalam film Chakram, alongside superstar Mohanlal but the movie was shelved. After that, she was signed for a Tamil film, Run, but for reasons undisclosed, she was dropped after a first schedule and replaced by Meera Jasmine. In the jinx driven industry, Balan was dropped from her second Tamil movie Manasellam opposite Srikanth, on the grounds of 'non-performance' and was replaced by Trisha Krishnan.
She then turned to television advertising. From 1998 onwards, she appeared in numerous television ads, many of which were directed by Pradeep Sarkar. She also took supporting roles in music videos, appearing with singers and bands such as Euphoria, Shubha Mudgal, and Pankaj Udhas. Balan also portrayed the role of Radhika Mathur in a few episodes of the first season of Hum Paanch, but was later replaced by Amita Nangia at the end of the first season.
In 2003, she appeared in the Bengali film, Bhalo Theko, for which she won the Anandalok Puraskar Best Actress award in Kolkata. Balan next made her Hindi film debut in the critically acclaimed Parineeta. Though the film didn't do well, her performance was acclaimed by critics, earning her a Filmfare Best Female Debut Award and a nomination for Filmfare Best Actress Award.
After the success of her first two films, the same producer who dropped her from Manasellam was keen to sign her opposite Kamal Hassan for Dasavathaaram but she rejected the offer and Asin Thottumkal was signed instead. In 2006, she appeared opposite Sanjay Dutt in the blockbuster film Lage Raho Munna Bhai. Once again her performance was well received by critics and the film went on to become the second highest grossing film of that year.
Mani Ratnam's critically acclaimed Guru was Balan's first release in 2007, in which she played a woman with a physical disability. The film did very well at the box office and her role was appreciated. Her next two releases, Salaam-e-Ishq: A Tribute To Love (2007) and Eklavya: The Royal Guard (2007) failed to do well but the latter was selected as India's official entries to the Oscars for the 80th Academy Awards. Balan's last two releases of the year, Heyy Babyy (2007) and Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2007) have fared very well at the box office.
Her father, P. R. Balan, is the Vice President of ETC Channel whilst her mother is a homemaker. Balan also has an older sister named Priya. In a video interview, she stated that she was "extremely spiritual", had a "firm faith in God" and visited temples every Thursday.
Gossip columnists have linked Balan with many of her co-stars but she strongly denied the allegations, saying that they were "vile".
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