Vidya Balan likes being called demure Indian
Noreen Aslam

MUMBAI—Vidya Balan, who was recently seen in a glamorous role in “Heyy Babyy”, is happy being called a demure Indian girl. “That’s my USP and why should I shy away from it? Even if I tried to be a floozy, I’d be a disaster. Even when I played a radio-jockey in Raj Kumar Hirani’s film, I wore kurtas, skirts and other desi accessories. I’m not like a hip radio-jockey from Australia,” Vidya told reporters.
“I’d have been happy to be born 40 years ago and live my life in a sari,” she added. Amitabh Bachchan once said you can’t take your eyes off Vidya when she is on screen. “It’s humbling. Even if he had just noticed me I’d have been complimented beyond description. But to have him say such wonderful things about me is unbelievable,” said Vidya, who worked with Amitabh in “Eklavya”.
“Amitji and I didn’t have too many scenes together in ‘Eklavya’. In fact, we had just three scenes. But we watched the edit together. When he came in, he said, ‘Namaste’. Then he held my hand and said I was exceptional. I started giggling. He said, ‘All of us are in love with you.’ I didn’t know what to say,” she said.
The raised expectation doesn’t bother Vidya. “I feel extremely blessed. Amitji appreciating me is such a compliment. It makes my parents so proud. I’ve learnt how important it is to be generous to the people around you. I saw the same kind of humility and generosity in Sanjay Dutt during ‘Parineeta’, ‘Lage Raho Munna Bhai’ and ‘Eklavya’.” Vidya is proud of being a Vidhu Vinod Chopra camp actor.
“It’s better to be called a part of a camp than to be associated with bad films. Chopra didn’t completely believe in me before ‘Parineeta’. He signed me for three films after that. I’m proud of that,” she said.
She shot down her reputation of being arrogant. “I don’t think I’m arrogant. But I do take a long time to open up. Raima Sen and I are close friends. But there are certain things we don’t discuss. I’m cordial with everyone on the sets. But I’m not going to be friendly with someone after a few hours just to keep up a conversation,” Vidya said. She opened up about her controversial relationship with Pradeep Sarkar who made his second film with Rani Mukerji and Konkona Sen Sharma.
“People have been speculating about the relationship that we share. But we’re teacher and pupil. Earlier, I used to get very agitated when people insinuated things. It doesn’t matter what people think as long as you’re clear in your heart. I know what relationship I share with him. I don’t need to furnish explanations to anyone. But it disappoints me that people can see men and women only in a particular way.
“I don’t have time to listen to people talk rubbish about my life. I’d rather read a book, see a film or be with friends. I have some close friends from school and college. In the film industry I only have Raima as a friend. Neither of us is insecure about the other,” Vidya said.