Vidya Balan filmography

In this Indian name, the name Balan is a patronymic, and the person should be referred to by the given name, Vidya.

Vidya Balan poses for the camera
Vidya in 2023

Indian actress Vidya Balan made her acting debut in 1995 with the sitcom Hum Paanch, following which she made several unsuccessful attempts at a film career.[1] Vidya then appeared in music videos for Euphoria, Pankaj Udhas, and Shubha Mudgal[2][3] all directed by Pradeep Sarkar. She had her first film release with a leading role in Goutam Halder's Bengali film Bhalo Theko (2003).[4] In 2005, she starred in Sarkar's Parineeta, an adaptation of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's novel,[5] which won her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut.[6] Rajkumar Hirani's Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006), a successful comedy sequel, saw her play a radio jockey opposite Sanjay Dutt.[7][8]

Vidya played a variety of roles in 2007, including a woman suffering from multiple sclerosis in Mani Ratnam's drama Guru,[9] a single mother in the comedy Heyy Babyy,[10] and a dissociative identity disorder patient in the thriller Bhool Bhulaiyaa.[11][12] All three films were commercially successful and established her as a leading lady.[13] This was followed by two commercial failures in 2008.[14] From 2009 to 2012, Vidya starred in five consecutive films that garnered her critical and commercial success.[15] She played the mother of a child afflicted with progeria in Paa (2009), a seductive widow in Ishqiya (2010), and the real-life character of Sabrina Lal in No One Killed Jessica (2011).[16][17][18] For portraying the actress Silk in the biopic The Dirty Picture, Vidya won the National Film Award for Best Actress.[19][20] She next played a pregnant woman seeking revenge in the thriller Kahaani (2012), directed by Sujoy Ghosh.[21] She was awarded the Filmfare Award for Best Actress for her roles in Paa, The Dirty Picture, and Kahaani, and the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress for Ishqiya.[22][23][24]

Vidya failed to replicate this success in the next few years.[25] This changed in 2017 when she played a radio jockey in Tumhari Sulu, for which she won another Best Actress Award at Filmfare.[26][27] She also starred in the top-grossing ensemble drama Mission Mangal (2019).[28] She then starred in the Amazon Prime Video streaming films Shakuntala Devi (2020), Sherni (2021), and Jalsa (2022),[29] winning another Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress for playing an Indian Forest Service officer in Sherni.[30] Her highest-grossing release came with the comedy horror sequel Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 (2024).[28][31]

  1. ^ Sanghvi, Vir (17 December 2011). "Why Vidya Balan rules". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 7 January 2012. Retrieved 11 January 2012.
  2. ^ Bamzai, Kaveree (4 February 2010). "Return of the native". India Today. Archived from the original on 24 November 2012. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
  3. ^ "Stand-out act four not-so-new newcomers have found critical acclaim in breakthrough roles this year. Now all they need is stardom". India Today. 18 July 2005. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 23 September 2012 – via HighBeam Research.
  4. ^ "Love for Bengal: A mystery in Vidya Balan's life". The Indian Express. 18 July 2011. Archived from the original on 18 January 2017. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
  5. ^ Gupta, Pratim D. (10 June 2005). "Parineeta breathes Bengal among the tulips". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 9 August 2011.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference oldawards was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Siddiqui, Rana (1 September 2006). "The grace of Munnabhai". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 16 January 2016. Retrieved 20 April 2007.
  8. ^ "Box office 2006". Box Office India. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
  9. ^ "Vidya Balan keen to prove herself in art house cinema". Hindustan Times. 6 February 2008. Archived from the original on 11 January 2015. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  10. ^ Masand, Rajeev. "Masand's verdict: Heyy Babyy". CNN-IBN. Archived from the original on 9 April 2012. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
  11. ^ "A disordered personality". Business Standard Ltd. 23 March 2008. Archived from the original on 21 January 2015. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  12. ^ Chopra, Tisca (8 April 2014). Acting Smart: Your Ticket to Showbiz. HarperCollins Publishers India. p. 66. ISBN 978-93-5136-204-3. Archived from the original on 3 December 2017. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
  13. ^ "Box office 2007". Box Office India. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
  14. ^ "Box office 2008". Box Office India. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
  15. ^ Ashraf, Amrah (4 July 2014). "I am reverse ageing. I was born a woman, am now a little girl: Vidya Balan". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 11 January 2015. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  16. ^ Verma, Sukanya (4 December 2009). "Watch Paa for Auro". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 10 April 2010. Retrieved 25 August 2010.
  17. ^ Masand, Rajeev (1 February 2010). "Masand Review: Ishqiya". CNN-IBN. Archived from the original on 7 January 2014. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
  18. ^ Someshwar, Savera (6 January 2012). "Review: No One Killed Jessica could have been better". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 4 November 2012. Retrieved 8 October 2012.
  19. ^ Cite error: The named reference National was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  20. ^ "Silk is sexy, desirable, but not sleazy: Vidya". CNN-IBN. 29 November 2011. Archived from the original on 1 December 2011. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
  21. ^ "Vidya Balan gets into character of pregnant woman for 'Kahaani'". The Indian Express. 30 January 2012. Archived from the original on 8 February 2016. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
  22. ^ "Winners of 55th Idea Filmfare Awards 2009". Bollywood Hungama. 27 February 2010. Archived from the original on 3 February 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  23. ^ Cite error: The named reference awards was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  24. ^ Cite error: The named reference kahaaniff was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  25. ^ Ghosh, Devarshi (30 November 2016). "Between Kahaani and Kahaani 2, what accounts for Vidya Balan's lack of success?". India Today. Archived from the original on 18 December 2016. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
  26. ^ Sudhakaran, Sreeju (3 December 2017). "Tumhari Sulu box office collection: 5 lessons to learn from the success story of Vidya Balan's film". Times Now. Archived from the original on 3 December 2017. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
  27. ^ "63rd Jio Filmfare Awards 2018: Vidya Balan wins the Best Actor in a Leading Role (Female) award". The Times of India. 21 January 2018. Archived from the original on 21 January 2018. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
  28. ^ a b "Bollywood Top Grossers Worldwide". Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  29. ^ "Vidya Balan and Shefali Shah's Jalsa will give you Pataal Lok flashbacks". Filmfare. 4 March 2022. Archived from the original on 7 March 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  30. ^ "67th Filmfare Awards 2022: Ranveer Singh and Kriti Sanon bag Best Actor for '83 and 'Mimi'". The Times of India. 31 August 2022. Archived from the original on 30 August 2022. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  31. ^ Panchal, Komal RJ (10 November 2024). "Vidya Balan says she waited for success like Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 for years: 'My biggest hit to date'". The Indian Express. Retrieved 10 November 2024.