Vidya Balan made her entry in Bollywood with a very promising performance in 2005 with her role in ‘Parineeta’. Having a very traditional Indian look in contrast to most of today’s Bollywood starlets, this Tamilian from Kerala made a strong impression with her very first film.
Vidya Balan is from a non film background. She did her schooling at St. Anthony`s School, Chembur, Mumbai and later at St. Xavier`s College from where she graduated in Sociology.
Her initial times as an actress were not that impressive as most of the Tamil movies she signed were either shelved or she was dropped out of them. She then turned to television advertising. From 1998 onwards, she appeared in numerous television ads, She also did supporting roles in Music Videos, appearing with singers and bands such as ‘Euphoria’, ‘Shubha Mudgal’, and ‘Pankaj Udhas’, Balan also did a small role in the television serial ‘Hum Paanch’ but was later replaced.
In 2003, she appeared in the Bengali film, ‘Bhalo Theko’ , for which she won the Anandalok Puraskar ‘Best Actress’ award in Kolkata. Balan made her big Hindi film debut in the critically acclaimed ‘Parineeta’. Her performance in that film was acclaimed by critics, earning her a ‘Filmfare Best Female Debut Award’ .Balan next film was ‘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.
After critically acclaimed performances in both the movies, Vidya became the talk of the town. Post that Vidya worked with the top directors in the industry as Mani Ratnam and Priyadarshan. Her heart-rending act in ‘Paa’ won her the Filmfare Best Actress Award. Balan has got a lot of big films in her kitty as of now. Some of her big budget films in the pipeline are ‘No One Killed Jessica’ alongside Rani Mukherji.