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Home , Ekta Kapoor, Kahaani, Vidya Balan

Pleated stretch wool dress, Donna Karan. ‘flower’ round-cut and baguette diamonds and rubies set in 18k yellow gold earrings, Jaipur Gems. On left hand: ‘Wanted’ bracelet, ‘Gimme a Clue’ lacquer bracelets, rose and coral bracelet; all Louis Vuitton. ring, pacoLab by Amelie Riech for Paco Rabanne. On right hand: Pyramid gold-plated brass cuff, Tom Binns Design. tube and pavé rose-gold bangle, Mawi. ‘Bordeaux’ patent pumps, Nicholas Kirkwood. On piano: Braided oxidised knot clutch, Bottega Veneta the ALPHA

FEMALEShe has moulded to her own design, boldly redefining the woman in Indian cinema. Bow down to , screen goddess and force of nature. By ANINDITA GHOSE Photographed by Prasad naik Styled by anaita shroff adajania

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V idya Balan is backed up against the respect, and then love, before finding elevator wall. The particularly de- a permanent place for themselves in manding fan with her won’t settle for the public imagination—the starry- just one photograph—and each time eyed next-door-neighbour who made she insists on “just one more”, Balan it to the billboards. cues that dazzling smile of hers like Vidya Balan, the star, only emerged the seasoned star she is. The impromp- over the last couple of years, with a tu photo session only ends when the string of films that she carried on her elevator doors open at the lobby. own steam, heroes be damned. In that She’s a patient one. This brand of brief window of time, she overturned getting-cornered-in-a-hotel-elevator the rules of the game. Whether it was fame has come after close to 20 years as the oversize-shirt-clad Sabrina of of being on an untiringly spirited mis- (2011)—this is sion. As have the box-office jugger- when she met Kapur, who produced nauts; and the fact that her wedding, the film—the sultry, midriff-baring to Disney UTV managing director Silk of (2011) or the last month, was feisty and falsely pregnant Vidya splashed across the front pages of na- Bagchi in (2012), it was she tional newspapers. who introduced Indian audiences to It’s come “slowly but surely”—34- the ‘female hero’, an epithet until now year-old Balan loves that phrase. My awarded to no one in the chauvinistic voice recorder has picked it up at least realms of the film industry. ‘Rose Gold’ leather six times through our eight-hour cov- Balan’s star meter, though, is more trench, Burberry. er shoot at The Oberoi, the video take than the sum of these personal suc- ‘Gene’ embroidered right after, and the two-hour car ride cesses. She’s shown us that to become corset, Agent an actor—award-winning or other- Provocateur from the downtown hotel to Balan’s family in suburban . wise—the criteria isn’t family connec- She uses it, with good reason, for eve- tions or the willingness to pose in a Vrything: for her journey from televi- bikini. It is, above all, the ability to sion to the definitive best actor lists; act. And wanting, from the deepest for celebrating her curvaceous body; reserves within, to be an actor. and for her metamorphosis from fash- ion rookie to champion of the new Size doeS matter red-carpet staple, the . With her talent and good sense (Ka- Balan knew at 12 that she wanted haani’s director calls her to be an actor. Hailing from a tradi- “an excellent judge of scripts”) on solid tional family of Iyers, where ground, Balan isn’t one to dismiss that little girls learnt and her physicality is very much a tool of dance but weren’t meant to take the the trade. For her National Award- stage, this seemed like a far shot. But winning role in The Dirty Picture, she she persisted, badgering her mother put on 12kg and didn’t hold back when to let her play one of five sisters in baring a more-than-voluptuous body. ’s first TV serial, Hum It was the sort of physical preparation Paanch. This was back in 1995. While never before attempted by a Hindi film working towards a Master’s degree in actress (she’s now been asked to keep sociology from the University of that body for a forthcoming film). This Mumbai, there were unsuccessful was particularly daunting for Balan, stints in and Tamil mov- who’s dealt with weight issues through ies, over 60 ad films, a few music vid- her teenage years. eos and, finally, the big breakthrough “In college, I went through crazy di- with ’s in ets and exercise routines trying to fight 2005—a debut so mature, so self- my body type, because I so wanted to assured, that she expertly clouded her be an actress and I believed I had to veteran co-stars. Bollywood’s reigning look a certain way for that,” she says. mega-hero made his “It wasn’t until I joined films that I be- bones on TV, too. Perhaps this is how gan to enjoy my sensuality. I realised the outliers come in, by sheer dint of that it had little to do with the way you ambition, pushing themselves in from looked and more with the way you felt the periphery, first eliciting grudging and what you could do with the way >

143 you were feeling. When people told me Dirty Picture, and the physical invest- styling almost all her personal ap- that I’ve never looked sexier than I did ment it involved, I said I’d do it.” pearances (and designing 18 for in The Dirty Picture, I was convinced Any attempts to ‘slot’ her will meet her wedding), Sabyasachi has done that’s really what it’s about.” with a dead end, though. Because just the costume design for three of her , who directed the when you think you have her down, films. And now Balan has emerged as film, is completely straightforward in Balan tells you her next two films are a trendsetter, too. As Sabyasachi’s his evaluation. As far as he is con- a comic thriller called Ghanchakkar, most effusive ambassador, she’s not cerned, her appeal lies in “the heady opposite , and a ro- only brought sexy back with the sari, mix of the Khajuraho voluptuousness mantic comedy, Shaadi Ke Side Ef- but ask for the Vidya Blouse at any and a face that says, ‘Take me home fects, with —both set boutique and you’ll get the staple: a to your mother.’” to release later this year. low-cut back with three-quarter- Balan has already survived, un- length sleeves. scathed, a wave of criticism, the peri- POWER PLAY I meet Sujoy Ghosh for coffee near od of intense scrutiny that weeds out Kahaani’s publicity posters had Bal- Balan’s home. He calls her his “inspir- the aspirants from the real thing. an as Durga, the goddess with 10 ator”; and of 2012’s biggest sleeper “There was a time when every Hindi arms, or Shakti, the invincible one. In hit, he says it wouldn’t have even tak- film heroine was a woman, but they a contemporary context, she’s been en off if not for her. “The germ of Ka- are invariably young girls these days; right up there in sundry power-wom- haani, the treatment, the script, eve- there’s a certain regression in age en lists over the last year. rything came from wanting to work that’s required. I lacked conviction Are men intimidated by this power- with her.” Presently fleshing out a playing the ‘girl’ in those films, and it goddess Vidya? “I wouldn’t think so. sequel, he talks very fondly of their showed through,” says Balan, refer- There’s definitely more respect. A lot 52-day shooting schedule in ring to the dark phase after Heyy Ba- of times, powerful women negotiate on a budget of 8 crore. “We couldn’t byy (2007) and their femininity and charm for pow- afford a vanity van. She was happy to It was she who introduced Indian audiences to the ‘female hero’, an epithet until now awarded to no one in the chauvinistic realms of the Hindi film industry (2008), when her wardrobe was er…” Balan doesn’t complete that. change in an Innova,” he says. “Who panned by the tabloids in no uncer- She doesn’t need to. Ask the men, and else with her kind of celebrity chops tain terms. “She’d became the me- the women, around her—and that de- would do that?” dia’s favourite punching bag,” recalls manding fan—and they’ll tell you While her star is on the rise, her her sister Priya, four years older, who she’s all charm. While she thinks the marriage won’t slow her down, that Balan calls her strongest pillar of sup- ‘female hero’ tag is a compliment, much Balan knows. “I’ve been an ac- port. “My mother would see her to the she’s quite happy being a heroine, too. tor all my life, in my head and heart, door every day and Vidya would wave “I’d love to dance around trees in a before people got to know me. I don’t bravely. But we could only imagine yellow chiffon sari!” she exclaims. see myself giving this up for anything. how tough it is when you step out and “I’m a greedy actor. I’m not here to And there’s so much more to do...” you don’t know what [the tabloids make a point about doing a certain The Vidya Balan who wakes up to will] say about you the next day. It kind of cinema. As long as I’m con- MS Subbulakshmi’s ‘Suprabhatam’ was family and prayer—she’s always vinced about it, I want to do every- every morning, the girl who got mar- been a person with immense faith— thing!” And the world knows she can ried in a small South Indian temple that saw her through.” do everything. The raunchy lavani last month, the one who orders upma Balan emerged from the episode by item number in the 2012 Vidhu Vinod for lunch (of course, it’s never as good plunging headfirst into a madcap bag Chopra production, Ferrari Ki as her mother’s), is also the girl who of films. It seemed like a retaliation— Sawaari, is a nudge in that direction. embarrassed the irrepressible Karan she wasn’t going to try fitting into Part of this new self-awareness was Johar on his TV show by gushing in Bollywood’s ‘sweet little girl’ mould; a massive sartorial shift. Balan met the most coquettish manner about she would carve her own definitive designer Sabyasachi for dinner some how she wanted to act in a romantic niche, one that gave her room to play time in 2008. He hadn’t seen her films movie with Shah Rukh Khan. “We’re ’s mother in Paa then. “She came in wearing one of my so many different things every day. I (2009) and a rustic seductress in Ish- copies, and both of us couldn’t stop might find it difficult to be sexy in qiya (2010). “Up until then, there laughing,” he says. “I saw an extreme- front of my parents, but I wouldn’t in were flashes, these moments when I ly intelligent and ravishingly beauti- front of the camera or whoever it is I felt completely true in front of the ful person who was at a stage when need to be sexy with,” she says, with camera. But then I began to feel that she was beginning to doubt herself the hint of a wink. “I don’t find the more and more with films like Paa. because of what people were saying.” need to reconcile them all.” Once you’ve tasted blood, you want to The two went on to become close Vidya Balan wears her 10 hands, do it again. So when it came to The friends and collaborators—apart from and her power, all too well. n

144 ‘Power’ shoulder mesh peplum gown, Alpana Neeraj. On floor: ‘Lalique’ pumps, Dsquared2 146 Silk and lace gown, Emilio Pucci at Harrods.com. Old-cut diamonds and Colombian emeralds set in 22K yellow gold earrings, Jaipur Gems. ‘Kiki’ shoes, Jimmy Choo

Hair: Gabriel Georgiou/ Anima Creatives Make-up: Namrata Soni Assistant stylist: Sharon Crawford Production: Suhana Sharma Location courtesy: The Oberoi Hotel, Mumbai