ABP Ideas Of India: Ishqiya, Dirty Picture Or Jalsa — Vidya Balan Says What It Takes To Get A ‘Screen Of Her Own’

ABP Ideas Of India: In a conversation on cinema, gender and body politics, Vidya Balan debunked a few myths about the ‘good woman’ as she discussed the ‘New Age Heroine’ and ‘Female Centric Cinema’.

ABP Ideas Of India: “I was labelled a jinx and thrown out of 6-7 films. But, women who have labelled jinx have gone on to become some of the biggest stars.”

In a candid conversation on cinema, consciousness, gender and body politics, actor Vidya Balan debunked a few myths about the ‘good woman’ as she discussed the ‘New Age Heroine’ and ‘Female Centric Cinema’, at a session chaired by senior journalist Vir Sanghvi during ABP Network’s ‘Ideas Of India’ Summit in Mumbai on Friday.

The session was titled ‘Breaking The Mould | The New Heroine: A Screen Of Her Own’. For the second consecutive week now, Vidya’s movie Jalsa has been topping the charts on the OTT platform, Amazon Prime. When asked about why she chose the film, she shared her thoughts about how she didn’t think she had the “courage to play someone not easily likeable since it was a ‘morally ambiguous’ character”.

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Talking about what changed her perception, she further talked about how the pandemic made her reconsider her decision about who makes a morally ambiguous character. Similarly, what attracted her to roles like that of real-life characters like Shakuntala Devi or Silk Smitha was the lens through which these women were portrayed. 

She mentioned how Anu Menon’s story of her mother, Shakuntala, told through the lens of a daughter was something that felt unique to her. What she actively sought to do is “debunk the myth that every woman is a good mother”. Elaborating further on this, she talked about how the glorification of mothers, particularly in cinema, had always troubled her because it pressurised women to be a certain way. 

'I Want To Be Able To Explore Every Kind Of Woman That There Is'

When quizzed about how she prepares for such varied roles, she said that she inhabits a role and researches extensively on her characters. For her, these serve as tools to understand the “essence of a character” and not create a caricature out of them. Recollecting her experience of working in The Dirty Picture, she spoke about her tryst with body dysmorphia and how she was body-conscious throughout the role, yet the months of rigorous practice eventually led her to enjoy being the other person. The opportunity and ability to do a character is what excites her and eventually that led her to shed all shame. She pointed out how “as an actor, you have to be shameless” and the excitement of exploring facets to a personality she is not familiar with. 

One of the key takeaways from her conversation remained her humility and grace with which she talked about how she doesn’t see herself as a star and her not wanting to see herself as a star since that would be limiting herself as an actor. So who is the real Vidya Balan? When quizzed about it, she was quick to reply, “I am.” Yet she mentioned how while the content of her films were serious, she doesn’t take herself seriously and loves a good laugh. “I watch a lot of stand ups”, she said, smiling. 

Gender Politics And Women In Bollywood

Moving ahead with her choice of roles, she further discussed how Ishqiya opened up new avenues for her and changed the game. "I found my purpose with Ishqiya,” she said, adding that it was a time when women were finding her voice. But women, she believes, are judged far too easily for all that they do and she has never let her choices, personal and professional, be guided by what people think of her. Talking about her fair share of successes and failures, she subsequently talked about the fact that with age, perspective and maturity she had learnt to handle them better. “My sense of self-worth is not tied to the success of my work," she said. 

'I Would Bloat Everytime I Stepped Out For Appearances'

Vir Sanghvi took the discussion into yet unchartered territories asking a few important questions about the impact of stress and the pressure to appear a certain way on Bollywood actors, especially women, which led to Vidya talking about her own struggles with hormonal issues borne out of a fear of being judged. She said how she would bloat everytime she had to step out. This consistent fear led to heightened stress which she overcame by learning to love and accept her own body. What followed was a cycle of healing and positive manifestations and self-love to come to a point where when asked by a director to lose weight she called them out saying, “What you see is what you get!”

Ending the insightful discussion with her thoughts on the change in the portrayal of women characters in contemporary Bollywood, she said that the change has to come from within where all of us realise that not just in cinemas, we are the hero of our life and all we need to do is unleash it and discover it.