Vidya was born in Palghat, Kerala, India. Her family consists of her dad, P.R. Balan, who is the Vice-President of ETC Channel; mom – a home-maker, and an elder sister, Priya, who is married to Kedar. She also has an aunt by the name of Raji Raju.The Balan family re-located to live at Road No. 11, near Ambedkar Garden, Chembur, Bombay, when Vidya was very young. She studied in St. Anthony’s Convent School, and thereafter in St. Xavier’s College from where she obtained a degree in Sociology. She then went on to obtain a Masters degree in Sociology from Bombay University.She also studied and performed in Prithvi Theaters’ workshops. Due to tradition of most Tamil-Iyer families, Vidya and her Priya learned Carnatic dance form during their early childhood days, but Vidya opted out as the dance classes took place early on Sunday mornings and as she is not an early riser.Considerably overweight, rather tomboyish, during her school-days, and an ardent fan of Shahrukh Khan, she decided to shed those extra pounds when she elected to opt for modeling and movies.Facing disappointment after being rejected by a Tamil producer, she nevertheless persisted until she got her first break with a Malyalam movie ‘Chakram’ opposite Mohanlal, however, the project was shelved, and she had to wait until 1998 to debut in a Surf Excel commercial. She then went on to appear in several commercials directed by Pradeep Sarkar. She completed nearly 90 such ads.She appeared in three music videos for Pankaj Udhas, Euphoria, and Shubha Mudgal in supporting roles. She then also appeared in two TV serials Ekta Kapoor’s ‘Hum Paanch’, and Ashok Pandit’s ‘Hanste Khelte’.During 2003 she was signed-up to play a role in a Bengali movie ‘Bhaalo Theko’ opposite Joy Sengupta. This project was completed during the year 2006, and was a considerable hit.Then during 2006 Vidya was approached by Vidhu Vinod Chopra during a pop-concert in Mumbai to play a lead role in ‘Parineeta’. She then had to undergo 17 make-up shoots and 40 screen tests before being chosen for this role. All this hard work did result in success as ‘Parineeta’ was very well received so much so that the Tamil producer, who had previously rejected her, invited her to appear in a ‘Dasavatharam’ opposite Kamal Hassan, and now it was Vidya’s turn to reject this offer which eventually went to ‘Asin’.Apart from acting, Vidya occupies herself for supporting education for young Indians by promoting children’s’ books; is associated with Americans for Aids Research; with Hale House – that provides support and housing for children born with HIV and drug abuse; as well as hosting forums and attending events for Harvard Aids Institute.When she was single, she was never involved in any scandal and claimed to get along well with both female and male friends. In 2012, she married producer Siddharth Roy KapurAn ardent devotee of Bhagwan Shri Sai Baba, she makes it a point to attend Mandirs every Thursday. She is proficient in Tamil, Malyalam, Hindi, English, Bengali, and can also read Urdu.
Vidya Balan
Movies
Kahaani
Kolkata is abuzz with the preparations for the annual Durga Puja festival, as seven months pregnant Vidya Bagchi steps off the airplane from London. Her first stop is the local police station to file a missing person report. Weeks ago, her husband Arnab arrived in India for a job assignment.…
Kismat Konnection
Toronto-based social activist Priya meets out-of-work architect Raj Malhotra, and both end up in a series of hilarious misunderstandings. Priya finds out that Raj is attracted to her. She shows interest in him as well, though she is seeing Karan Bahl, to whom all of their friends expect she’ll soon…
Dum Maaro Dum
On his way to Griffin University in the U.S., Goa-based Lawrence Eduardo Gomes is arrested and held at the airport by a corrupt ACP Vishnu Kamath as his baggage concealed drugs. While attempts by Lorry and others are made to clear Lawrence’s name, Vishnu continues his investigation aided by Inspectors…
Lage Raho Munna Bhai
A hilarious underworld gangster known as Munna Bhai falls comically in love with a radio host by the name of Jahnvi, who runs an elders’ home, which is taken over by an unscrupulous builder, who gets the residents kicked out ironically with the help of Munna’s sidekick, Circuit, while Munna…
Ferrari Ki Sawaari
A little boy thinks of nothing but cricket. His father, Rusy, thinks of nothing but his little boy. To fulfill his sons dream of playing at Lords cricket ground, the honest and upright Rusy takes a reckless step. He borrows a gleaming red Ferrari. Just for one hour. The only…
Shaadi Ke Side Effects
Sid and Trisha are happily married couple until they find out that they are having a baby. This changes everything for both of them; specially Sid. Life is getting difficult and boring for Sid day by day until he discovers a key to success in family life from a friend…
Ghanchakkar
Sanju, Pandit and Idris rob a bank and decide to share the money. After executing the robbery successfully, the trio decide that Sanju keep the money for 3 months until the heat has died down. Problems arise Sanju forgets where he put the money, and when his partners return for…
Halla Bol
Ashfaque (Ajay Devgan) is a small town boy aspiring to be a film star in the Hindi film industry. He joins a street theatre group run by a reformed dacoit Sidhu (Pankaj Kapur) who uses street theatre as a medium to bring about an awakening in the masses. Ashfaque struggles…
Hamari Adhuri Kahani
Hamari Adhuri Kahani (English: Our Incomplete Story) is a 2015 Indian romantic drama directed by Mohit Suri and produced by Mahesh Bhatt under the banner Vishesh Films and Fox Star Studios. The film stars Emraan Hashmi, Vidya Balan, and Rajkummar Rao. It is based on the love story of Bhatt’s…
Heyy Babyy
Arush Mehra lives a fairly wealthy lifestyle in Sydney, Australia along with two room-mates, Tanmay Joglekar, and Ali Hyder. He works for a food chain, while Tanmay entertains children as ‘Eddy Teddy’, and Ali takes care of their apartment. All three are womanizers and usually end up sleeping with around…
Thank You
Raj, Yogi and Vikram – best friends, business partners, serial womanizers and happily married! Happy, because their lovely wives have no clue that their husbands cheat on them with every pretty young thing they can lay their eyes on. This picture perfect world is rocked when Raj’s wife, Sanjana begins…
The Dirty Picture
Rebellious and uninhibited Reshma lives an impoverished lifestyle with her mother, Ratnamma, in 1980s South India. She is an ardent fan of film actor, Suryakant, and her one ambition in life is to meet and act with him. She runs away to Madras, and like, hundreds of young women, lines…
Hum Paanch
Medical representative Anand Mahtur lives middle-class life with his second wife Beena and five daughters. His first wife passed away when her three daughters were very small; Anand has two daughters with Beena; and they all live as a family–including Anand’s first wife, who speaks to him from her photo…
No One Killed Jessica
Devastated when she is told that that her sister, Jessica Lall, is shot dead by Manish Bhardwaj, the son of Pramod, a Congress party Member of Parliament in Haryana, Delhi-based Sabrina Lall, in the company of her parents, attends the Court to view a charade that will lead to the…
Om Shanti Om
Om Prakash Makhija is a Junior Artist in the 1970s Hindi film industry and in love with actress Shantipriya. Om rescues Shanti from an out-of-control fire scene and they become friends. His hopes seem to be coming true–until he finds out that she’s married to film producer Mukesh Mehra and…
Paa
Auro (Amitabh Bachchan) is an intelligent and witty 13-year-old boy with an extremely rare genetic defect that causes accelerated aging. He suffers from a progeria-like syndrome. Mentally he is 13, very normal, but physically he looks five times older. In spite of his condition, Auro is a very happy boy.…
Parineeta
Circa 1962 in Calcutta, India, live three neighboring families in a upper middle-class area. Gurcharan lives in a palatial home (Haveli) with his wife, and two beautiful daughters, Lolita and Koyal. He is retired,unable to find suitable work and must live off of his savings, ends up mortgaging his house…
Fun Facts
A Tamilian from Kerala, she hails from the Iyer community in Palghat, on the border of Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
Did her schooling from St. Antony's School and later on at St. Xavier's College where she graduated in Sociology. She soon started work on her MA from Mumbai University when she was offered a role in a Malayalam film starring Mohanlal, but it was later shelved due to issues with the director.
Speaks English, Hindi, Malayalam, and Tamil. After filming Parineeta (2005), can also speak Bengali quite well.
Listed as number 8 of 'Top Bollywood Actresses' of 2006. (rediff.com, 8-25-2006)
Granddaughter-in-law of Producer, Director G Rakesh.
Daughter-in-law of actress, model Salome (Tu Hi Mere Zindagi 1965).
Cousin of actress Priyamani.
Bears a resemblance to classic actress Kanchana.
Dubbed for actress Sharbani Mukherjee in the film "Sankaal - The Latch"".
Since Silk Smitha was known to be a heavy smoker
Quotes
Neither of my first two Malayalam films got completed, and I walked out of the third, a Tamil film, because I was not comfortable. I was replaced in another Tamil film with the excuse that I could not act. They made me feel ugly to the point where I was scared to look in the mirror. In retrospect I thank God, and by God's grace today the going is good.