Vidya Balan is an Indian actress who is primarily known for her choice of roles she portrays fondly called the female hero in the male-centric movie industry. Her journey to fame has not been easy, she had her share of struggle. From being labeled jinx to being replaced multiple times to auditioning numerous times for the same role, Vidya has tasted all. Though Vidya made her debut in a Tamil movie, her debut in the Hindi cinema got her the critic’s attention and was praised for that.
Vidya has created a class of her own and is a role model for women in general who had shown to the world that to be accepted, one doesn’t have to fit into the established norms. With unusual roles, she has bagged the Best Actress award for most of her movies and even earned the Padma Shri award in 2014. Even after her marriage to the UTV CEO, Siddhartha Roy Kapur, she continued working at her own pace and have ventured into production too with the short movie Natkhat (2019) on gender equality.
Born Name
Vidya Balan
Nick Name
Vidhi, V
Sun Sign
Capricorn
Born Place
Chembur, Mumbai, India
Nationality
Education
Vidya Balan did her schooling from St. Anthony Girls’ High School, Chembur, Mumbai, and later attended St. Xavier’s College where she majored in Sociology. She went on to study MA at the University of Mumbai, where she received her first film offer.
Occupation
Actress
Family
- Father – P. R. Balan (Executive Vice-President of Digicable)
- Mother – Saraswathy Balan (Homemaker)
- Siblings – Priya Balan (Older Sister) (Works in advertising field)
- Others – Priyamani (Second Cousin) (Actress)
Manager
Bling Entertainment Solutions
Build
Average
Height
5 ft 3 in or 160 cm
Weight
57 kg or 126 pounds
Boyfriend / Spouse
- (2008) – As tabloid suggested, they dated each other while shooting for the movie Kismat Konnection, but both strongly denied it. Vidya walked out of the relationship because she felt she was now and then criticized for her weight and felt disrespected.
- Siddharth Roy Kapur (2012-Present) – Vidya Balan herself told in an interview in May 2012 that she has been dating Siddharth Roy Kapur (CEO at UTV Motion Pictures). She married him on December 14, 2012, in a private ceremony in Bandra, Mumbai.
Race / Ethnicity
Asian (Indian)
She has Tamilian ancestry.
Hair Color
Black
Eye Color
Black
Sexual Orientation
Straight
Distinctive Features
Voice
Measurements
36-28-37 inches after her role in “Dirty Picture”, as she had to gain 12 kilos for her role as “Silk”.
Brand Endorsements
She has been seen in commercials about the surf, Clinic Plus shampoo, UNICEF Total Sanitation, etc.
Vidya has endorsed Samajwadi Pension Yojana (launched by Akhilesh Yadav led Uttar Pradesh Government), Nihar Hair Oils, Indian Film Festival, Silk Board, etc.
She endorsed the ‘World Wildlife Fund’s Earth Hour’ campaign in March 2011.
Religion
Hinduism
Best Known For
Her traditional Indian Look and her work in Hindi movies, especially “Parineeta”, “The Dirty Picture”, “Kahaani”.
First Film
Bengali Film “Bhalo Theko”, for her role as “Anandi” in 2003. She got fame through her next film, which was a Hindi film “Parineeta” in 2005 and performed the role “Lalita” and for this, she got “Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut”
Vidya Balan Favorite Things
- Favorite Film – Before Sunrise, Before Sunset
- Favorite Director – Gulzar and Hrishikesh Mukherjee
- Favorite Actors – , ,
- Favorite Actress – , , and
- Favorite Book – Brida by Paulo Coelho
- Favorite Food – Thai Cuisine and Homemade food
- Role Model – Her older sister, Priya
- Favorite Musician / Band – , , , Indian Ocean, Midival Punditz
Vidya Balan Facts
- Vidya Balan’s older sister, Priya is married to Kedar.
- Vidya Balan also involves herself in AIDS Institute at Harvard by participating in the events throughout the year.
- Vidya is also associated with “AmFar” (American For AIDS Research) and Hale House, a home for children affected by HIV and Drug Addiction.
- Vidya Balan had to go for 40 Screen Tests and 17 Make-Up shoots before getting selected for a lead role in the movie Parineeta.
- Vidya before being praised for her traditional attire had faced a lot of criticism for her selection of western outfits she wore in the movies like Hey Babby & Kismat Konnection.
- Vidya Balan has also acted in a TV show Hum Paanch produced by and Hanse Khelte produced by Ashok Pandit.
- She is well versed in English, Hindi, Malayalam, and Tamil languages and can speak a little bit Bengali.
- The Calcutta Chamber of Commerce honored Vidya with ‘The Prabha Khaitan Puraskar’ 2012 for her extraordinary efforts to empower women.
- She was made a member of the Indian ‘Central Board of Film Certification’ in 2017.
- In an interview with a famous entertainment channel, she said that she was rejected many times in Malayalam movies as the producers didn’t find her looks presentable, gradually making her feel ugly.
- Vidya shared a funny incident where she got a legal notice from a Tamil movie producer. She said the movie had downmarket humor which she could not take and thus decided to leave just after few days of the shoot.
Facts of Vidya Balan
- full nameVidya Balan
- Date of Birth January 01, 1979
- Age 45 years 10 months
- Horoscope Capricorn
- Lucky Number 10
- Lucky Stone Topaz
- Lucky Color Brown
- Best Match for Marriage Scorpio, Virgo, Taurus
- weight57 kg
- height5 ft 3 in