Biography:Vidya Balan

Profile:
Name: Vidya Balan
Date Of Birth: 1 January 1978
Place Of Birth: Ottapalam, Kerala, India

Occupation: Actress

Biography:
Vidya Balan is an Indian actress, who appears mainly in Hindi films, in addition to Bengali and Malayalam films. After graduating with a degree in sociology, she started her career starring in music videos, television shows and commercials, before making her feature film debut with the independent Bengali drama Bhalo Theko (2003). Balan received positive notice for her first Hindi film, Parineeta (2005), and followed it with a leading role in the blockbuster Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006), and other such hit films as Guru, Heyy Babyy and Bhool Bhulaiyaa (all 2007). 2009 marked the beginning of the most successful period in Balan’s career as she portrayed five back-to-back roles to wide critical acclaim in Paa (2009), Ishqiya (2010), No One Killed Jessica (2011), The Dirty Picture (2011) and Kahaani (2012). These roles have further established her as one of the leading contemporary actresses of Hindi cinema and earned her several major awards.

Early Life:
Vidya Balan was born in India in Ottapalam, Palakkad District, Kerala, to P. R. Balan (Vice President of ETC Channel) and Saraswathy Balan, a housewife mother in a Tamil speaking[5] family. According to Balan, they speak at home “a mix of Tamil and Malayalam”, but she is also well versed in Hindi, Marathi, English and Bengali. She did her schooling at 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, when she received her first film offer.

Early career:
Her acting career started when she was signed to appear in the Malayalam film Chakram, alongside Mohanlal but the film was shelved. After that, she was signed for a Tamil film, Run, but for reasons undisclosed, she was dropped after a first schedule and replaced by Meera Jasmine. When Chakram was restarted with Prithviraj in the lead, Meera Jasmine was chosen ahead of Balan again. Balan was dropped from her second Tamil film Manasellam opposite Srikanth, on the grounds of ‘non-performance’ and was replaced by Trisha Krishnan.

She then turned to television advertising. From 1998 onwards, she appeared in numerous television ads, many of which were directed by Pradeep Sarkar. She also took supporting roles in music videos, appearing with singers and bands such as Euphoria, Shubha Mudgal, and Pankaj Udhas. Balan also portrayed the role of Radhika Mathur in a few episodes of the first season of Hum Paanch, but was later replaced by Amita Nangia at the end of the first season.

Turning point, 2005-present:
In 2003, she appeared in the Bengali film, Bhalo Theko directed by Goutam Halder, for which she won the Anandalok Puraskar Best Actress award in Kolkata. Balan next made her 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 and a nomination for Filmfare Best Actress Award. After the success of her first two films, the same producer who dropped her from Manasellam was keen to sign her opposite Kamal Hassan for Dasavathaaram but she rejected the offer and Asin Thottumkal was signed instead. In 2006, she appeared opposite Sanjay Dutt in the blockbuster film 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.

Mani Ratnam’s critically acclaimed Guru was Balan’s first release in 2007, in which she played a woman suffering from Multiple sclerosis. The film did very well at the box office and her role was appreciated. Her next two releases, Salaam-e-Ishq: A Tribute To Love (2007) and Eklavya: The Royal Guard (2007) failed to do well but the latter was selected as India’s official entries to the Oscars for the 80th Academy Awards. Balan’s last two releases of the year, Heyy Babyy (2007) and Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2007) fared very well at the box office.

Her performance in Paa was highly appreciated and her performance in the film won her the Filmfare Best Actress Award and Star Screen Award for Best Actress. Her next release was Ishqiya, where she played a very different role, also got excellent reviews. Her current project is entitled Chenab Gandhi directed by Vibhu Puri and written by Bhavani Iyer, who also wrote for Black. A departure from romance, this songless film revolves around three characters played by Amitabh Bachchan, Rajeev Khandelwal and Vidya Balan and centers around Indian freedom fighter, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, also known as Frontier Gandhi. Director Nikhil Advani announced in late January 2009 that he is to work with Vidya. Chand Bhai will be the title of this film and Akshay Kumar will co-star. The film is based on juvenile delinquency. Balan is also set to star in UTV Spotboy’s No One Killed Jessica alongside Rani Mukerji.

Personal life:
During an interview in May 2012, Balan announced that she was dating Siddharth Roy Kapur, the CEO of UTV Motion Pictures.

Vidya Balan attends at Kahaani painting event in Cinemax
Filmography:
2013 – Milte Hain ( Hindi )
2013 – Suryamukhi ( Hindi )
2013 – Chenab Gandhi ( Hindi )
2013 – Dhamaal 2 ( Hindi )
2013 – Chand Bhai ( Hindi )
2012 – Bihaad ( Hindi )
2012 – Urumi ( Tamil )
2012 – Great Dadu ( Hindi )
2012 – Arival Chuttika Nakshathram ( Malayalam )
2012 – Ferrari Ki Sawaari ( Hindi )
2012 – Kahaani ( Hindi )
2011 – No One Killed Jessica ( Hindi )
2001 – Urmmi ( Hindi )
2011 – Thank You ( Hindi )
2011 – Dum Maaro Dum ( Hindi )
2011 – The Dirty Picture ( Hindi )
2010 – Ishqiya ( Hindi )
2009 – Paa ( Hindi )
2008 – Kismat Konnection ( Hindi )
2008 – Halla Bol ( Hindi )
2007 – Om Shanti Om ( Hindi )
2007 – Bhool Bhulaiyaa ( Hindi )
2007 – Salaam-E-Ishq ( Hindi )
2007 – Heyy Baby ( Hindi )
2007 – Guru ( Hindi )
2007 – Eklavya ( Hindi )
2006 – Lage Raho Munna Bhai ( Hindi )
2005 – Parineeta ( Hindi )
2003 – Bhalo Theko ( Hindi )

Awards:
Filmfare Awards
Won
2006: for the Best Debut (Female) Award for the film Parineeta
2006: Face of the Year- Filmfare for the film Parineeta
2010: Best Actress – Filmfare Award for the film Paa
2011: Best Actress (for Critics’ Choice) for the film Ishqiya
Nominations
2006: for the Best Actress Filmfare Award for the film Parineeta
2008: for the Best Actress Filmfare Award for the film Bhool Bhulaiyaa
2011: for the Best Actress Filmfare Award for the film Ishqiya

Star Screen Awards
Won
2006: for the Most Promising Female Newcomer for the film Parineeta
2010: for the Best Actress for the film Paa
2011: for the Best Actress for the film Ishqiya

Zee Cine Awards
Won
2006: for the Best Debut- Female for the film Parineeta
2011: for the Best Female Actor  for the film Ishqiya
Nominations
2006: for the Best Female Actor  for the film Parineeta

International Indian Film Academy Awards
Won
2006: for the Best Debut- Female for the film Parineeta
2010: for the Best Female Actor  for the film Paa (she shared this with actress Kareena Kapoor)
Nomination
2007: for the Best Female Actor  for the film Lage Raho Munnabhai
2008: for the Best Female Actor  for the film Bhool Bhulaiyaa
2008: for the Best Female villian  for the film Bhool Bhulaiyaa
2008: for the Best Female Actor  in a supporting role for the film Guru

Stardust Awards
Won
2006: for the Superstar (Female) of Tomorrow for the film Parineeta
Nominations
2008: for the Best Female Actor  in a supporting role for the film Guru
2011: for the Star (Female) of the Year for the film Ishqiya
2011: the Award  for the Readers’ Choice for the Best Actress (in a Thriller/Action) for the film Ishqiya

Apsara Film and Television Producers Guild Awards
Won
2005: for an Outstanding Debut for the film Parineeta
2010: for the Best Actress for the film Paa
2011: for the Best Actress (Leading Role)  for the film Ishqiya

Additional Awards
2004: for the Best Actress for the film Bhalo Theko at the Anandalok Puraskar Awards
2006: Sabsey Favourite Nayi Heroine for the film  Parineeta at Star’s awards
2007: for the Best Hindi Actress for the film Bhool Bhulaiyaa- Anandalok Puraskar Awards
2010: for the Best Actress for the film  Paa at Lions Gold Awards
2010: for the Best Actress in the film Paa at ‘FICCI Frames 2010′ Excellence Awards
2011: for the Best Female Actor (Lead Role) for the film Ishqiya at the Global Indian Film & Television Honors
2011: Female Actor of the year at the NDTV Indian of the year awards