I am not a serious person; I only do my work seriously

In an industry obsessed with fillers and filters, calling someone a chameleon could invite ire or scorn.

- PRATHIMA NANDAKUMAR

But how else do you describe Vidya Balan, the actor? Not that she would mind. For, she would rather we talked about her body of work than her body.

Balan breathed nuance into Lolita, the lead in Parineeta (2005), bringing the innocent yet playful and resilient character to life. That was only her beginning in Bollywood. It brought her critical acclaim. Commercial success followed the next year with Lage Raho Munna Bhai. But if one were to gauge the true impact of her powerhouse performances in her nearly two decade-long career, it would be in the way she has redefined female characters in the Hindi film industry—she headlined films at a time when heroes called the shots, be it in Ishqiya (2010), No One Killed Jessica (2011), The Dirty Picture (2011), or Kahaani (2012). The Dirty Picture, based on the life of south Indian actor Silk Smitha, stands out—not for the ‘boldness’ of its theme, but for the sheer audacity with which she played the character. She piled on kilos for the role, but shed inhibitions about the ideal Bollywood body. Balan, who is currently shooting for Bhool Bhulaiya 3, made body positivity cool long before the term entered the ‘woke’ generation’s lexicon.

And, it shows even now when she talks about her favourite garment— the sexy sari. “… the only garment that embraces you and doesn’t expect you to fit into it,” says the award-winning actor in an exclusive interview with THE WEEK while promoting her upcoming Do Aur Do Pyaar. Excerpts:

Q\ Do Aur Do Pyaar has built a lot of expectation among your fans. What is the film about?