Anyone who knows Vidya Balan will tell you that there’s nothing remotely plastic about her. Whether it’s her performances, her looks or the way she carries herself, the actor is grace personified. The South Indian beauty, who has enthralled audiences with riveting performances for the past 14 years in films such as Kahaani, No One Killed Jessica, Ishqiya and The Dirty Picture, was last seen and appreciated in Tumhari Sulu (2017), where she played a middle-class homemaker, who found her calling as a radio jockey.
Balan is back after two years with Mission Mangal, a film that releases this Independence Day. In the movie, she will be essaying the role of a space scientist. Tied up with back-to-back promotions, the charming actor had an exclusive chat with Indulge from Singapore, where she was busy promoting the Tamil remake of the Hindi film Pink, Nerkonda Paarvai, a Boney Kapoor production in which she has a special appearance. Excerpts:
You are playing Tara Shinde, the programme director in Mission Mangal. Tell us a bit about your role?
Tara Shinde is extremely passionate about science and very proud of her job at ISRO. But she is also a wife, a mother, a homemaker and she balances everything beautifully like most women in the country have to — they do everything, they take care of the family, go out and work. Tara too is an ambitious, working woman with whom most women will be able to identify.
You are very conscious of the roles you pick. In Tumhari Sulu too, you played a relatable character...
No, it’s not that I consciously play such roles. But you know, I believe that as more and more girls become aware of the fact that they can live their life the way they want to, we will find more of their stories being told on screen.
In the case of Tumhari Sulu, Sulu was a homemaker who wanted to be a working woman but here in Mission Mangal, Tara has a job at the very prestigious ISRO. She is proud and passionate about science and she is the project director of this mission to Mars.
How did you prepare for it?
I had very long conversations with director Jagan Shakti’s sister Sujata, who is a scientist at ISRO, and was amazed by how enthusiastic she is about science. I got to know the challenges and pressures of the profession. For instance, as the launch date of any mission approaches, they work for more than 18 hours at times. Many a time it’s the family and the husband who takes care of the kids and it requires great family support. Also, there’s nothing called a male scientist or a female scientist — there’s no gender segregation at ISRO, which is incredible.
Apart from that, I also read a lot of research material that Jagan painstakingly collected after talking to several ISRO scientists, which gave all of us a feel of their lives. As an actor, I don’t need in-depth knowledge of space science, I need to know how they behave and more particularly, what challenges they face and how they deal with them.
As a student, were you fond of science?
Oh no, I was very scared of Science (laughs) and hence I was nervous before playing Tara since it shouldn’t look like I am mouthing dialogues. I should look convincing and aware of what I am speaking about.
Why do you think most of us are so terrified of science as a subject?
I think the problem, if I may say so, was the way it was taught at school. Science and maths terrified most of us because we were not taught in an attractive and imaginative way. I still distinctly remember how a teacher of ours taught us diffraction of light. She literally ran across the classroom to show us how light hits a surface and that concept is still fresh in my mind.
How was it working with debut filmmaker Jagan Shakti?
I have known Jagan since he was Balki’s assistant director in Paa. And it’s really sweet and amazing to see how involved Jagan is as a director. At times he would forget that he is the director of the film and would take on the role of a first AD, running around the set and ensuring everything runs smoothly. There was the pressure of dates and so many actors and you had to finish a complicated movie like this on time.
WATCH VIDEO: Mission Mangal trailer
You are back with Akshay after a long time. How much has he changed as an actor since then?
It’s very interesting to see the kind of genres he explored over the years and how he keeps on re-inventing himself from time-to-time. I feel that’s the reason he is continuing to see success and I love his choices of films, too.
You will be seen in a Bollywood film almost after two years with Tumhari Sulu being your last film. Any particular reason for such a long absence?
It’s only because of the lack of good content that came my way. Also, the scripts for a few movies that I liked were not ready. Balki and Jagan came to me with a ready script and we started shooting within three months. Besides, I am in no hurry to go anywhere. I am here to stay for a long time and I like to space myself out. I did Kahaani 2, Begum Jaan and Tumhari Sulu back-to-back, which is exhausting since each film takes away five months from you. I want to preserve myself otherwise I am not going to enjoy acting. See, I don’t need to clock in the numbers and do so many films a year. I like to do work that I enjoy doing at my own pace.
Your body weight issue has always been much discussed in the media and your recent public appearance again sparked speculations about pregnancy. How do you deal with all this?
Firstly, I don’t read anything so, I don’t know what goes on. When I get to know, I am amused. I’ve been a public figure for about 14 years now, and people still don’t realise that I am not a reed-thin person and this is my body type. Just because I am married I am not pregnant — that’s ridiculous.