KOCHI: Bollywood actor Vidya Balan is currently busy promoting her upcoming movie, Neeyat, where she plays the role of detective Mira Rao, who is decoding a murder mystery. With a power-packed performance from Balan, the movie has got everything it requires to pull an audience to the theatre. From an aspiring detective in Bobby Jasoos, who does ‘jugaad’ to solve the case to a very seasoned Mira Rao in Neeyat, TNIE asks Balan if this is a promotion for her designation-wise. “I hope so,” says Balan as she bursts into her signature laugh.
Set in the Scottish countryside with an uncanny resemblance to Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, it won’t be surprising if audiences compare Mira Rao to Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc. But Balan affirms that director Anu Menon has made a clear distinction between the two. “The way the story is written and directed by Mira Rao is not a classic detective. She does not have that flamboyance and style of a classic detective. Instead, she is socially awkward and is a geek. She is extremely sharp but shy,” explains Balan, who also played the role of an aspiring detective in Bobby Jasoos.
While she gives most of the credit for creating Mira Rao to director Menon, Balan’s own curiosity has also been incorporated into the character. “People-watching is my favourite thing to do,” says Balan. This is the second time she is working with Menon, the first one being in Shakuntala Devi (2020), based on the renowned mathematician.
“Shakuntala Devi was from Bengaluru and the movie received so much love from the city and across,” she quickly inserts that into the conversation. Balan has always spoken fondly about Menon. “For me, the interesting thing about Anu is you can’t predict what she will do next. Her last movie was Shankuntala Devi and then she did Neeyat. So you can’t box her into one category,” says Balan.
Known to be confident in her skin, Balan is idolised by many. “There is a certain part of me that has always been confident. I didn’t have the body confidence that I have today. That is a work in progress, but I think the confidence comes from the way I was brought up. My sister and I were never compared to anyone,” concludes Balan.
Fun fact
Vidya Balan will be seen in one costume throughout the film. Did she miss trying out different looks? “Not at all,” she exclaims. “And it was so cold, so no changes kept me warm. There were three copies of the same costume but I preferred one piece,” she adds.
De-coding co-stars
Neeyat has a long list of stars – Ram Kapoor, Rahul Bose, Niki Aneja Walia Dipannita Sharma, Shashank Arora, Shahana Goswami, Neeraj Kabi, Prajakta Kohli and Amrita Puri. Vidya Balan spills the beans about her co-stars in the movie
Who had the most gossip?
Niki Aneja Walia. Her gossip came from nostalgia since she has worked in different mediums of entertainment
The most stylish? Rahul Bose
Who was the foodie?
Ram Kapoor. He always talks about different kinds of food
Most social media savvy:?
Dipannita Sharma
And the prankster?
That’s Me