Vidya Balan: A winning combination

Will Vidya strike gold again with Kahaani?

NEW DELHI: After wooing the audience with her bold and sensuous act in The Dirty Picture, actor Vidya Balan returns with another intense role of a pregnant woman in her upcoming film Kahaani, which releases on Friday.

Produced and directed by Sujoy Ghosh, this will be Balan’s fourth woman-centric film after Ishqiya, No One Killed Jessica and The Dirty Picture. The film also features Bengali actor Parambrata Chattopadhayay and Nawazuddin Siddiqui in prominent roles.

Kahaani tells the story of seven-month-pregnant Vidya Bagchi, who flies down to Kolkata in search of her missing husband Arnab Bagchi, all alone in the festive city. With nothing to rely on than just a fragment of her memories about him, Vidya begins her relentless search for her husband. However, all clues seem to be in vain when everyone tries to convince her that her husband does not exist after the police fails to find any record of him.

Soon she realises that things are not as they seem. She is determined to unravel the truth about her husband — for herself and her unborn child — even if it puts her life in danger. Balan says that she considers herself lucky to be a part of the film and has been aggressively promoting the movie, while remaining in character and even sporting a baby bump.

Balan has become one of the most bankable actors ever since the success of films like Ishqiya, No One Killed Jessica and most recently The Dirty Picture. Since 2009, these have earned her five Filmfare Awards, including two for Best Actress and one Critics’ Choice Award, as well as three consecutive Screen Awards for Best Actress and only recently, she won her second National Award at the 59^th National Awards — this time for playing the Southern sex siren in The Dirty Picture.

With her next woman-centric film’s trailers already making waves, Balan hopes to continue her winning streak with Kahaani.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 9^th, 2012.